What is Coastal Tourism

This chapter seeks to determine whether China's coastal tourism industry can remain competitive in the long run under the blue economy ideology. Current literature claims that when the ocean becomes over-commercialized by the tourism industry, it can potentially lose its pristine amenities, which tourists are attracted to in the first place. By surveying both coastal tourists and residents regarding their stakeholders, coastal resources, and tourism service characteristics, this chapter concludes that such a threat is not impeding progress because coastal tourists and residents have not only overlapping desires but also have interchangeable identities. By conducting tourism service quality management, China's coastal regions have the potential to satisfy both tourists and residents' needs simultaneously by taking advantage of the blue economy transition.