Humpback Whales in Tonga: An Economic Resource for Tourism

The growth of whale-watching internationally has been spectacular. It now occurs in almost 100 countries and is estimated to be worth in excess of U.S.$1 billion each year in revenue. Thus, whales have become valuable as a resource for tourism. The Vava'u island group in the northern part of the Kingdom of Tonga in the South Pacific is an area with a growing reputation as a whale-watching destination. However, the industry is relatively new there and the impacts of whale-based tourism in these islands is, as yet, unknown. In addition, there has been a recent consideration of a return to hunting whales in Tonga. As a result, concerns regarding the value of these animals for tourism and the potential impact of a return to hunting have arisen. Consequently, a study was designed to provide a preliminary assessment of the economic impacts of these animals for the island community. This study estimates that humpback whales may be worth in excess of U.S.$700,000 annually as a tourism attraction and that there is significant potential for future growth. Furthermore, the study shows that current visitors are opposed to any resumption of whaling practices in the islands and that such a move would likely displace large numbers of tourists from Tonga. Thus, it is concluded that a resumption of whaling in Tonga would likely have a significant opportunity cost in terms of lost tourism revenues.     

The Causal Effects of Place Attachment and Tourism Development on Coastal Residents' Environmentally Responsible Behavior

Coastal areas are generally known as high-usage areas for residential, recreational, and tourism purposes. Coastal residents, as well as local visitors, therefore, can play an important role in protecting coastal resources. The purpose of this study was to identify important factors that could promote residents' environmentally responsible behavior (ERB). The two concepts, place attachment and attitudes toward tourism development (ATTD), were included to verify causal relationships of ERB. For data analysis, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modeling (SEM) were conducted. Study results showed that place identity fully mediated the relationship between place dependence and ERB. With respect to the two dimensions of ATTD, there was a positive relationship between perceived benefits and ERB, while perceived concerns mediated this relationship. To promote ERB, the study emphasized the importance of developing place identity by providing diverse economical, socio-cultural, and recreational coastal benefits. In addition, involving those residents, who are positively and negatively impacted by tourism development, in the process of sustainable tourism development will develop more effective sustainable development strategies by reflecting local residents' opinions and preferences.     

Climate Change and Tourist Comfort on Europe's Beaches in Summer: A Reassessment

Major impacts of climate change have been projected for tourism in Europe. Typically, these projections took general tourism activities such as sight-seeing and their climate requirements as their point of reference. The purpose of this study is to reassess the impact of climate change, by looking specifically at beach tourism in summer, a crucial market segment in Europe and more specifically in the Mediterranean. As beach tourism requires relatively high temperatures, relatively modest shifts in attractiveness are found. With respect to climate, the Mediterranean is likely to remain Europe's prime region for summer-time beach tourism for at least the next 50 years. Coastal managers in Mediterranean destinations are advised to focus some of their attention on other climate change impacts such as sea-level rise or water availability, and include environmental quality and diversification of activities in their deliberations. In non-Mediterranean regions, a promising strategy may be to focus on short- and medium-distance visitors who can take advantage of the new opportunities for beach tourism, and to explore the merits of seasonal climate forecasting.     

Vulnerability of Coastal Resort Cities to Mean Sea Level Rise in the Mexican Caribbean

We evaluated the potential economic impacts of increasing sea level rise (SLR) along the Mexican Caribbean where there are major gaps in our understanding of the mechanisms controlling flooding duration and frequency associated to future ecological and economic impacts. We determined the negative economic impact of SLR on infrastructure in the largest urban centers (Cancun, Isla Mujeres, Playa del Carmen, Puerto Morelos and Cozumel) in the state of Quintana Roo (Mexico) that are considered the largest tourism “hot spots” (resort cities) in the country. The tourism industry in this coastal area injects >8 billion dollars year^?1 to the Mexican economy. Our conservative economic assessment regarding the impact of SLR, under a 1?m scenario for all coastal cities is $330 million USD. Further projections for worst scenarios (SLR >2 m) show a non-linear trend where the cost of inaction can reach up to $1.4 billion USD (2?m SLR scenario) and $2.3 billion USD (3?m SLR scenario). This potential loss of infrastructure, as construction cost, is staggering and represents a robust baseline to start evaluating with more detail future impacts of climate variability and change on the Mexican Caribbean coastline.     

