[Coral-List] Reef tourism

[Maarten De Brauwer]

Hi Mark,
thanks for sharing this really interesting study. I definitely agree that
tourism can be a positive force for the oceans...if managed properly. I
would like to add something to this paper, namely that there also is an
increasing amount of tourism that does not rely on coral reefs, but focuses
on soft sediment habitats instead.

We recently published a paper in Marine Policy showing that dive tourism
focusing on cryptobenthic fauna on soft sediment habitats is worth more
then $150 million per year. While this is only a fraction of the value of
reef diving, it does show that habitats perceived to have low diversity and
the small animals that live in them can have a very high value as well.

The paper is behind a paywall, so I am providing a link to a general public
friendly summary as well as the original paper.

General public summary:
https://crittersresearch.com/2017/06/02/new-publication-big-bucks-for-small-critters/

Peer reviewed paper:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308597X17300581


Cheers,
Maarten De Brauwer

PhD candidate | Fish Ecology Lab
https://crittersresearch.com
Department of Environment and Agriculture | School of Science

Curtin University
Email | maarten.debrauwer at curtin.edu.au
Web | http://curtin.edu.au

2017-05-30 15:48 GMT+08:00 Mark Spalding <mark at mdspalding.co.uk>:

> Coral reef tourism can be a threat and a promise. In a new study we've
> managed to map in quite some detail the spatial distribution of visitors
> (70
> million a year) and spending ($36 Billion per year). Some 30% of the
> world's
> reefs are generating tourism value. We distinguish between on-reef tourism
> ($19.5B), which is the fairly well appreciated aspect of diving,
> snorkelling
> and glass-bottomed boats and "reef adjacent tourism" ($16.3B) which is the
> often-overlooked value of calm, clear waters, superlative views, white sand
> etc.
>
> http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308597X17300635 (open
> access)
>
>
>
> The work just won a Tourism for Tomorrow prize
> https://www.wttc.org/tourism-for-tomorrow-awards/winners-
> and-finalists-2017/
> .. The data can also be explored at https://maps.oceanwealth.org
>
>
>
> My feeling is that some tourism has the potential to be a force for good,
> and in a few places it already is. By raising awareness of reef dependence
> in the travel sector (the world's largest industry!) we hope to encourage a
> greater taking of responsibility, not just by a few niche (and excellent)
> resorts, but by a much broader part of the sector.
>
>
>
> Hope it's of interest?
>
>
>
> Mark Spalding
>
>
>
> Mark D Spalding, PhD
>
> Senior Marine Scientist, Global Ocean Team, The Nature Conservancy
>
>    Chief Science Advisor to the Government of the British Indian Ocean
> Territory
>
>    Honorary Research Fellow, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge
>
> Department of Physical, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of
> Siena, Italy
>
> E: mspalding at tnc.org <mailto:mspalding at tnc.org>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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