A Fuzzy AHP-MAIRCA Model for Overtourism Assessment: The Case of Malaga Province

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

 

The manuscript promises to address an important question of “how to deal with overtourism after the undertourism, through the study of the Malaga province (Costa del Sol)“. The introduction is well written. Unfortunately, the rest of the manuscript deals with a different research question, which is not clearly defined and not positioned with respect to the existing literature. This makes it difficult to judge the quality of the work.

The paper develops a method of multi-criteria decision-making. However, it is not clear what is the contribution of the study to existing work, what is the field to which it applies, how the results of the study should be interpreted and be used by academics and practitioners.

In the following I list the main issues that should be addressed:

1. The literature review is far from being comprehensive. Authors should revise literature review. Main findings from the previous academic work should be included and research gap that the present study aims to fill should be evidenced.
2. The choice of the criteria to be included in the study (Table 1) should be based on the literature providing also what is the existing evidence with respect to every criteria that is being included in the analysis. It is not sufficient indicate the 14 tourism experts to justify the choice of criteria.
3. The questionnaire should be reported
4. There is no information on the number of subjects and on their representativeness of the
5. More than 7 pages are dedicated to the description of the method development. If it is a paper developing a method with application to tourism it should be framed as such, indicating the appropriate research gap and justifying the need of such technique. If the aim of the study is not developing the method than this part should be cut considerably (maximum 2-3 pages).
6. The results should be properly discussed. What do we know about managing the sustainability of destinations after this study? What are concrete steps that should be taken by destinations based on the results of the present study.
7. The conclusions present some general indications that do not seem to derive from the results of the study. How overtourism should be treated in the coming months?
8. Why there is a need to run a multiple criteria decision making study to measure overtourism? What are the benefits for destinations in doing this? How the proposed method can be applied in practice and what existing problem it solves?
9. Why are tourism experts chosen as subjects for this study? What do they know about environmental, social and economic impacts of tourism?
10. The literature is not appropriately referenced in the text (the style requires that numbers appear in the text instead of the names).

The manuscript requires a complete revision, repositioning and restructuring, which will result in an entirely different paper. For this reason I recommend rejecting the study and eventually submit it as a new contribution.

Author Response

Please see the modified version sent to the editor.

 

Referee 1:

The research question are not clearly defined and not positioned with respect to the existing literature.  

The answer is included in the manuscript: In this regard, the ‘blueprint’ questions of the present study are educed based on the descriptive and exploratory research classification. This study is designed to answer a set of decisive research questions which could be incorporated as follows: (RQ1) How to deal with overtourism after the undertourism, through the case study of the Malaga province (Costa del Sol)? (RQ2) What are the overtourism dimensions that should cope with in the post-Covid-19 to attain the sustainability of the destination? From an operational view, the main aim of addressing these crucial questions is approached from a set of perceptions integrating the following dimensions:

• Addressing the necessity for evaluating the impact of overtourism on the local community employing decision science methodology, mainly MCDM, due to its consistency and reliability in empirical studies;
• Considering an adapted two-module model for overtourism assessment that can positively contribute towards a reliable decision in the future within the frame of sustainability of destination;
• Filling the gaps by proposing an adapted approach that encompasses a fuzzy hybrid model, AHP-MAIRCA, to assist the tourism policymakers to make optimal decisions and opt sustainable actions in future;
• Empirically verifying the novel integrated model employing real data taken from experts working in the tourism industry in Malaga province.

 

1. The literature review is far from being comprehensive. Authors should revise literature review. Main findings from the previous academic work should be included and research gap that the present study aims to fill should be

The literature review section has been restructured and expanded. The review has been enhanced by repositioning and restructuring the current studies as indicated in section 2.1 and 2.2. I would like to highlight here that this review was mainly about the development of the recent methodologies used to solve various problems in the tourism industry and overtourism as well. To our knowledge, overtourism phenomenon is still at its very stage of development and there is a huge lack in the literature review. The main aim of the present paper is to propose an adequate and adapted methodology to quantify and measure overtourism in the real-world case study. 

 

2. The choice of the criteria to be included in the study (Table 1) should be based on the literature providing also what is the existing evidence with respect to every criteria that is being included in the analysis. It is not sufficient indicate the 14 tourism experts to justify the choice of criteria.

