Special Interest in Marine Tourism - Term Paper Example

Marine Tourism Name Institution of Affiliation Abstract There has been enormous growth in the tourism sector in the last three decades and for many nations it has been one of most important revenue-generating sectors. While the patterns and interests of tourist have changed remarkably during this period, they have also shown avid interest in what could have been earlier termed as unconventional tourism. This form of tourism is now known as special interest tourism. Marine tourism is one sub-set of the conventional mass tourism industry that has gained tremendous popularity over the last few years. Today, marine tourism is one of the most sought-after forms of tourism and sustains many communities living in and around island and coastal areas. While the marine tourism industry looks forward to more opportunities in future, concerns have also been raised regarding the impacts it leaves on marine life. The paper discusses marine tourism in general, its relationship to conventional mass tourism, tourist motivators, risks associated with it, and recommendation thereof. Table of Contents Abstract 2 Table of Contents 3 Introduction 4 Special Interest Tourism 5 Marine Tourism vs. Conventional Mass Tourism 9 Motivators 10 Positive and Negative Impacts 11 Associated Risks 12 Recommendations 12 Conclusion 13 References 13 Introduction Providing over 200 million jobs worldwide, tourism industry could be termed as the largest global industry. Supported by statistics as these, it could be said that in every twelve people at least one person is related, either directly or indirectly, to this industry. As the world has become a more intertwined place to inhabit, the surge in tourist receipts and arrivals has been unprecedented during the last three decades. As a result of this and in context of the global economy, tourism as a revenue-generating sector has obtained a centre stage. The very growth, which the sector has undergone through the last three decades, is reflective of the importance that it has attained. A number of factors are considered as responsible for this trend; two important ones of which are changing economic and social dynamics of the population irrespective of where the population hails from. Tourists today have become a better and a discerning lot who have greater spending power, adequate time set aside for leisure, and easy access to travel-related information which, literally, is at their fingertips. The estimated forecast on the industry this year has been pegged at around $1.15 trillion, a figure that has been riding an annualized percentage of 1.5 as observed during the past 5 years. A steady growth forecast of 3 percent this year indicates better conditions ahead for this industry as number of international tourists increases (IBISWorld, 2012). According to a recent report of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) the international tourist movement could touch one billion mark by the end of 2012; an estimation that was done on the basis of 467 million tourists who set a record by travelling during the first half of the current year. The maximum growth of 5 percent was witnessed between these six months with 22 million more tourists travelling in comparison to the corresponding period last year. Despite occasional distress factors, like 2010 global recession and natural calamities like Tsunami and Japan earthquake, tourism sector has been showing unpredictable growth – in 1980 the total arrivals were 277 million, in 1995 the arrivals were 528 million, and in 2011 the arrivals were 983 million (UNWTO Tourism Highlights, 2012). As the tourism sector evolves globally the evolution translates into parallel leisure and travel demand characteristics. Tourists look forward to higher quality services and varied activities during their travel in order to experience newer possibilities of holidaying. Such a tourist mindset has stimulated interest in what is popularly known as “special interest tourism’. Special Interest Tourism As tourism becomes an organised and a sophisticated domain, tourists become specific and sometimes demanding in their needs. This trend has evolved at a time when the competition between tourist destinations has become stiff either because there are too many players in the market catering to these destinations or the destinations themselves have become saturated. Tour operators, thus, are as much interested to venture into niche markets as are visitors who want to experience these stand-alone attractions. Given the overall volume of business tourist market as a whole attracts, niche markets are small but very profitable since they cater to the group of tourists who have special interests in this form of tourism. The customers, generally, are the discerning lot; an aspect that helps special interest tourism market to capitalize on the competitive advantage that it offers. In the special interest tourism sector a number of niche markets operate, which are largely determined by the geography of the region in which tourism is promoted. These markets include sport tourism, event tourism, health and wellness tourism, adventure tourism, study tourism; youth culture tourism, business tourism and marine tourism. Special interest tourism is characteristic of certain specific attributes and generally represents an escape beyond leisure and recreation for a tourist. Some forms of special interest tourism help a tourist invest into his psychological, spiritual and physical being, be educated about new locations and learn something new on timeless treasures of earth while enhancing social self-image. Marine tourism offers special advantage to coastal communities and areas that have a boating fraternity which is strong. Marine tourism has begun to make its mark given Mother Earth's vast coastline, water sports, cruises, beaches, maritime hubs that are unexplored and voyages that are splendid. Marine tourism industry encompasses a mix of wide range of businesses, which are either direct or indirect in nature. For example, one-person operations include scuba-diving instructors, sea-kayak tour guides and fishing-boat operators (Baslon, 2001). Then there are privately-run companies who operate whale-watch cruises, charter-yachts, coastal