Tales of Informality: Tourism Development in Four Ecuadorian Beaches

“Informality” as a global economic category and normative standard to measure economic activity is rooted in western cultures, implemented through legal, fiscal frameworks and development doctrines. This work argues that the informal/formal economic binary masks economic diversity in tourism destinations in the Global South. A prism of non-compliance to tourism legislation as a barometer for […]

From the Coast to the Highlands: Tourism as a Field for Neo-extractivism in the Rural Andes

Latin American development politics include manifold interventions in rural areas, among them extractivist industry. Paradoxically, scholars have adopted the term neo-extractivism to criticise left-led governments’ justification of natural resource use to provide welfare to the population. This research embraces neo-extractivism to understand socio-environmental changes introduced through tourism initiatives in Ecuadorian rural landscapes. While the case […]

The Unintended Outcomes of Sustainable Development: Hybridizing Beaches Through Small-Scale Tourism.

Local endogenous developments have sprouted worldwide under the economy-environment reconciliation premise in response to the sustainable development discourse. Debates on how sustainable development protects the environment tend to idealize and romanticize locals’ interaction with nature in rural areas. However, few discussions focus on how the developmental discourse pervades the local imaginary of progress while preferring ecosystems’ […]

Economic Contribution for Ocean Recreation in Florida Keys

Understanding the economic value of marine sanctuaries such as the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary (FKNMS) is important to justify public and private investments and to provide information to support management activities and understand their role in the nation’s blue economy. Very few studies have employed economic contribution analysis in examining economic value, even though […]

National Marine Sanctuaries Visitor Counting Process

This paper focuses on the development of a systematic data collection effort that allows managers to better understand the visitors to marine resource areas managed by NOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuaries (NMS). Through the National Marine Sanctuary Visitor Counting Process (NMS-COUNT), resource managers will gain valid and reliable data and data collection methodologies to […]

Ocean Visitor Monitoring Literature Review

This review presents a summary of existing visitor monitoring methods and relevant studies in land and marine-based areas, with a focus on the application to unique aquatic settings. Various opportunities and challenges exist with respect to the use of each method in different marine settings. These methods differ in terms of the complexity, costs, level […]

PANORAMA Solutions for a Healthy Planet

Through the National Marine Sanctuaries Visitor Counting Process (NMS-COUNT), marine protected area (MPA) resource managers gain valid and reliable data and methods to advance predictive capability and understanding of visitors. The NMS-COUNT process is an iterative framework that allows local management and stakeholders to add knowledge of visitor use at an NMS unit through each […]