The marine electronic highway in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore—an assessment of costs and key benefits

The Straits of Malacca and Singapore are an important trade route linking the Indian Ocean to the South China Sea and Pacific Ocean. They are also rich in resources and support a range of activities that benefit the economies of the littoral states (Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore). This important shipping route is a very congested waterway and the authorities are keen to improve navigation facilities to promote ship safety and reduce the risk of groundings, collisions and accidents. This will also help to protect the marine environment from the effects of pollution and hence reduce its damaging impact on activities related to the Straits, e.g. fisheries and tourism. The Marine Electronic Highway (MEH) is an attempt to bring together maritime safety technologies and environmental management systems. The paper examines the costs of providing such a highway and considers some of the benefits which could accrue from its implementation. The analysis, conducted in the form of a cost-benefit study, clearly shows the economic viability of the scheme.     

A Socioeconomic Perspective of Environmental Degradation at Kepulauan Seribu Marine National Park,Indonesia

Kepulauan Seribu was designated as a marine protected area to promote and protect a healthy marine ecosystem and its biodiversity. However, despite numerous efforts to protect the area, the park continues to be impacted by both external and internal factors. External factors include domestic sewage, vessel traffic, industrial effluent, and urban run-off from metropolitan Jakarta. Meanwhile, internal factors include the problems created by tourism development and the impacts of the economic activities of the park's residents. The ongoing political and economic crisis in Indonesia, which has plagued the country since 1997, has amplified the pressure on the resources and on the well being of the park. This study traces and analyzes the intrinsic causes of the internal problems using a socioeconomic perspective. We suggest that alleviation of poverty and marginality of the park's residents should be prioritized, and that park management should be based on consensus building and participation of all stakeholders.     

Effect of proposed CO2 emission reduction scenarios on capital expenditure

The International Maritime Organisation is currently working on establishing regulations for international shipping regarding greenhouse gas emissions, and a cost-effectiveness approach has been suggested as one method for determining the necessary reductions in emissions from shipping. Previous studies have investigated the CO₂ emission reduction potential for the world shipping fleet up to 2030 and the associated marginal abatement cost levels. To analyse the cost implications of different emission reduction scenarios, this study has calculated the emission reduction potential and additional capital expenditure for 25 CO₂ emission reduction measures applied to 59 ship segments. The expected fleet development over time, keeping track of new ships built from 2010 to 2030 and Existing ships built prior to 2010 and still in operation by 2030, have been modelled. Two alternative approaches to find the cost-effective potential in the world shipping fleet have been applied. One approach is to implement only measures which in themselves are cost-effective (measure-by-measure), and another approach is to implement measures as long as the net savings from cost-effective measures balance the costs of non-cost-effective measures (set of measures). The results demonstrate that by 2030, the majority (93%) of the reduction potential will be related to new ships. Our results show that the measure-by-measure approach would decrease the CO₂ emissions by 30% for new ships while the set-of-measures approach with 53% (of the 2030 baseline emissions of 1316?Mt). The implication of achieving such emission reduction is an increase in the capital expenditure on New ships by 6% (USD 183 billion) and 27% (USD 761 billion), respectively, in the period 2010 to 2030 compared to a business-as-usual scenario. The measure-by-measure approach yields a 5% decrease in CO₂ emission per 1% increase in capital expenditure, while the set-of-measures approach yields a 2% decrease per 1% increase. This is due to the significant variation in capital intensity of the different measures, ranging from almost zero to USD 200 per tonne of CO₂ averted. The results of this study are useful for the shipping industry to assess the economic burden that must be shouldered in order to implement abatement measures under different CO₂ emission reduction scenarios.     

