
According to various sources, Southern Morocco has stood out as an outstanding tourist destination in recent decades, with global appeal. Dakhla City, including Dakhla Bay, classified by the Convention on Wetlands in 2005 as a Wetland of International Importance, offers visitors various entertainment opportunities at many city sites. Therefore, human activity and social benefits should be considered in conjunction with the need to safeguard the ecosystems and maintain the Ecosystem Services (ES). This study aims to provide an overview of the tourism dynamics and hotspots related to cultural ecosystem services in Dakhla Bay. The landscape attributes are used along with an InVEST model to detect the distribution of preferences for the Cultural Ecosystem Services (CESs), map the hotspots, and identify the spatial correlations between features such as the landscape and visiting rate to understand which elements of nature attract people to the locations around the study area. Geotagged photos posted to the Flickr™ website between 2005 and 2017 were used to approximate the number of tourist visits. The results showed that tourism suffered several dips in 2005–2017 and that tourist visits are currently rising. Additionally, an estimated annual tourist visit rate shows that tourism in Dakhla Bay has been growing steadily by 2%.
Straipsnis Web of Science ir Scopus duomenų bazėje / Article in Web of Science and Scopus database (S1), 330, Emerging Sources Citation Index (Web of Science), InVEST recreation model, DOAJ, cultural ecosystem services, Dakhla Bay, [SHS.ENVIR] Humanities and Social Sciences/Environmental studies, [SHS.ENVIR]Humanities and Social Sciences/Environmental studies, Fizinė geografija / Physical geography (N006), Scopus, ecosystem services
Straipsnis Web of Science ir Scopus duomenų bazėje / Article in Web of Science and Scopus database (S1), 330, Emerging Sources Citation Index (Web of Science), InVEST recreation model, DOAJ, cultural ecosystem services, Dakhla Bay, [SHS.ENVIR] Humanities and Social Sciences/Environmental studies, [SHS.ENVIR]Humanities and Social Sciences/Environmental studies, Fizinė geografija / Physical geography (N006), Scopus, ecosystem services
| selected citations These citations are derived from selected sources. This is an alternative to the "Influence" indicator, which also reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically). | 23 | |
| popularity This indicator reflects the "current" impact/attention (the "hype") of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network. | Top 10% | |
| influence This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically). | Average | |
| impulse This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network. | Top 10% |