resorts, fishing equipment suppliers and ferry services agencies etc (Orams, 1999). Local governments have an important role to play in managing and monitoring activities related to marine tourism. These include management of marine parks, tourism promotion and marketing bodies, enforcement of laws pertaining to several aspects of marine safety and tourism and fisheries control. The stake holding is also extended to a number of non-profit groups such as clubs for surf life-saving, windsurfing, yachting, scuba diving, fishing and surfing. Environmental group have an all-important role of acting as a supervisory body to check that no damage is inflicted on the marine life on account of tourism activities around these regions. Marine tourism has a substantial economic influence on coastal regions which makes it an important component of the overall tourism industry in terms of annual turnover. Miller (1990) is of the opinion that marine tourism forms sort of stand-alone economic activity particularly in coastal and island communities. Miller further adds that marine tourism can be, in certain cases termed as a sub-set of the main tourism industry, but in some cases it could be deemed as one surviving on its own. Lucks (2009) argues that from being a small offshoot of a large tourism sector, marine tourism has grown considerably to being one of the fastest growing segments of the tourism industry. He insists that in order to reap the best results of the sector there has to be sustainable management and proper planning to deal with maritime environments. Lucks debates that tourism researchers and maritime scientists need to come together to document information such that it helps promote the sector in the right direction. Sea, sand and sun are the characteristic features of marine tourism, which form the mainstay of marine tourism hubs across the world. Further, each marine tourism hub has its own characteristic features. Coral Triangle, for example, is dotted with around 500 coral species which covers countries like Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Indonesia and Solomon Islands. Northern Australia and Fiji Islands are loosely connected to the Coral triangle. In these areas governments lay special emphasis on the marine tourism since their economies are incredibly dependent on this form of tourism. The Malaysian GDP, for example, is tourism-dependent to the tune of 13.3 percent that fetches Malaysia revenue of $33.6 billion. Tourism with other segments of service industry account for around 50 percent of Malaysia's GDP, and tourism in that country accounts for around 12 percent of jobs in total employment. Critics say the figure is rising by the day since tourism is growing at a very fast pace in the country (International Coral Reef Action Network, 2012). In Great Barrier Reef, marine tourism is of highest value commercially and contribution of the reef to the Australian economy is around $1.5 billion per annum through as many as 1.6 million tourist visitations. The visitor nights spent per year on its Island resorts are over one million. The best part of Great Barrier Reef is that it is managed such that it is able to present the visitors an understanding of its ecology through interpretive material. In context of the reef-based tourism this is the most sustainable model in which Australian government and the private bodies alike work in collaboration with each other to uphold the sustainable marine concept while safeguarding the fragile ecosystem of the reef. Historically, marine and coastal tourism are both among the largest and oldest tourism industry segments. British gentry and European aristocrats indulged in "grand tours" to explore the cultural and natural features of the continent. A number of Eastern coastal resorts were owned by the rich and mighty who normally had another one at any other location for a different season – each getting its turn to be used during an appropriate season (Ceballos-Lascuráin, 1996). Marine Tourism vs. Conventional Mass Tourism Tourism industry uses different terms for different sectors. Mainly the types that are often reported include mass tourism, ecotourism, and sustainable tourism. Ecotourism started picking up in popularity since 1980s and sustainable tourism has started leaving its imprint since communities began to think of conserving earth’s resources. To say there is a difference between marine tourism and mass tourism would be an inept comparison since the former is encapsulated in the latter. It is, in fact, the mass tourism that dominates the marine tourism even though marine tourism has gained an identity of its own in the recent years. Companies, located in the "sending" countries, capture most of the profits in conventional mass tourism, and that is irrespective of whether they deal in conventional mass tourism in the general sense or marine tourism in the specific sense. However, the unique feature of marine tourism is that investors do not stick to their marine stakes for too long. That is probably because of the very nature of marine tourism's life cycle being of only limited number of years. For example, the life cycle of a coastal tourism resort is typically said to be of not more than two-and-a-half decades. Before it complete this period, its ownership has already changed many hands. Marine tourism has a lot to do with real estate since any marine activity is intended to, or unintentionally does, change the value of real estate around it. Consequently, there are many stake holders in marine tourism, whose ultimate intention may or may not be, to boost marine tourism; but not many of them take ownership of anything around a marine habitat. Motivators People travel for many reasons, which are lifestyle, incentive-based, promotional or growth-related. The basic idea is to undergo a change in locations, get access to newer sceneries, indulge in adventure, get relaxation, interact with new people, explore new cultures and even get educated. Different people's decisions to travel could be motivated by varied psychological factors (Crotts and Fred van Raaij, 1994). Psychologists have studied such factors for years and have identified a number of psychological motivators. These include power and ego, romance, cultural