The impact of transitional changes of maritime passenger transport on Croatian tourism development

At the beginning of the nineties, Croatia witnessed the collapse of communism, arrival of democracy, a war of national survival and the launch of the transition. Extraordinarily under these circumstances, tourism has become one of the most propulsive economic activities in Croatia. To preserve this prosperous industry, one must consider the variables that affect Croatian tourism. Research shows that maritime passenger transport has a substantial influence upon seashore tourism improvement. This mode not only represents a sizable share of international tourism transport, but often provides the only access to island tourism destinations. This paper provides an analysis of the impact of the transitional changes of maritime passenger transport on Croatian tourism development. Following a brief examination of the functions of maritime transport within tourism, the paper focuses on: composition of Croatian fleets, potential opportunities in local and international markets, and structural reforms required to increase the quality of Croatian maritime passenger services. Commercialization programmes are significantly important as Croatia prepares to enter the EU, and open up its markets to free competition.     

The impact of transitional changes of maritime passenger transport on Croatian tourism development

At the beginning of the nineties, Croatia witnessed the collapse of communism, arrival of democracy, a war of national survival and the launch of the transition. Extraordinarily under these circumstances, tourism has become one of the most propulsive economic activities in Croatia. To preserve this prosperous industry, one must consider the variables that affect Croatian tourism. Research shows that maritime passenger transport has a substantial influence upon seashore tourism improvement. This mode not only represents a sizable share of international tourism transport, but often provides the only access to island tourism destinations. This paper provides an analysis of the impact of the transitional changes of maritime passenger transport on Croatian tourism development. Following a brief examination of the functions of maritime transport within tourism, the paper focuses on: composition of Croatian fleets, potential opportunities in local and international markets, and structural reforms required to increase the quality of Croatian maritime passenger services. Commercialization programmes are significantly important as Croatia prepares to enter the EU, and open up its markets to free competition.     

Economic value of fish,wildlife, and recreation in Michigan's coastal wetlands

On the basis of annual expenditures by recreational participants and standard values of recreation days, as well as estimated sport and commercial harvests, the gross annual return from Michigan's 105,855 acres of coastal wetlands has been estimated. Analysis of fish, wildlife, and recreational values revealed that in 1977 these wetland areas generated an economic value of $489.69 per wetland acre, for a direct annual gross of $51.8 million. Specifically, these average return values per wetland acre/year, in descending order, are sport fishing ($286), nonconsumptive recreation ($138.24), waterfowl hunting ($31.23), trapping of furbearers ($30.44), and commercial fishing ($3.78). These gross annual return values were calculated in an effort to sensitize the general public to the diversity and possible magnitude of selected wetland functions.     

The opinions and attitudes of Louisiana's Coastal Zone residents toward outdoor recreational development: A perspective for planning and management

Abstract

In 1967, a new road facilitated access to a number of small, impoverished, rural communities in a marshy region along Mexico's Pacific coast. One of these—the only one situated on the Pacific shore—began to be visited by an increasing stream of tourists. This article discusses the severe sociocultural problems which the initial phase of tourism development caused in Teacapán, and argues that these are part of a syndrome which is manifest in similar situations worldwide. By anticipating this syndrome before tourism development gets underway, planners and managers of coastal tourism development in Third World nations would be better prepared to mitigate most of its severe effects.     

