United by the ocean: nature-based tourism in coastal areas worldwide – a synthesis of international research agenda and priorities

Keywords: wildlife tourism, coastal areas, international
Session Type: Virtual Paper Abstract
Day: Friday
Session Start / End Time: 2/25/2022 08:00 AM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 2/25/2022 09:20 AM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 73

Abstract

What is the one thing that unites the coasts of Alaska, Washington, Baja California, Chile, but also Iceland, Madagascar, Australia and even Russia’s Far East? The answer is obviously the ocean. This presentation, stemming from a personal passion and previous career as field biologist, is about exploring cases and trends of the coastal nature-based tourism worldwide, and about sharing the lessons and priorities learnt.

People on land are separated by borders and a plethora of restrictions. Those who call ocean home are in theory free to roam the planet’s waters. Among these, there are some species that (largely due to their size and relative easiness of photo/video recording) have become iconic, easily recognizable by large public, and, well, are now tourist attractions. Examples include many whale species, sharks, tuna fish, and sea turtles to name a few.

What is also special among them is that their life journeys often entail large annual migrations of over 1,000 miles long. Which means that wildlife-interested public in different areas of the world would often see the same animals in different stages of their annual cycle and in different ecological and geographic conditions. The visitation sites themselves, situated across a range of contexts, differ in the level of tourist infrastructure available, in visitor management protocols and in protection status.

I will be presenting my main findings and conclusions derived after conducting a systematic literature review in English, Russian, French, and Spanish on the topic of current challenges and opportunities in worldwide coastal wildlife tourism.