Jellyfish outbreaks and their consequences appear to be on the increase around the world, and are becoming particularly relevant in the Mediterranean. No previous studies have quantified tourism losses caused by jellyfish outbreaks. We used a stated-choice questionnaire and a Random Utility Model to estimate the amount of time respondents would be willing to add to their journey, in terms of reported extra travel time, in order to reduce the risk of encountering jellyfish blooms in the Catalan coast. The estimation results indicated that the respondents were willing to spend on average an additional 23.8% of their travel time to enjoy beach recreation in areas with a lower risk of jellyfish blooms. Using as a reference the opportunity cost of time, we found that the subsample of individuals who made a trade-off between the disutility generated by travelling longer in order to lower the risk of jellyfish blooms, and the utility gained from reducing this risk, are willing to pay on average €3.20 per beach visit. This estimate, combined with the respondents’ mean income, yielded annual economic gains associated with reduction of jellyfish blooms on the Catalan coast around €422.57 million, or about 11.95% of the tourism expenditures in 2012. From a policy-making perspective, this study confirms the importance of the economic impacts of jellyfish blooms and the need for mitigation strategies. In particular, providing daily information using social media applications or other technical devices may reduce these social costs. The current lack of knowledge about jellyfish suggests that providing this information to beach recreationists may be a substantially effective policy instrument for minimising the impact of jellyfish blooms.

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Offshore wind energy development can have major economic implications because of the potential impact on coastal recreation demand-particularly for countries that are characterised by high offshore wind power potential while also being popular tourist destinations. In this context, the impact of offshore wind farm projects on beach recreation demand in Catalonia (Spain) during the 2012 summer season was examined. A combined revealed and stated preference approach, which allows joint modelling of actual and hypothetical demands, was applied. The results demonstrate a significant welfare loss up to €203 million per season. The results further show that the installation of a wind farm mainly will cause a shift in trips to Catalan beaches without wind farms, which implies that the estimated negative economic impacts will occur mostly in areas where wind farms are located. From a political economy point of view, this may call for the design and implementation of re-distributive instruments to offset the negative impacts caused by wind farms.

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