The choice of the criteria is based on the literature review and also on 14 of the experts’ approval. (12 experts who took part in the questionnaire fulfilment and 2 experts are the authors of the present paper)

The answer is included in the manuscript: …However, at the time of realizing this work, the number of international tourists arriving in Spain diminished by 64.3 per cent compared to March 2019. The most touristic places in Spain, the Balearic Islands and Catalonia registered a decline of 68 per cent meanwhile, the Canary Islands, recorded a drop of over 66 per cent in international arrivals and with a national average of almost 65 per cent [69]. The Covid-19 outbreak has intensively affected one of the vivid sectors for the Spanish economy and had declined the tourism activity by 98 per cent in March 2020 [70]. As a result, the estimated evolution of the output gap of the Spanish economy knows again a negative gap, registering rates close to -10% by 2020, which refers to the sudden change in the cyclical position of the national economy. The evolution of the output gap was gradually closed since 2013, when it reaches its minimum, reaching 2018 and 2019 slightly higher than their potential levels [69]. However, the Spanish government is drafting a budget policy that allows the reconstruction of the country and underpins economic recovery where the policy will lay the basis for economic, social, and environmental reform [69]. From this context, the criteria employed in this study were in the first place determined in line with a detailed comprehensive literature review [25, 30, 66, 71-77] and then by 14 tourism experts’ approvals. Incoherence, Peeters et al’s [11] study also acknowledges that overtourism evaluation is deemed suitable by considering economic, social, and environmental dimensions. The designation process is categorized into 3 dimensions and the drivers leading to them are presented in Table 2.

3. The questionnaire should be reported.

The questionnaire is reported in the supplementary materials under the title:

The answer is included in the manuscript: Table S1: the questionnaire example.

4. There is no information on the number of subjects and on their representativeness

In Appendix A you find the necessary information about the representatives (A1. Experts Identification)

The answer is included in the manuscript: ….To evaluate the set of pertinent criteria identified through literature review and prospective alternatives, the background of experienced experts in the tourism sector was considered. A team of twelve highly proficient decision-makers was created. Each decision-maker is industrious in a differently situated yet important Costa del Sol region (Malaga province), was invited to furnish subjective judgments and decisions based on self-knowledge and proficiency. In this research, a combination of literature review and questionnaire survey was employed involving the appraisal of rich judgments obtained from experts as a sample with quantitative data [85]. A pilot survey was performed over semi-structured interviews with the team to eliminate the equivocal viewpoints, rectify errors, and test the compatibility of the identified indicators with the actual concerns in Spain. The questionnaire was handed out among tourism practitioners working in different public administrations including tourism faculty, municipalities, tourism delegations, and national tourism organizations as illustrated in Table A1. These selected experts, at a political level, face daily the challenge generated by the impact of tourism in their destinations, addressing the complex and non-linear interaction between the 'right to the city' and the disruption of 'the tourist city.

5. More than 7 pages are dedicated to the description of the method development. If it is a paper developing a method with application to tourism it should be framed as such, indicating the appropriate research gap and justifying the need of such technique. If the aim of the study is not developing the method than this part should be cut considerably (maximum 2-3 pages).

The present paper is developing an adapted MCDM methodology, namely FAHP and FMAIRCA, with application to overtourism concerns in the Malaga province. As you can see in the methodology section, two new formulas have been added to the original methods (geometric mean and aggregated performance). In addition, the research gaps and the contributions have been clearly framed in the Introduction, Literature Review, and methodology sections. Besides, some facultative equations were eliminated, but the number of the pages shouldn’t be less than 4 pages in this case since the study is tackling a novel and adapted an approach that is quantifying and measuring the overtourism impact for the very first time. 

6. The results should be properly discussed. What do we know about managing the sustainability of destinations after this study? What are concrete steps that should be taken by destinations based on the results of the present study.