experiences, social contact and trends. Travelers who indulge in expensive tourism like marine tourism do so because they want to showcase their power and ego; they want to appear well travelled and wealthy which fuels their ego through raised levels of prestige. Some destinations have an aura of romance attached to them which acts as a magnet for people to visit the same. Young and passionate people have such locations always on top of their minds. The exploratory kind, on the other hand, prefer places that exhibit rich cultural influences and have a glorious ancient past. People who prefer heritage sites want to obtain new cultural experiences. Such places offer them an extra window for social contact, which not only includes knowing new people but also their custom, foods, culture and so on. Those who fall in the "trendy" bracket explore new forms of tourism like marine tourism, adventure tourism and sport tourism. Marine tourism being up-and-coming has a propensity to attract not only the discerning but also the younger groups for the very adventurous part of it. The excitement and the image that they paint in their minds about this form of tourism is what attract them (George, 1999). However, Orams (1998) cautions that it is not easy to discover people's motivations as the same can only be "inferred from observing behavior". Positive and Negative Impacts Marine tourism has economic impacts apart from the ones on people and places. The greatest economic impact of marine tourism anywhere in the world is that people are absorbed in several jobs in and around these places in different areas of the sector like hotels, restaurants, bars etc. It becomes the source of their livelihood. People also earn in their individual capacity when tourists participate in different activities at marine spots. A scuba diver earns either by providing his equipment or coaching people to dive, and a boatman earns by letting his boat to a group. However, the impact on the place is often negative than positive. For example, in 1990 Pulau Payar Marine Park got 3,668, a number that swelled in 2009 to 102,866 visitors. That meant entry of around 700 tourists at one time on the island; a ruthless and greedy activity on part of its tour operators which led to widespread damage of corals on the park. The result was a degraded Pulau Payar Marine Park. For environmentalists, this has become a cause of particular concern and their efforts trigger action on part of governments to act in this direction. In order to bring about changes that help in managing marine parks sustainably, the Australian government developed a research program recently in association with Australian institute of Marine science, Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, and Association of Marine Park Tourism operators (Miezkowski, 1995). Associated Risks Marine tourism activity has some inherent risks associated with it. While there are certain dangerous condition or even dangers an integral part of this form of tourism, the risks also manifest themselves when tourists act in a manner fraught with negligence. Integral risks associated with it include dangers associated with water conditions, products used in marine sports, boat-related risks and risks from structures. Companies related to marine tourism do their best to minimise these risks either directly or through their chosen representatives. This is normally done by adhering to the rules and regulations as applicable by loc al laws. Recommendations Marine tourism is driven by the vast geography and sheer size that it involves and thus its importance must be understood by everyone involved in it. That realization must transform into an equal responsibility amongst all. While further opportunities must be explored, it would also be prudent to analyse the threats that might be looming over marine tourism; for example, the threat of being wiped out by irresponsible handling by people and agents alike. More private-public partnerships should be fostered with not just profits in mind but greater accountability on ground. Global laws should be formulated which should have universal applicability so that tourists visiting other marine destinations than their own realise the destination they have chosen is as much important and as fragile as is theirs back home. Conclusion The paper leaves no doubt about the immense potential of marine tourism industry. While marine tourism will continue to evolve further in the years to come, its growth at present can be gauged by the coming up of numerous hotels, resorts and other facilities around islands and coastal areas in the recent years throughout the world. The sea is practically dotted with boats, anglers, scuba divers, leisure crafts, cruise vessels, and above all tourists everywhere as far as ones sight can go. The best part of marine tourism is that it is interlinked with a number of features that help a tourist discover him or herself. But the potential with which marine tourism grows can also be the very reason for its concern that tourists, governments, companies and all other stake holders need to introspect. Marine tourism largely depends on nature drawn from marine life, its resources and the environment that surrounds it. The growth of this sector must not happen at the very expense of what sustains it. Marine tourism, thus, has to be capitalised in a more sustainable, responsible and ethical manner. But such an initiative will largely depend on unbiased and down-to-earth policies of the related governments. References Baslon, N. (2001). Marine Tourism Industry-trends and prospects. Kuala Lumpur: Maritime Institute of Malaysia. Crotts, J.C. and Fred van Raaij, W. (1994). Economic Psychology of Travel and Tourism, The Hawthorne Press Inc., Ceballos-Lascuráin, H. (1997). Tourism, Ecotourism, and Protected Areas (Gland, Switzerland: IUCN, 1996), pp. 1–5; David Nicholson-Lord, “The Politics of Travel: Is Tourism Just Colonialism in Another Guise?” The Nation, October 6, 1997, pp. 11–18, Global Tourism: Market Research Report. (2012). http://www.ibisworld.com/industry/global/global-tourism.html. Retrieved September 14, 2012, George, S. (1999). Fundamentals of Tourism and Travel, Module 2. Consumer Behavior. 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