the growth and expansion of tourism is a complex phenomenon and its study requires multiple disciplines.When related to sustainability, the growth limits and carrying capacity of destination must also be considered. The objective of this article is to develop a methodology to assess the growth limits off tourist destination, and this methods is then applied to the management and planning of an open tourist resort. The limits to growth are established using a mathematical formulation (i.e. multicriteria analyses, based on the reference point methodology) base on synthetic indicators applied to tow scenarios: weak and strong sustainability. There are two developments in this type of research. The fist is that the application of this method is neither restricted to a natural protected area, which has its own rules and management, nor to an island possessing geographically controlled entry and exit points. Rather, this study focuses on an open coastal area with an economy based on mass tourism. Second, this new way of assessing growth limits uses a flexible formula-adaptable to other coastal areas, e.g. rural natural, and urban-depending on the impacts generated by the tourism and the objectives specified by destination managers.