The answer is included in the manuscript: ….Overtourism is a phenomenon that occurred before the pandemic. If the pre-pandemic regulations remain in the destinations, similar situations and processes are likely to emerge with renewed intensity [98]. The rhetorical question is whether one should return to the previous status as soon as possible or take advantage of this opportunity to modify, partially or totally, the economic and social conditions that led to this situation [99]. Spain is a typical example of current alterations in its tourism policy. These fluctuations are occurring due to several reasons as mentioned above. The findings revealed that the economic ground is worsening the tourism situation followed by the social and environmental ground. In the main, the urgent need to conduct resilient public policies that align with sustainability concerns. This study assessed the impact of overtourism from different backgrounds (economic, environmental and social). Therefore, the sustainability dimensions must be examined interdependently and not independently to make a decision at the business and political level. The findings of this study also demonstrate that overtourism cannot be examined by taking the tourism perspective alone. Instead, the tourism policymakers are required to consider management strategies in a wider scope to keep up with the fast-growing within the tourism sector. The proposed methodology allows local governments to take measures according to the needs of their destinations without going back to the mistakes of the past and seeking a balance between environment, society and economy [100]. Sustainable interventions tend to be valued positively by tourists, in addition, promote increased competitiveness of destinations and touristic companies, although their implementation may incur additional costs. These costs of adapting tourist destinations to the new times, should not affect a process of differentiation by prices for the promotion of the destination.

Nerja is a clear example of a tourist destination in which results and interpretations about tourism can change in a short period (overtourism / undertourism). The attractiveness of this destination is the result of many voices of supply and demand, in which economic development must be combined with DMOs. Therefore, the solution of balance between this overtourism /undertourism is to make everyone understand the role of tourism and accept the tourism product as such, that spatial and seasonal distribution of tourism is carried out and continuous monitoring and development of the Smart Destination are carried out to allow a process of continuous improvement [101]. Additional measures could be aimed at: extending the length of stay of tourists, stocking up in closer or proximity markets, promoting the consumption of organic and seasonal products, moving towards a model with high added value, encouraging local benefit and not that of global foreign-owned platforms, abandon carbon-intensive travel, reduce seasonality, preserve the social fabric of cities, promote public-public, private-private and public-private collaboration [102]. This period can be seen as an opportunity to reconsider a transformation of the global tourism system, focusing it towards one more aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals for 2030 (SDG) [103]. As indicated by Pons et al. [104], tourism sustainability does not only imply providing a balanced solution to economic profitability but also to social well-being and ecological balance.

7. The conclusions present some general indications that do not seem to derive from the results of the study. How overtourism should be treated in the coming months?

The conclusion is not mandatory. However, we conducted the conclusions in this paper to discuss the limitations and drive the implications of the study. Propose future research studies and also suggest some useful steps towards sustainability.

The answer is included in the manuscript: ….Tourism endures incessant metamorphosis and requires sustainable management for residents, tourists and visitors. The economic, social, and environmental negative effects of overtourism have to be corrected. Hence, the importance of reflection on the perception of this problem, determining its impacts and proposing answers. Currently, Spain is facing a global pandemic that has paralyzed the tourism sector and has exposed its extreme volatility. Therefore, it is time to put the innovation and accumulated tourist knowledge at the service of society, especially in areas such as the Costa del Sol. In the post-Covid-19 scenario, sustainability will be the differentiating factor to be taken into account in decision-making in tourist destinations. The local destinations should start working more forcefully and sustainably, betting on collaboration also between destinations, since the competitiveness to get the attention of future tourists. The visitor will be significant and their choice must be defined based on the product, the excellence and the experience offered by the destination and not based on the price. Between the course of the pandemic, until it reaches its end, many changes will surely appear. The tourist who comes will have new requirements, in line with the experiences in previous destinations, together with the possible trauma caused by the difficult environment created by the COVID-19. The requirement of safety (health, economic and social) linked to environmental and social sustainability will be the pillar of the new framework within the tourism sector post-COVID-19 begins to emerge.

The fuzzy modified AHP method was applied in this study for calculating the weights of the overtourism dimensions and main criteria. On the other hand, the fuzzy modified MAIRCA method was used for spotting the most impacted municipality in Malaga province by the overtourism phenomenon in the pre-pandemic scenario. The obtained global weights via fuzzy AHP were utilized as inputs in the adapted fuzzy MAIRCA method for assessing the municipalities and designating the most and less impacted ones. The attained findings were acknowledged by the professionals and there was a strong agreement among them. Firstly, the fuzzy AHP proposes a consistency rate (CR) equation to verify the pairwise comparison matrix of the decision-makers. Also, it demonstrates the mutual relationship between the push factors of the overtourism phenomenon. This can help policymakers and managers to conduct local and global weights for each criterion to reveal the impacted municipality. The main influencing criteria are: “CO2 emission/ marine pollution ”, “inorganic waste ”, and “Economic dependence on tourism sector ”. Secondly, the fuzzy MAIRCA illustrates to us how to aggregate the experts’ judgments and select the most impacted municipality by overtourism issue. The eightieth alternative (Nerja municipality) turned out to be the most impacted municipality in Malaga province. Thus, the tourism policymakers in the public sector and managers in the private sector would be capable to support the impacted municipalities by implementing sustainable tourism actions that go along with overtourism and undertourism in the post-Covid-19 scenario. Thus, the proposed framework may help as a reference for depicting and analysing the push factors as well as communities worldwide.

