Dr. Klaus J Meyer-Arendt

The north coast of Yucatan has been a beach destination for domestic tourists from Merida, the state capital, since the 1880s. As a 20-km stretch of coast evolved into a contiguous urban zone of beachfront summer homes during the 1950s and 1960s, shoreline erosion became an increasing problem, especially west of Progreso where extensive port and harbor construction had taken place. Property owners responded by constructing groins, which accelerated the problem of downdrift erosion and, in tum, stimulated ever more groin construction. By late 1980s, the shoreline west of Progreso became very degraded as a result of human-induced erosion and futile efforts at combating it. During the 1990s the locus of groin-building shifted to the east where the coast historically had been fairly pristine. Most of the groin construction was (and is) attributed to misguided efforts by second-home owners to stabilize a shoreline that naturally fluctuates in position.

Since the first modern dockside casino opened in Biloxi in August 1992, a total of ten casinos have opened:a1ong the coast of Mississippi. This creation of a gambling destination in the Southeast, perhaps a natural modern outgrowth of a historic pattern, had led to a variety of problems of interest to coastal geographers and coastal managers. These include landscape changes, landuse zonation conflicts, and changes in urban (resort) morphology-·all of which are important for urban planning and proper guidance of casino development. Biloxi, with six of the present ten coastal casinos, serves as an excellent setting for evaluating casino development and its impacts.

The north Yucatan coast in the vicinity of Progreso, consisting of a multiple beach ridge barrier complex backed by a wetland-fringed lagoon, has undergone many changes since the late 19th century. The sand-and-shell beaches are characterized by east-to-west longshore sediment transport but also shoreline retreat ranging from 0.5 to 1.0 m/yr. Natural coastal erosion is attributed to storm passage associated mostly with Arctic cold fronts (nortes) but also with occasional hurricanes. As a result of both port development and recreational urbanization, extensive shorefront engineering has taken place, and erosion rates locally have increased. Jetties constructed at the Yucalpetén safe harbor entrance caused increased downdrift erosion at the recreational communities of Chelem and Chuburn& and property owners responded by illegally placing groins (espollones) along the beach, a federal public easement. As the locus of illegal groin construction gradually moved westward, so did the zone of critical erosion. By the mid-1980s, local officials recognized the haphazard groins as causing increased erosion, and removal of groins had begun when Hurricane Gilbert struck in September 1988. Although the hurricane led to sand accretion along the north Yucatan beaches, most beachfront structures and groins were severely damaged by wind and waves. Four years later, the cleanup process continues. Between past engineering modifications and storms such as nortes and Hurricane Gilbert, the north Yucatan coast has suffered much environmental and aesthetic degradation, and more effective coastal management has been called for.

Research on Latin American and Caribbean tourism geography during the 1980s has increased greatly over previous decades. Tourism research is an interdisciplinary field of study and research opportunities for geographers abound. Of the various academic and applied fields that have contributed to the great increase in tourism research, geographers have contributed a greater than proportional share. Of eleven major categories of research identified among the 1980s publications, which include geographic as well as related non-geographic sources, the most popular ones for geographers are tourism development, descriptive studies and historical studies. Tourism impact studies are also quite popular. not only in terms of general impacts but also specifically environmental impacts, economic impacts and socio-cultural impacts. A high proportion of the publications are on specific impacts, economic impacts and socio-cultural impacts. A high proportion of the publications on specific impacts were supplied by scholars in respective :related fields. Also, a total of fourteen theses and
dissertations were written on Latin American and Caribbean tourism topics, almost half in Canadian departments of geography.

In terms of geographic distribution of the research foci of tourism studies in the 1980s,a map of Latin America exhibits dense clusters in Mexico and at several Caribbean island destinations and vast empty spaces across the South American continent. This pattern may reflect several important points: 1) few researchers are providing a large number of the publications; 2) tourism research is concentrated where English is the native language; 3 the distance-decay principle may keep most North American scholars closer to home; and 4) few Latin American Caribbean geographers have examined their local tourism industries.