The implications of the re-establishment of direct links across the Taiwan Strait on the aviation industries in Greater China

This paper investigates the economic implications of the liberalization of air transportation across the Taiwan Strait to the region's aviation industries. Our analysis suggests that (1) liberalization has brought substantial benefits to airports and airlines in Mainland China and Taiwan. Negative impacts to Hong Kong are largely compensated by traffic increase in routes linking Mainland China. (2) In general, Taiwanese airports and airlines have benefited more from liberalization compared to airports and airlines on the mainland and Hong Kong. Such asymmetric effect is due to the larger size of the Mainland Chinese aviation market, which allows Taiwanese airlines to exploit network-related benefits. (3) Our investigation suggests that foreign hub carriers and medium sized Chinese airports will benefit most from China's future liberalizations.     

Impacts of energy development on coastal recreation: The case of New Jersey

Abstract

This paper presents the methodology and results of a study commissioned by the Division of Coastal Resources of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. The objective of the study was to assess the economic and social impacts of potential energy activities on New Jersey's shorefront recreational resources for the purpose of formulating policies concerning the location of energy facilities on the coast. The Coastal Tourism Response Model developed as part of the project is briefly described and suggestions are offered for model application. The paper reviews the literature assessing the impacts of environmental changes on human attitudes and behavior and further discusses energy facilities and tourists in particular. It concludes that energy facilities, if carefully planned, can coexist with tourism activities, and stresses the role of regional differences and local attitudes toward development and preservation as key factors in determining the state policy.     

Public preference for the attributes of the marina port in Korea: a choice experiment study

As of late, the Korean government needs quantitative information on economic feasibility analysis for marina port development projects. This study applies a choice experiment to measure public preference for the attributes of marina port in Korea. We consider the trade-offs between price and four attributes of marina port (capacity, access, waterfront, and program) for selecting a preferred alternative and elicit the marginal willingness to pay (MWTP) estimates for each attribute. We also test whether irrelevant alternatives property for the estimation model holds and compare the estimation results of the multinomial logit (MNL) and the nested logit (NL) models. The results show that the NL model outperforms the MNL model. In the NL model, MWTPs for increasing the level of a waterfront from promenade to both promenade and rest area and for the provision of marine leisure experience program are KRW13 384 (USD11.8) and KRW17 937 (USD15.8), respectively. This study is expected to provide policymakers with quantitative information for evaluating marina port construction projects in Korea.     

Noaa's civil penalty policy: Time for a change

Abstract

This article explores the lack of uniform penalty assessment in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) civil penalty policy under the Fishery Conservation and Management Act (the Magnuson Act). The author sugests that NOAA's inconsistent penalty assessment invites noncompliance by fishers because they view the penalties as unfair and arbitrary. In particular, deterrence is undermined by the absence of a provision that removes the economic benefits of noncompliance. NOAA's policy is contrasted with the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) civil penalty policy, which uniformly assesses penalties while tailoring the penalty to the individual facts of the case and effectively removing the economic incentives of noncompliance. If NOAA implemented a policy similar to EPA's, NOAA would secure increased Magnuson Act compliance and higher penalty amounts.     

Modeling Coastal and Marine Environmental Risks in Belize: the Marine Integrated Decision Analysis System (MIDAS)

The livelihood of coastal communities is directly linked to the health of intertidal and marine ecosystems. Coastal zones and marine areas are rapidly changing and highly vulnerable to impacts from climate change, accelerating human development, and over-fishing. Quality of life and the benefits of coastal development can be greatly enhanced, and costs minimized, by projecting and comparing alternative policy outcomes before management decisions are made. This article describes the Marine Integrated Decision Analysis System (MIDAS), an interactive decision support tool designed to assist the users and managers of Belize's system of marine management areas (MMAs) in understanding the interactions among various ecological, socioeconomic, and governance conditions in a spatially explicit manner. MIDAS can simulate and visualize the likely effects of alternative management strategies and therefore provides an important tool for evaluating potential scenarios. We developed two MIDAS modules to address specific threats in Belize –spatial risk resulting from mangrove deforestation in coastal areas and the potential effect of an oil spill off the coast of Belize. Workshops conducted in Belize indicate that diverse user groups such as fishers, tourism operators, and public environmental agencies can successfully utilize MIDAS to understand MMA outcomes, and environmental risks.     

