Evaluation of the scenic value of 100 beaches in Cuba: Implications for coastal tourism management

This paper provides coastal scenic values of 100 sites along coastal Cuba by the use of a weighted, fuzzy logic, based checklist containing 26 physical human factors. Sites were categorized into five classes from Class I, top grade scenery, to Class V, poor scenery. Seven beaches belonged to Class I, e.g. rural areas with a low impact of human activities and high scores of natural parameters. Most Class II beaches were located at international resort areas in cays having white coral sand beaches, turquoise water and vigorous vegetation together with a low impact of tourist developments because of appropriate location and design. Classes III, IV and V presented a wide distribution and their lower scores were linked to a poor environmental setting. Results allow for improvements to beach management plans to be formulated for current international tourist destinations (in cays) and other potentially attractive coastal areas at new developing tourist destinations. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.