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on Tourism Economics |
| By: | Vladimir Otrachshenko (Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei, Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change and Nova School of Business and Economics and Universidade Nova de Lisboa); Francesco Bosello (Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei, Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change and University of Milan) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the impact of marine ecosystem quality on inbound coastal tourism in the Baltic, North Sea, and Mediterranean countries. Given extensive empirical findings in ecological science, we use marine protected areas (MPAs) and the fraction of species that are shed in each country’s exclusive economic zone that are overexploited or collapsed as a proxy for marine ecosystem quality. We use an autoregressive distributed lag model in a destination-origin panel set up. The empirical findings of this paper suggest that MPAs have a negative direct effect on tourism. However, this effect is reversed when the interaction terms with economic variables are included. Also, by using the fraction of species that are overexploited as an indicator of the deterioration of marine ecosystem quality, we find a considerable negative impact of this index on inbound coastal tourism. The short-term (current) impact of this index on tourism constitutes less than half of the long-term impact. Results provide valuable information for policy makers, suggesting that measures enhancing marine ecosystem quality should be considered in addition to conventional tourism policies focused on price. |
| Keywords: | Coastal Tourism, Marine Ecosystem Quality, Panel Data |
| JEL: | C33 Q57 Q26 |
| Date: | 2015–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2015.16&r=tur |
| By: | Francesco Bosello (Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei, Centro Euro-Mediterraneo sui Cambiamenti Climatici and Università degli Studi di Milano); Elisa Delpiazzo (Centro Euro-Mediterraneo sui Cambiamenti Climatici); Fabio Eboli (Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei and Centro Euro-Mediterraneo sui Cambiamenti Climatici) |
| Abstract: | The present research has been developed within the EU FP7 VECTORS project (http://www.marine-vectors.eu/). The main scope of the project (2011-2015) has been to evaluate, from a multilateral perspective, drivers, pressures and vectors of changes in marine life of three main European seas (Baltic, Western Mediterranean, North), the mechanisms by which they do so and the impacts that they have on ecosystem structures and functioning as well as on economic activities and wellbeing. This paper describes the methodology, data elaboration and main results of a modelling exercise aiming to assess the economic effect of future changes in the EU marine ecosystem in the medium term (2030). We focus on those changes potentially affecting the fishing and the tourism sectors in two different IPCC SRES scenarios, the A2 and B1, varying in the future trends of population, GDP, prices, as well as the overall impact on environment. Sector-specific economic impacts are channeled through increases in fishing effort, due to lower availability of commercial fish species, and decrease in tourism demand following deterioration of marine ecosystem quality. Impacts on EU coastal countries Gross Domestic Product are negative and larger when the tourism sector is affected. This is explained by the much higher contribution of tourism than fishery in the production of value added. Negative impacts are also larger in the A2 than in the B1 scenario. The largest GDP losses due to adverse impacts on fishery are experienced by Spain (-0.13%), those related to tourism by Italy (almost -1%). Percent changes in sectoral production are notably larger than GDP ones: the largest contraction in fish sector production occurs in France (-24.7%). Notable decrease in coastal tourism demand occurs in Spain and the Netherlands. In general the Western Mediterranean is the most adversely affected region, whereas the Baltic Sea denotes a particular vulnerability to losses in tourism value added compared to the BAU. North Sea countries experience smaller losses. |
| Keywords: | Impact Assessment, Computable General Equilibrium, Fisheries, Tourism, Marine Ecosystem |
| JEL: | C68 D58 L83 Q22 Q57 |
| Date: | 2015–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2015.22&r=tur |
| By: | Daisy Das (Department of Economics and International Business, Sam Houston State University) |
| Abstract: | This study examines the benefits and costs of living around Kaziranga National Park (KNP), a protected area in Assam (India), by conducting a primary survey among the people who live in the neighboring villages. It finds no evidence of eviction or pecuniary punishment by the park authority against the households as feared by the villagers. The resource extraction pattern shows that it cannot be a cause of conflict between people and the park. Our findings show that potential conflict arises primarily because of the fact that people suffer damages due to animal raids but the park authority rarely takes any effective measures to contain it or to compensate for those damages. Besides, the eco-development programs are not effectively implemented to improve wellbeing of the people living in the neighboring areas. Furthermore, the gainful employment opportunities in tourism-related activities are confined to a relatively small segment of the local population. Consequently, people harbor a negative attitude toward the park authority. However, the study also shows that tourism and related activities generate substantial benefits (including income) that offset the losses caused by animal raids. Thus, tourism holds the promise of eliminating the negative attitude among people toward conservation and resolving potential conflicts. However, utmost care should be taken to ensure that the tourism activities do not hinder the efforts to conserve biodiversity of the park. The construction of tourism infrastructure should not destroy the flora and fauna of the park and should be sensitive to the ways of wildlife living. |
| Date: | 2015–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:shs:wpaper:1502&r=tur |