Andalusia has not been the only one of the regions hardest hit by the effects of the pandemic on the health of its population. On the contrary, it may be one of those that suffer the most from its economic consequences. The structural characteristics of the Andalusia economy, its lower density and business size, its sectorial specialization, its low capacity to generate employment and the trends observed in recent years of high relative entrepreneurship out of necessity, accompanied by some incipient experiences of entrepreneurship in High potential (Start-ups) very localized in very few geographical locations, make the consequences of the crisis particularly worrying in Andalusia. The impact has been high in consumer-oriented sectors such as tourism, hospitality, leisure and retail with a high presence in the area. It has also been relatively important in micro-enterprises, self-employed and recently created companies, which have more relative weight in the region. It has especially hit women, youth and people with less training and with temporary contracts. In this context, localities affected by overtourism can apply the eleven strategies proposed by the UNWTO [9] to deal with this phenomenon: Promote the dispersion of visitors inside and outside of the city; promote the dispersion of visitors based on time; stimulate new itineraries and attractions; review and adapt regulation; improve visitor segmentation; ensure that local communities benefit from tourism; create urban experiences for residents and visitors; improve the infrastructure and facilities of the city; communicate and involve local stakeholders; communicate and attract visitors; and, establish supervision and response measures.

The present study has few boundaries as well. Only 3 dimensions and 10 main criteria for overtourism phenomenon analysis have been acknowledged. Further dimensions and criteria (intuitional, technology, industrial) have not been acknowledged here. Also, it is an analysis of the current situation, with which the results cannot be extrapolated to other populations or the same ones analysed in other periods. The calculation steps of the proposed model are accomplished by considering the preference of the decision-makers. Henceforward, it is induced to achieve these evaluations prudently. Furthermore, the proposed framework findings are grounded on a sole area; therefore, numerous MCDM techniques like (grey cognitive maps, ANP, MABAC, and DEMATEL) can be practical to analyse the push factors of overtourism phenomenon.

8. Why there is a need to run a multiple criteria decision making study to measure overtourism? What are the benefits for destinations in doing this? How the proposed method can be applied in practice and what existing problem it solves?

The MCDM have been conducted in this study for several reasons as indicated in the manuscript:

