Integrated AHP-TOPSIS models to evaluate suitability and sustainable development of beach tourism: a case in Chennai City, Tamil Nadu, India

Research is carried out at the coast of Chennai City, Tamil Nadu, India. Beaches are among the most well-liked tourist attractions since they offer the ideal relaxing environment. In actuality, coastal regions account for 80% of all tourism. The study’s goal is to ascertain if coastal areas are suitably suited for the long-term growth of beach tourism in the area’s recreation category. Eight parameters have been prepared with the aid of remote sensing and geographic information systems (GIS) to assess the suitability of the sustainable development of the coast area for beach tourism using the integrated AHP-TOPSIS model. These parameters include land utilization, erosion, accretion, beach type, beach width, bus stop proximity, train station, and suspended sediment load. Results reveal that Tourism suitability is high in Sector B, followed by Sectors C and A. In sector B, most coastal locations have low suitability scores due to the presence of the harbor, whereas an equal number of coastal locations have high suitability scores. Sector A’s highest and lowest values are 93.33 and 40.00, respectively. The highest and lowest values of the tourism suitability index in sector B are 95.55 and 36.20, respectively. The highest and lowest values in Sector C are 88.14 and 57.77, respectively.