Since the establishment of the first bathing resorts by the mid-
1800s, the Romagna Coast in Italy profited from growth of tourist
arrivals and tourism-related infrastructure. Tourism development
was traditionally based solely on the resources of sea and beaches.
Domestic tourists as much as foreigners, among these predominantly
Germans, found it an ideal destination for relaxation and
family holidays.
The effect of a temporal aspect can be illustrated by two similar
negative events, namely the increased algae build-up, which happened
at different times of the year in Rimini (Italy) and were each
followed by different consequences.
In June 1989, the growth of algae in the Adriatic Sea and
the appearance of patches of mucilage caused a serious crisis for
tourism. Exactly on 28 June, shortly before the high point of the
bathing season and the start of holidays in Germany, which share
the biggest part of foreign tourists to the coast, the first patches of
the new algae were reported. The phenomenon continued throughout
the month of July and it was not until 6 August that the algae
started to disappear. The press covered the situation intensively and
amplified the negative image of the destination. Hoteliers put immediately
heavy efforts in combating the loss of the season. Various
actions such as mobile swimming pools on the beaches, floating
barriers against the mucilage and price discounts tried to remedy
the crisis. However, foreign tourists, in particular, preferred not to
booktheir summer vacations in the Romagna Coast and cancelled
existing reservations in order to spend their summer vacation at
other destinations that could guarantee them sea, beaches and sun
without any pollution. After all the crisis revoked, a chain reaction
followed: the negative image of the destination was not only tied to
the pollution of the sea but also to all those negative aspects that had
been latently present before, such as chaos, crowds, noise, criminality,
etc. Furthermore, the negative image was extended even to those
areas that originally had not been affected at all by the phenomenon.
