Investigating acceptance of marine tourism levies, to cover the opportunity costs of conservation for coastal communities
Marine tourism is promoted as a substitute economic activity to unsustainable fishing, which is compatible with conservation. However, benefits of marine tourism do not typically accrue in small-scale fisheries (SSFs), which often bear the costs of conservation; they accrue to tourists and tourist-f...
| Hauptverfasser: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Journal article |
| Sprache: | English |
| Veröffentlicht: |
Elsevier
2022
|
| _version_ | 1826308560035774464 |
|---|---|
| author | Booth, H Mourato, S Milner-Gulland, EJ |
| author_facet | Booth, H Mourato, S Milner-Gulland, EJ |
| author_sort | Booth, H |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | Marine tourism is promoted as a substitute economic activity to unsustainable fishing, which is compatible with conservation. However, benefits of marine tourism do not typically accrue in small-scale fisheries (SSFs), which often bear the costs of conservation; they accrue to tourists and tourist-focussed businesses. We explored how marine tourism levies could operationalise the beneficiary-pays principle and address these cost-benefit inequities using an online contingent valuation (CV) survey to measure international tourists' willingness-to-pay (WTP) towards community-based shark conservation (N = 1033). Levies were widely supported (96%), with median and Turnbull mean WTP of US$ 10–14.99 and $22.02 per person per day, respectively. We combined these results with data from two marine tourism hotspots in Indonesia – Lombok and Pulau Weh – to explore the feasibility of implementing tourism levies to incentivize pro-conservation behaviour in local SSFs. Our conservative estimates indicate that marine tourism levies in Lombok and Pulau Weh could respectively generate US$ 2.3–10 million and US$ 300,000–1.3 million annually – several times greater than the estimated costs of conservation incentives in local SSFs. The marine tourism industry offers an under-utilised revenue stream for marine conservation, which could support policy aspirations such as ‘a sustainable and equitable blue economy’. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T07:21:17Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:65bda7b5-8e9d-440c-a7cb-c97beaa16be3 |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T07:21:17Z |
| publishDate | 2022 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:65bda7b5-8e9d-440c-a7cb-c97beaa16be32022-10-14T13:33:53ZInvestigating acceptance of marine tourism levies, to cover the opportunity costs of conservation for coastal communitiesJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:65bda7b5-8e9d-440c-a7cb-c97beaa16be3EnglishSymplectic ElementsElsevier2022Booth, HMourato, SMilner-Gulland, EJMarine tourism is promoted as a substitute economic activity to unsustainable fishing, which is compatible with conservation. However, benefits of marine tourism do not typically accrue in small-scale fisheries (SSFs), which often bear the costs of conservation; they accrue to tourists and tourist-focussed businesses. We explored how marine tourism levies could operationalise the beneficiary-pays principle and address these cost-benefit inequities using an online contingent valuation (CV) survey to measure international tourists' willingness-to-pay (WTP) towards community-based shark conservation (N = 1033). Levies were widely supported (96%), with median and Turnbull mean WTP of US$ 10–14.99 and $22.02 per person per day, respectively. We combined these results with data from two marine tourism hotspots in Indonesia – Lombok and Pulau Weh – to explore the feasibility of implementing tourism levies to incentivize pro-conservation behaviour in local SSFs. Our conservative estimates indicate that marine tourism levies in Lombok and Pulau Weh could respectively generate US$ 2.3–10 million and US$ 300,000–1.3 million annually – several times greater than the estimated costs of conservation incentives in local SSFs. The marine tourism industry offers an under-utilised revenue stream for marine conservation, which could support policy aspirations such as ‘a sustainable and equitable blue economy’. |
| spellingShingle | Booth, H Mourato, S Milner-Gulland, EJ Investigating acceptance of marine tourism levies, to cover the opportunity costs of conservation for coastal communities |
| title | Investigating acceptance of marine tourism levies, to cover the opportunity costs of conservation for coastal communities |
| title_full | Investigating acceptance of marine tourism levies, to cover the opportunity costs of conservation for coastal communities |
| title_fullStr | Investigating acceptance of marine tourism levies, to cover the opportunity costs of conservation for coastal communities |
| title_full_unstemmed | Investigating acceptance of marine tourism levies, to cover the opportunity costs of conservation for coastal communities |
| title_short | Investigating acceptance of marine tourism levies, to cover the opportunity costs of conservation for coastal communities |
| title_sort | investigating acceptance of marine tourism levies to cover the opportunity costs of conservation for coastal communities |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT boothh investigatingacceptanceofmarinetourismleviestocovertheopportunitycostsofconservationforcoastalcommunities AT mouratos investigatingacceptanceofmarinetourismleviestocovertheopportunitycostsofconservationforcoastalcommunities AT milnergullandej investigatingacceptanceofmarinetourismleviestocovertheopportunitycostsofconservationforcoastalcommunities |