Assessment of beach users’ activities and beach quality status, a tool for coastal tourism development in South West Lagos Coastline, Nigeria

Abstract

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph; line-height: 120%; mso-pagination: none; layout-grid-mode: char; mso-layout-grid-align: none; margin: 12.0pt 0cm 6.0pt 147.4pt;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 120%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; color: black; mso-themecolor: text1; layout-grid-mode: line;" lang="EN-US">Tourist activities is one of the management tools used to identify the carrying capacity of beach and level of natural resources impacted by human activities, and it’s highly essential in revenue generation to the national blue economy. However, if its activities is not adequately controlled, it can disrupt the balance of coastal ecosystem and defeat the purpose of environmental services provision. This study assesses the beach quality status and beach users’ activities along the Lagos coastline, Southwest Nigeria. The survey was conducted during the summer holiday period in the peak of dry season (November 2021</span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 120%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 宋体; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; color: black; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN; layout-grid-mode: line;" lang="EN-US">–</span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 120%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; color: black; mso-themecolor: text1; layout-grid-mode: line;" lang="EN-US">February 2022) at six beaches (Atican, Alpha, Elegushi, Narval, Oniru and Takwa). </span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 120%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black; mso-themecolor: text1; layout-grid-mode: line; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;" lang="EN-US">A total number 600 people were interviewed, and secondary information was noted from the beach managers’ files, including the log book kept in the security post and vendor interviews with food and snack merchants and entertainers. Visitors were chosen at random (using a randomised complete design) to participate in interviews via a combination of passive and active questionnaires from a sample size of 100 visitors at each beach.</span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 120%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; color: black; mso-themecolor: text1; layout-grid-mode: line;" lang="EN-US"> The heterogeneity of tourists’ activities varied and significantly differed across the beaches. <em>T</em>-test values for all the activities were significance (<em>p</em> < 0.05) with the exception of religious and sporting activities. Recreation, clubbing, picnic, family retreat activities scored above 5% in all beaches, given exceptional note to Narval beach that had the highest activities of the tourists in religious group (70%). The Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA) ordination bi-plot diagram state that all activities, ages, and number of visitors were identified as the constrained variables. The activities Eigen scores were religious activity (0.79), picnic (0.58), family retreat (0.52), and site viewing (0.38). Religious activity had highest score of 70% with a strong relationship on the tourists of groups of above 50years at the Narval beach. This is in agreement with the cultural activities that accompanied tourism with peculiarity to life style and location. The ascending order of activities at the Oniru beach are: site viewing 9%, family retreat 25% and Picnic 45%. Whereas, the profound activities on recreation from other study area are: 40%, 35%, 30% and 20% at Takwa beach, Elegushi beach, Atican</span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 120%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; color: black; mso-themecolor: text1; layout-grid-mode: line;" lang="EN-US">beach and Alpha</span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 120%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; color: black; mso-themecolor: text1; layout-grid-mode: line;" lang="EN-US">beach respectively. </span></p>