Coastal Tourist Interest in Value-Added,Aquaculture-Based,Culinary Tourism Opportunities

Despite increasing focus on sustainable aquaculture investment in the U.S. coastal zones, the aquaculture industry continues to face skepticism among consumers due to perceived negative environmental impacts, and health and food safety concerns. Partnering with culinary tourism and local food promotion efforts has potential for improving public outreach about the benefits of aquaculture, especially in coastal destinations where sustainable marine aquaculture and tourism are both occurring. Culinary tourism implies that local foods reflect the local livelihood and culture, and may be important to the tourist's experience. Aquaculture is becoming increasingly valuable to coastal destinations for assuring the steady availability of local seafood to meet demand and retaining commercial fisheries as a means to differentiate themselves to tourists. This study examined the role of subjective knowledge and attitude about aquaculture, and their effect on intention to participate in value-added culinary aquaculture tourism experiences. The study found that tourists' subjective knowledge and attitude about aquaculture influenced intentions to participate in culinary aquaculture tourism. In order for farmers or tour operators to be successful in diversifying with value-added culinary aquaculture, attention needs to be paid to educating consumers, which may be possible through strategic partnerships with tourism organizations, chefs, and restaurants.     

The Dependency of People on the Great Barrier Reef,Australia

Understanding how people are dependent on Large Scale Marine Protected Areas (LSMPAs) is important for understanding how people might be sensitive to changes that affect these seascapes. We review how resource dependency is conceptualized and propose that it be broadened to include cultural values such as pride in resource status, scientific heritage, appreciation of aesthetics, biodiversity, and lifestyle opportunities. We provide an overview of how local residents (n = 3,181 face-to-face surveys), commercial fishers (n = 210, telephone surveys), and tourism operators (n = 119 telephone surveys) are potentially dependent on the Great Barrier Reef (GBR), a region currently experiencing significant environmental, social, and economic change. We found that commercial fishers and tourism operators were dependent not only financially on the GBR, but also because of their age, years in the industry and region, lack of education, and the number of dependents. These stakeholders lacked flexibility to secure alternative employment. All stakeholder groups, regardless of economic imperatives, were dependent on the GBR because of their cultural connections. We propose that resource dependency also provides an umbrella concept to describe the cultural services provided by an ecosystem, which can be described through place-based dependence and place-identity.     

Estimating the Economic Benefits of Regional Ocean Observing Systems

This article introduces a theme issue of the Coastal Management Journal comprising a set of articles on the potential economic benefits from new investments in coastal ocean observing systems. We describe a methodology to estimate these benefits, and apply this methodology to generate preliminary estimates of such benefits. The approach focuses on coastal ocean observing information within ten geographic regions encompassing all coastal waters of the United States, and within a wide range of industrial and recreational activities including recreational fishing and boating, beach recreation, maritime transportation, search and rescue operations, spill response, marine hazards prediction, offshore energy, power generation, and commercial fishing. Our findings suggest that annual benefits to users are likely to run in the multiple $100s of millions of dollars. The project results should be considered first-order estimates that are subject to considerable refinement as the parameters of regional observing systems are better defined, and as our understanding of user sectors improves.     

Constructing Paradise: The Impacts of Big Tourism in the Mexican Coastal Zone

Although coastal tourism is often looked to as a way of generating foreign revenue, it can also engender a range of social and environmental impacts. From an historical perspective, this article examines the growth of Cancún in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo since the late 1960s. The article documents a range of socioeconomic and environmental impacts associated with the rise of coastal tourism, and suggests that centralized planning and the provision of physical and financial infrastructure does not prevent those impacts. The principal causes of these impacts are also described, including changes in land-usage, population, tourism markets, foreign market penetration and control, an emphasis on short-term economic gain, weak regulatory enforcement, and an overall lack of integration of coastal zone management.