• Introduction: …The orthodox models’ application, to assess overtourism, is no longer beneficial due to its limited set of perception [19]. Strategies to modulate the tourism industry require incremental inclusions and precise planning with a focus on pragmatic approaches [20]. Attention towards the adoption of holistic or hybrid methodologies has been recently risen [21]. A review of Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) techniques for sustainability issues is determined [22]. Scientifically, the application of numerical approaches based on operations research and mathematics enhances the consistency of the decision process, diminishes the subjectivity of the preference judgments, and contributes to the promise of the assessment that is realized [23]. The implementation of the Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) approach could be a valid tactic for the improvement of a policy-making process regarding Post-Covid-19 overtourism actions.
• Literature Review: …The domain of Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) has been significantly developed, thanks to the vast number of academic and scientific works dealing with the application of the specific decision by adopted models that pertain to the particular field. In addition, MCDM is a convenient methodology for solving complex problems due to its capacity to assess numerous alternatives employing a particular set of criteria. ….The main reason behind developing MCDM by scholars is to establish mathematical formulas aimed at facilitating the criteria evaluation and the selection of the most adequate alternative. The increasing number of MCDM use in the past few decades has pushed scholars to develop and propose a range of various techniques to solve different sorts of complex problems in business. In the actual context of overtourism assessment, the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) is an appropriate technique of ‘measurement through pairwise comparisons’ and considered as one of the most resilient multiple criteria decision-making techniques [62]. The nature of the AHP method is analytical and allows the decision-makers to turn the abstract form of the problem into a constituent component throughout a ‘bottom-up from the alternatives to the criteria’ procedure. Due to its practicability, this study adopts the AHP technique to solve the research questions. Some studies highlighted the importance of this technique and described in details the procedure of its application [63]. On the other hand, the Multi-attribute Ideal-Real Comparative Analysis (MAIRCA) was initially introduced by the Centre for Logistics Research at the University of Defence in Belgrade in 2014 [64] and it is a novel potential technique that can be softly merged with different MCDM techniques. ….The main purpose of selecting this method in this study is to determine the gap between ideal/real assessments, sum the gaps for each criterion in the decision matrix and calculates the total gap for each alternative in the evaluation process. At the end of the evaluation process, the ranking of the alternatives depends on the obtained gap values and the alternative with the lowest gap value is the best one in the filtration process and vice-versa [65]. Advocating the effectiveness of the proposed methodology, the core challenge of the present paper is to give deep insights into assessing overtourism issue in this exceptional situation of the pandemic and applying corresponding sustainable actions in the future.
• Methodology: ….However, the decision-makers subjective judgements might entail ambiguity and some linguistic variables can refer to the same importance [86]. As a solution to this problem, triangular fuzzy numbers (TFNs) were utilized to overcome the vagueness and determine the linguistic importance weights. …..The present study proposes a modified fuzzy AHP model, supports the evaluation process by using triangular fuzzy numbers to translate the judgments of experts and proposes the geometrical mean method to obtain the value of the total weights. This study proposes a modified fuzzy MAIRCA method for the alternative’s assessment with the use of triangular fuzzy numbers and the aggregated performance method. The selection of the most impacted province by overtourism is conducted based on the gap values. The ranking is accomplished to measure every region with highlighted objectives of the analysis…..
• Results: ….This study proposes a novel hybrid model, namely fuzzy AHP-MAIRCA, adapted to assist the tourism policymakers to make better decisions in future and implement wide-ranging sustainable strategies. For good measure, the present paper aims at focusing on specific regions that suffered from overtourism before the Covid-19 outbreak and seeking to revive tourism activity after the crisis in Spain through a series of realistic applications…. and so on.

 

9. Why are tourism experts chosen as subjects for this study? What do they know about environmental, social and economic impacts of tourism?

The answer to this question is integrated with the answer to question N4

10. The literature is not appropriately referenced in the text (the style requires that numbers appear in the text instead of the names).

The manuscript has been completely adjusted in the revised version with respect to the format of the journal.

English language and style check are made

Reviewer 2 Report

The paper is focusing on an up-to-date and actual topic, the phenomenon of overtourism in a popular region. The authors selected the appropriate methodology for their research. Using fuzzy MAIRCA methodology is quite unique in this field so it is absolutely welcomed.

We find a very well-written literature review in the paper, focusing on all relevant fields. The style of the literature review is critical and analytical enough.

The methodology toolset and the dataset support the results and discussion very well, the conclusions are based on the results.

I find the article is an excellent piece and contributes to the existing knowledge.

Author Response

Please see the modified paper sent to the editor.

Reviewer 3 Report

Thank you for the opportunity to review the paper "A Novel Fuzzy AHP-MAIRCA Model Adapted for Overtourism Evaluation in Malaga Province: Post-COVID-19 Sustainable Actions". The paper addresses an interesting and novel theme, about the new reality of destinations worldwide and putting the focus on the province of Malaga (Costa del Sol), the changed paradigm of tourism determined by the Covid-19 virus, from the pre-pandemic scenario of overtourism, to the new reality of undertourism.

In regards to this topic, we find that the tourism sector is being hit hard by the health crisis with global shutdowns thereby causing significant social and economic impacts, as the authors suggest. The biggest strength of the paper is that it proposes a framework that can help tourism policymakers and managers analysts to identify the proposed set of criteria for overtourism evaluation by the study area, conclude the relative importance of criteria weights, and determine the most impacted alternative (region, municipality and so on), as the authors suggest.

Overall, the subject is correct attributed to this section of the journal “Tourism, Culture, and Heritage” taking into consideration the aim of the study, and the sections are clearly presented: a comprehensive literature review of relevant existing studies is given, a fuzzy hybrid model, combining AHP and MAIRCA model customized to the overtourism evaluation is proposed, a presentation of the numerical application, then the authors present a discussion, sensitivity and comparative analysis and in the end the conclusions, research boundaries, and directions to future studies are presented.

