SUSTAINABLE MARKETING AND ENVIRONMENTAL TOURISM IN COMMUNITY QUALITY OF LIFE OF IONIAN COAST OF ALBANIA: AN ECOSYSTEM PERSPECTIVE

This paper presents a comprehensive and critical examination of the environmental impacts of tourism, emphasizing both its positive contributions and its potential adverse effects.As a dynamic and rapidly expanding sector, tourism interacts closely with natural ecosystems and affects environmental quality through economic, social, and infrastructural activities.The study focuses specifically on the environmental dimension of tourism impacts, recognizing it as one of the most urgent challenges within the framework of sustainable development.In particular, the paper investigates residents' perceptions of the environmental effects of tourism development on quality of life along the Ionian coast of Albania.The study included a sample population of 200 of residents living in the Ionian coast of Albania.A combination of descriptive and inferential statistical methods-including used to explore how demographic characteristics shape perceptions and how these perceptions influence overall life satisfaction.This paper undertakes a comprehensive and critical analysis of the environmental impacts of tourism, addressing both its positive contributions and its potential detrimental effects.It aims to address these gaps by examining the dual nature of tourism's environmental impacts within a context-sensitive and sustainability-oriented analytical framework.