Conservation and education benefits of interpretation on marine wildlife tours
Article
Article Title | Conservation and education benefits of interpretation on marine wildlife tours |
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ERA Journal ID | 36280 |
Article Category | Article |
Authors | Zeppel, Heather (Author) and Muloin, Sue (Author) |
Journal Title | Tourism in Marine Environments |
Journal Citation | 5 (2-3), pp. 215-227 |
Number of Pages | 13 |
Year | 2009 |
Place of Publication | New York, USA |
ISSN | 1544-273X |
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.3727/154427308787716802 |
Abstract | Marine wildlife tourism can provide a range of education and conservation benefits for visitors. These benefits derive from close personal encounters with marine wildlife and visitor learning about marine species and ocean environments. There has been limited assessment of marine wildlife tourism experiences and educational programs to identify whether these increase tourists' knowledge, promoting attitudinal shifts and also lifestyle changes that aid marine conservation and help to conserve marine wildlife. Similarly, there has been little evaluation of on-site and longer term conservation intentions, or behaviors, of visitors that benefit marine wildlife and environments. This article reviews the education and conservation benefits of marine wildlife experiences in Australia using Orams' framework of indicators to manage marine tourism. The key indicator for tourists assessed in this article is behavior/lifestyle change that benefits marine species, along with three indicators of conservation outcomes for marine environments. Information is drawn from selected case studies of research on guided tourist encounters with whales, dolphins, and marine turtles from 1996 to 2007, mainly in Australia. This analysis found tourist learning during mediated encounters with marine wildlife contributes to proenvironmental attitudes and improved on-site behavior changes, with some longer term intentions to engage in conservation actions that benefit marine species. |
Keywords | conservation actions; education benefits; environmental behavior; interpretation; marine wildlife |
ANZSRC Field of Research 2020 | 350806. Tourist behaviour and visitor experience |
410403. Environmental education and extension | |
440608. Recreation, leisure and tourism geography | |
Public Notes | File reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher/author. |
Byline Affiliations | James Cook University |
Institution of Origin | University of Southern Queensland |
https://research.usq.edu.au/item/q0q77/conservation-and-education-benefits-of-interpretation-on-marine-wildlife-tours
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