However, there are some issues that should be addressed in this revision. First of all, I recommend the authors to take into consideration some corrections about the structure and the form of the article:

1. Please rewrite the text using the format or the journal template.
2. Use the journal’s style and format for citing the papers provided
3. The Reference section must be presented using the format or the journal model.

Considering the novelty of the theme and the proposed keywords of overtourism and  undertourism I would like to recommend a new article discussing these issues that can be helpful for this research as well:

• Skinner, Heather. 2021. "Place Branding—The Challenges of Getting It Right: Coping with Success and Rebuilding from Crises"  Hosp.2, no. 1: 173-189. https://doi.org/10.3390/tourhosp2010010

Author Response

Please see the modified version sent to the editor.

 

Referee 3:

1. Please rewrite the text using the format or the journal template.

The manuscript has been completely adjusted in the revised version with respect to the format of the journal.

2. Use the journal’s style and format for citing the papers provided

The manuscript has been completely adjusted in the revised version with respect to the format of the journal.

3. The Reference section must be presented using the format or the journal model.

The manuscript has been completely adjusted in the revised version with respect to the format of the journal.

 

4. I would like to recommend a new article discussing these issues that can be helpful for this research as well:

Answer is included in the manuscript: Overtourism is a phenomenon that occurred before the pandemic. If the pre-pandemic regulations remain in the destinations, similar situations and processes are likely to emerge with renewed intensity [98]….

[98]: Skinner, H. Place Branding—The Challenges of Getting It Right: Coping with Success and Rebuilding from Crises. Tour. Hosp. 2021, 2, 173-189. [CrossRef]

 

English language and style check are made

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

Thank you very much for your substantial revision. It helped to make the manuscript clearer.

The present work appears to be a good piece of research developing Fuzzy AHP-MAIRCA model methodology. Probably the empirical application is not the most suitable for the proposed method, given that 12 tourism experts working in the area probably quite agree on the problems that the region is facing.

 

The main problem that I see with the manuscript is the research objective of the study. In the Introduction authors claim that the research questions addressed by the study are

“(RQ1) How to deal with overtourism after the undertourism, through the case study of the Malaga province (Costa del Sol)?”

“(RQ2) What are the overtourism dimensions that should cope with in the post-Covid-19 to attain the sustainability of destination?”

However, the present study does not offer any suggestion with respect to how to deal with overtourism, in particular, after the undertourism. It rather suggests a way to identify overtourism. The study should be repositioned accordingly as a study that contributes to the methods that can be used to identify overtourism. The Introduction and Conclusions should reflect this repositioning. The research questions R1 and R2 should be deleted from the study because they confuse the reader. 

The title also should be revised by eliminating the part "Post-COVID-19 Sustainable Actions" given that no actions can be suggested from the proposed method. 

Author Response

Dear reviewer,

Thank you very much for your significant review.

I would like to inform you that all the remarks have been taken into consideration in the revised version of the manuscript.

Concerning the title, it has been modified by eliminating the part Post-COVID-19 Sustainable Actions. (New title: A Fuzzy AHP-MAIRCA Model for Overtourism Assessment: The Case of Malaga Province).

For the study repositioning, the study contribution has been repositioned accordingly to the paper title and methodology used to identify overtourism. The research questions RQ1 and RQ2 have been deleted from the study.

I would like to clarify that in the present study we have taken into account 12 tourism experts (decision-makers) as the optimum number to apply the proposed hybrid model and identify Overtourism. In MCDM methodology, the number of decision-makers shouldn't be large because it directly affects the consistency of the obtained results (biases). Thus, the results section was mainly conducted to verify the proposed model (which comprises the comparative analysis in order to compare the present model with other established techniques and the sensitivity analysis to examine the variation of the collected data). Therefore,  adequate solutions were added by the authors after these analyses to help tourism policymakers to overcome the overtourism phenomenon in Malaga province, especially in Nerja, with regard to the current critical situation.

Thank you very much for your support and valuable comments.

Kind Regards

Please see the attachment.

 

 

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 3 Report

The authors responded and corrected all the remarks and observations highlighted in the previous review and the result is a more consistent and logical text with an updated bibliographical list.

I consider that the paper is publishable after a final check from the authors. 

Author Response

Dear reviewer,

Thank you very much for your significant review.

I would like to inform you that the comment concerning the minor English spell-checks of the whole article has been taken into consideration in the revised version of the manuscript.

Kind regards,

Please see the attachment

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf