Managing marine wildlife tourism activities: Analysis of motivations and specialization levels of divers and whale watchers

Bentz, Julia; Lopes, F. C. F.; Calado, Helena; Dearden, Philip

doi:10.1016/j.tmp.2016.01.004

Cited by 38 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 49 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…The scuba divers were mostly male, middle aged and well-educated people, and skewed towards high experience and loyalty to the study areas. This profile partly reflects that of divers described in similar research carried out at both tropical [18,21,25,28,52,62–66] and non-tropical diving destinations [10,12–13,16,20,22,29–30,53,67–70], making it possible to generalise some of the implications of this study to different diving destinations.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 67%

“…As divers gained experience, they became less satisfied with the health of the dive sites’ ecosystem and with overall management [15,26,29,67]. In particular, satisfaction among divers in Ponta do Ouro was lower than the level reported 15 years ago [50], possibly due to the specialisation of divers in this area over time, as well as actual environmental degradation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This choice was grounded on two considerations. First, research on scuba diving tourism at destinations beyond the tropics is still limited [29]. Second, based on the relatively few available studies (compared with the literature available for tropical destinations), locations beyond the tropics tend to host a good proportion of experienced divers [30–33].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

The influence of scuba diving experience on divers’ perceptions, and its implications for managing diving destinations

et al. 2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Scuba diving experience–which can include accumulated diving experience and familiarity with a diving location–is an important descriptor of diver specialisation and behaviour. Formulating and applying generalisations on scuba diving experience and its effects could assist the management of diving destinations around the world. This requires research that tests whether the influences of scuba diving experience are consistent across divers’ segments at different locations. The study assessed and compared the influence of scuba diving experience at two study areas in Italy and Mozambique. Scuba divers (N = 499) participated in a survey of diver segmentation, experience, and perceptions. The influence of diving experience on perceptions was determined using canonical correspondence analysis (CCA). Experienced divers provided positive self-assessments, were less satisfied with dive sites’ health and management, and viewed the impacts of scuba diving activities less critically than novice divers. Scuba diving experience exerted similar influences on divers, regardless of the study area. However, remarkable differences also emerged between the study areas. Therefore, the use of generalisations on scuba diving experience remains a delicate issue. Recommendations were formulated for the management of experienced scuba diving markets and for the use of generalisations on diving experience to manage diving destinations.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 67%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

The influence of scuba diving experience on divers’ perceptions, and its implications for managing diving destinations

et al. 2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Ecotourism activities, defined as the "responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment, sustains the well-being of the local people, and involves interpretation and education" (TIES, 2015) may have both positive and negative consequences for the environment and the conservation of target species, as well as for humans ( Fig. 1) (Boyle and Samson, 1985;Taylor and Knight, 2003;Steven et al, 2011;Ghosh and Uddhammar, 2013;Sato et al, 2013;Das and Chatterjee, 2015;Mossaz et al, 2015;Bentz et al, 2016;Tolvanen and Kangas, 2016). There is much hope for ecotourism to promote and support biodiversity conservation, but several examples illustrate the failure of some ecotourism practices (Das and Chatterjee, 2015).…”

Section: Wildlife Observation As a Growing Form Of Ecotourismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Consequences of brown bear viewing tourism: A review

Penteriani

López‐Bao

Bettega

et al. 2017

Biological Conservation

114

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…McFarlane (1996) suggested that through engaging in birdwatching activities, participants progress through stages of development and change their attitudes, preferences and group affiliations over time. Bentz, Lopes, Calado, and Dearden (2016) suggested that specialized participants are considered more knowledgeable and skilled in their chosen activity. They are more committed to the activity in terms of time and economic investment in equipment.…”

Section: Recreational Specialization Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recreational specialization and ecologically responsible behaviour of Chinese birdwatchers in Hong Kong

Cheung

Fok

2016

Journal of Sustainable Tourism

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Birdwatching is a popular nature-based recreational activity that has millions of participants worldwide. Hong Kong is an important birdwatching destination in Southeast Asia, and the number of birdwatchers visiting Hong Kong has steadily increased in recent decades. This study investigated the influences of recreational specialization on the proenvironmental attitudes and ecologically responsible behaviour of Chinese birdwatchers. Questionnaire surveys and interviews were conducted in Hong Kong, and 387 completed questionnaires were collected. The results of structural equation modelling indicate a direct positive association between the birdwatchers' specialization and pro-2 environmental attitudes and an indirect positive association between their specialization and ecologically responsible behaviour. These findings suggest that understanding birdwatchers' specialization is essential for predicting birdwatchers' behaviour when visiting ecologically sensitive destinations. Birdwatcher specialization levels could be used to formulate visitor management strategies at birdwatching sites and to mitigate visitor impacts on avian species.

show abstract

Managing marine wildlife tourism activities: Analysis of motivations and specialization levels of divers and whale watchers

Cited by 38 publications

References 49 publications

The influence of scuba diving experience on divers’ perceptions, and its implications for managing diving destinations

The influence of scuba diving experience on divers’ perceptions, and its implications for managing diving destinations

Consequences of brown bear viewing tourism: A review

Recreational specialization and ecologically responsible behaviour of Chinese birdwatchers in Hong Kong

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About