In spite of tremendous increases having been made in the number of geographic and related non-geographic publications on Latin American and Caribbean tourism, the increases have been location-specific. The spectrum of research, ranging from explanatory to descriptive to predictive, is encouraging but the geographic applications of that research need to be greatly expanded throughout the Latin American realm. Perhaps these goals will yet be realized before this decade ends.

Although Mississippi's toehold on the Gulf of Mexico extends less than 110 km from border to border as the crow flies, human modification of the coastal zone has been extensive. Two of the three major subcomponents of the state's terrestrial coastal environment-the mainland shoreline, the estuarine embayment, and the barrier islands have been substantially modified by human activity. Almost half of the 130 km long mainland shoreline has been altered by seawall construction and artificial beach nourishment. The wetland-fringed estuarine embayments of St. Louis Bay and Back Bay of Biloxi became popular loci of recreational development in the boom years of the 1950s and 1960s, and dredge-and-fill activity was widespread. Likewise, industrial development proceeded rapidly during that period, and
not until passage of the Mississippi Wetlands Protection Law of 1973 did wetland modification become significantly reduced. Only the barrier islands have escaped extensive human alteration, although development plans have been (and still are) proposed from time to time. The erosion and destruction of the casino resort of Isle of Caprice (presently the Dog Keys shoals) in the 1930s effectively halted offshore resort development plans for several decades, and today three of Mississippi's four barrier islands are included in the Gulf Islands National Seashore.

For coastal planners to make effective zoning decisions in their respective seaside communities, it is important not only to understand the physical processes at play but also the cultural-historical antecedents of the present landuse patterns. Often the various components or an established American beach resort's urban morphology originated spontaneously (i.e. unguided by zoning), and distinctive patterns of landuse evolved. At present, many coastal resort communities are approaching their areal . limits to growth, and pressures to intensify landuse (i.e. "redevelop") may threaten the ''vernacular" seaside urban morphology.

The aim of this paper is to present a background of the geography of coastal resorts and to offer a schematic explanatory model of resort evolution based on research conducted along the Gulf of Mexico littoral. Three seaside resorts--Fort Myers Beach and Pensacola Beach in Florida, and Grand Isle, Louisiana--are briefly described in terms of resort evolution, settlement morphology, and conformity to the proposed model.

Grand Isle is a recreationally developed barrier island 50 miles due south of New Orleans {figure 10-1). Presently one of few seaside resorts in Louisiana, Grand Isle was among the earliest recreational sites established that directly face the Gulf of Mexico. The site of a settlement since the late 1700s, the island was first developed for tourists, primarily from New Orleans, after the Civil War. Access was by boat until a highway flanking Bayou Lafourche was extended to the island in 1932. Today Grand Isle is a popular fishing destination, especially for residents of southeastern Louisiana.

Historic occupation of the Mississippi River deltaic plain has resulted in massive modification of the natural environment. However, quantitative documentation of spatial and temporal changes, useful in landuse planning and environmental management, is dependent upon a universally acceptable landuse classification system and accurate, controlled habitat maps.

Utilizing black-and-white and color-infrared photographs and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) topographic maps, as well as collateral information including field reconnaissance, 464 habitat maps of the Mississippi River Deltaic Plain Region were constructed at o scale of 1:24,000 for 1955 and 1978. Approximately 100 natural and man-influenced habitats were delineated and planimetered according to a hierarchical classification system devised by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), but modified by the authors to more accurately reflect conditions in coastal Louisiana and Mississippi. Habitat area within the coastal zone was measured and recorded by state, parish/county, hydrologic unit, and topographic map unit for 1955 and 1978 .

Habitat areas as small as an acre and as narrow as 30 feet were delineated where needed. Field checking of questionable areas and the high photo resolution have resulted in the most accurate and detailed habitat maps and quantitative results of any area on the Gulf coast. Comparison of 1955 and 1978 habitats illustrates and quantifies habitat change through time due to natural and man-made processes. The map showing 1978 habitat distribution is the most recent and uniform habitat information used in state and Federal permitting reviews and governmental and private landuse planning and management.