Tourist Levies and Willingness to Pay for a Whale Shark Experience

Davis, Derrin; Tisdell, Clement A.

doi:10.1177/135481669900500203

Cited by 59 publications

(25 citation statements)

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“…Data derived was analysed using the Contingent Valuation Method (Cesar et al, 2003) to obtain the potential value of the service (over and above other expenditure). The results from this survey indicate that on average visitors would be prepared to pay US$55 for a whale shark encounter experience but Davis and Tisdell (1998). At the time of that survey, it cost around US$200 to dive with whale sharks.…”

Section: Ecotourism Development and Socio-economic Benefitsmentioning

confidence: 92%

Seychelles: A case study of community involvement in the development of whale shark ecotourism and its socio-economic impact

Rowat

Engelhardt

2007

Fisheries Research

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Section: Ecotourism Development and Socio-economic Benefitsmentioning

confidence: 92%

Seychelles: A case study of community involvement in the development of whale shark ecotourism and its socio-economic impact

Rowat

Engelhardt

2007

Fisheries Research

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“…This method allowed for a large number of questionnaires to be distributed. Davis and Tisdell (1998), in their previous study of whale shark tourists, acknowledged that this approach may have introduced bias as a result of variations in participation levels among operators. To overcome this potential bias, regular contact was maintained with operators to encourage participation.…”

Section: Questionnaire Design and Administrationmentioning

confidence: 95%

Consolidation in a wildlife tourism industry: the changing impact of whale shark tourist expenditure in the Ningaloo coast region

Catlin

Jones

Norman

et al. 2009

Journal of Tourism Research

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In this paper, we examine the expenditure of whale shark tour participants at Ningaloo Marine Park, Western Australia; the location of the world's fi rst whale shark tourism industry, established in 1989. We demonstrate that in 2006, participants' expenditure in the region was $894 per trip, total expenditure was $6.0 million (all fi gures are in Australian dollars), and between $2.4 and $4.6 million would have been lost to the region if whale shark tourism did not exist. Our measure of participants' expenditure is substantially lower than the calculation of $2370 per participant from a previous study of whale shark tourists using data collected in 1995. We argue that this is consistent with a change in the types of wildlife tourists that participate in an activity as the industry reaches the point of consolidation. Our results also suggest that using old data to forecast wildlife tourists' expenditure needs to take into account the industry' 1 In addition to attracting local and international visitors and making a contribution to the regional economy, it also fi ts within the category of 'iconic' tourism (Stoeckl et al., 2005), providing the region with a recognisable brand and point of difference from its competitors. Previous research on whale shark tourism valued the expenditure of whale shark tourists in the region at $4.7 million (Davis et al., 1997). 2 However, the Davis et al. study was conducted in 1995, only six years after the fi rst whale shark tours, when the industry was in its infancy.In this paper, we discuss and assess changes to whale shark tourism since 1995, focusing on the local economic impact of whale shark tourists' expenditure. This paper consists of fi ve sections. The fi rst section provides a brief description and history of tourism of the Ningaloo Coast and the Ningaloo whale shark tourism industry. The second section reviews the literature, analysing the economic impact 5 Although reliable statistics are not available for the early 1990s, it is widely regarded by researchers and the local tourism industry that visitor numbers have increased markedly since the early 1990s. Over this period, there has been a marked change in the nature of tourism in the region. From 1989 to 1991, fi shing was the most popular activity on the Ningaloo Coast for 70% of visitors (Wood and Dowling, 2002), while in 2003, it was most popular for only 10% of visitors (Carlsen and Wood, 2004). In a related trend, the origin of visitors has changed from being overwhelmingly from Western Australia to now include a high proportion from other countries and more from other states (see Table 1). Impact of Whale Shark Tourist Expenditure in the Ningaloo Coast RegionCarlsen and Woods' (2004) analysis of expenditure patterns on the Ningaloo Coast found that the expenditure of visitors correlated positively with their participation in high-cost activities, and correlated negatively with their age. Visitor expenditure also correlated positively with increasingly expensive accommodation categories, 6 and that ex...

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“…In contrast to nonsustainable forms of landuse, ecotourism should be managed to put ecological sustainability above all other criteria (Aylward et al 1996). The overall potential of ecotourism to generate revenues for conservation is enormous (Hoyt 1996;Davis and Tisdell 1998;Leader-Williams 2002). It can be estimated that annual growth rates of ecotourism in the 1990s have been twice as high as the overall tourism growth rate of 6% (Groombridge 1992;Cater 1994a).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of ecotourism in conservation: panacea or Pandora’s box?

2005

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Abstract. Does ecotourism contribute towards conservation of threatened species and habitats or is it just a marketing ploy of the tourism industry? Using 251 case studies on ecotourism from the literature, I looked at the distribution of case studies over continents, habitats and flagship species types and what factors influenced whether an ecotourism regime was perceived as ecologically sustainable by authors. Over 50% of ecotourism case studies were reported from Africa and Central America. The overall distribution of ecotourism case studies did not reflect vertebrate endemism, nor overall tourism distribution in terms of tourist numbers and receipts. There were significant differences between continents and habitats with regard to the proportion of sustainable case studies: ecotourism is perceived to be less sustainable in South America and Asia, and in island and mountain habitats. The type of flagship species also influenced whether ecotourism was classified as sustainable or not: ecotourism with no flagship species was rarely classified as sustainable while charismatic bird and mammal species were associated with a higher probability of sustainability. In a multivariate analysis, flagship species type and local community involvement were important predictors of sustainability in ecotourism. Detailed a priori planning, local involvement and control measures were perceived by authors of case studies to increase the success of ecotourism in conservation. They also perceived that ecotourism can only be an effective conservation tool under certain conditions. If these are met, the evidence indicates that ecotourism can make a contribution to conservation.

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Tourist Levies and Willingness to Pay for a Whale Shark Experience

Cited by 59 publications

References 1 publication

Seychelles: A case study of community involvement in the development of whale shark ecotourism and its socio-economic impact

Seychelles: A case study of community involvement in the development of whale shark ecotourism and its socio-economic impact

Consolidation in a wildlife tourism industry: the changing impact of whale shark tourist expenditure in the Ningaloo coast region

The role of ecotourism in conservation: panacea or Pandora’s box?

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