Digital Governance of the Surfing Tourism Industry in Lanuza Philippines

Abstract

As emerging coastal destinations transition from manual oversight to smart tourism ecosystems, evaluating societal impacts becomes a critical requirement for designing effective Destination Management Systems (DMS). Guided by the Triple Bottom Line framework, this mixed-methods study modeled the socio-cultural, economic, and environmental data of surfing tourism in Lanuza, Surigao del Sur, Philippines, to establish foundational parameters for digital governance. Data acquired from 196 survey respondents, 15 key informant interviews, and three focus group discussions were computationally analyzed to structure community feedback into actionable variables. The extracted information models reveal that while surfing tourism strengthens community pride, cultural identity, and livelihood opportunities, systemic vulnerabilities remain regarding unequal economic benefits, youth lifestyle alterations, and coastal waste generation. By translating these traditional socio-environmental impacts into system requirements, this research demonstrates that sustainable tourism necessitates integrated Decision Support Systems (DSS) rather than fragmented manual policies. The findings advocate for the deployment of smart environmental monitoring and data-driven participatory frameworks to ensure equitable benefit sharing and long-term ecological resilience in vulnerable surf communities.