Water Quality Indices (WQIs) are widely used tools for assessing coastal water conditions and supporting environmental management in dependent tourism regions. However, their application remains fragmented across environmental monitoring, pollution assessment, and tourism studies. This qualitative systematic review synthesizes existing research on the use of WQIs in coastal tourism contexts, following PRISMA guidelines. A comprehensive search of Scopus, Web of Science, and IEEE Xplore up to November 30, 2024, identified 35 eligible studies. The review classifies WQIs into six index groups and examines associated analytical approaches, including statistical methods, machine learning, and GIS-based spatial analysis. Across the reviewed studies, degraded water quality associated with eutrophication, turbidity, and microbial contamination was consistently linked to lower levels of tourist satisfaction, reduced beach usability, and decreased destination attractiveness. The findings highlight the importance of context-specific and tourism-sensitive WQI frameworks, integrated with spatial and data-driven tools, to support sustainable coastal management and tourism planning. This study looks at how the cleanliness of coastal and aquatic waters affects both the environment and tourism. Clean water is essential for marine life, recreation, and the economies of coastal communities that depend on visitors. We reviewed previous studies that used Water Quality Indices (WQIs) tools that measure water conditions based on pollution and other factors—to see how they are applied in coastal areas around the world. The results show that poor water quality, often caused by pollution, urban waste, and climate change, makes coastal areas less attractive to tourists and can harm local livelihoods. We also found that new technologies such as data analysis, machine learning, and mapping tools are being used more often to track and manage water quality. The study highlights the need for strong, easy-to-use systems to monitor coastal water quality and support sustainable tourism and ecosystem protection.
Mustafaraj et al. (Fri,) studied this question.