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Small island developing states and small tourism-dependent coastal states have been the most gravely impacted by global climate and Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic crises and are expected to face even greater economic and social challenges in the years to come. While information and research on sustainable and blue tourism in small island developing states (SIDS) does exist, it is hard to find, difficult to analyze, and challenging to turn into policy guidance. This guidance note is a synthesis of findings from a literature review of the inventory of blue tourism resources, consumer market research, and tourism trend monitoring undertaken by the World Bank global tourism team since the start of COVID-19.

By conducting an exploratory research, 705 surveys were collected along four sandy beaches in Ecuador: Ayangue, Chipipe, Olon and Puerto Engabao, chosen because of their unequal levels of tourism development. A correlation study takes into account the perception of native and non-native residents and as a result environmental conflicts affected most residents from Ayangue, Olon and Puerto Engabao, and physical conflicts mainly affected residents from Chipipe. Also, according to the perceptions of native and non-native residents on beach management, only in Olon both groups considerate a community management while in the other beaches, the preferences varied between national, regional and community management. Finally, the Chi-Square tests show non- relation between the conflicts and the place of origin. However, in terms of management, there is significant relation between this aspect and their native land.

“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 formal/informal economic activity evidence disconnection between modern regulatory frameworks and the ways in which local networks of small and medium entrepreneurs (SMEs) operate. Census data from four popular beaches of Ecuador are analysed with descriptive clustering statistics. The research uncovers a diverse range of economic forms of tourism enterprise: unincorporated associations, unregistered tourism establishments, and SMEs operating to varying extents outside officialdom, which reframes the paradigmatic distinction between formal and informal tourism economies. Further, this innovative research reveals tensions associated with such characterization as “alternative economies” as globalized research and political objects.

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 in the Pacific coast of Santa Elena relates the promotion of small-scale tourism in rural areas to enclave economies, the case in Ecuadorian highlands incorporating the Qhapaq Ñan project relates community-based tourism expectations with developmental practices. Ethnographic accounts and qualitative analysis reveal practices leading to intense use of local resources, commoditisation of material and immaterial resources at local level, and the social stress on development projects. In this way, a neo-extrativist gaze shed light on the intersection of rural studies and anthropological approaches of tourism in the Andes. 

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 and recreational value over their ecological significance. In Ecuador, a Latin American country on the Pacific coast, rural seaside communities navigate between their economic survival and the transformation of pristine beaches into beautified sandy beaches, usually protected by seawalls. Indeed, villagers on the coast of Ecuador promoted the construction of seawalls because they would also afford protection to their tourism-dependent economy.

A Special Report which considers the socio-economic argument for shifting to a more sustainable tourism model as part of recovery efforts from the global pandemic. The report provides a holistic assessment of the current state of coastal and marine tourism and draws on 32 case studies and examples from 23 countries to identify a set of priorities designed to help catalyse systemic change in destination-wide management through strategic investment and intervention by governments to support sustainable recovery from the global pandemic; and a series of over 40 Expert Perspectives from leading global tourism experts across industry, finance, IGOs, NGOs, academic and government which provide insights and inspiration for the future of coastal and marine tourism.

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 it is more useful in influencing the behaviors of decision makers. This study therefore employs such a methodology to determine the economic importance of tourism and visitor spending in the sanctuary to Monroe County, Florida’s economy. Visitors who came to the area for ocean recreation and tourism spent a total of USD 1.7 billion, which translates to a contribution of 19,688 total jobs, USD 752 million in total labor income, USD 1.2 billion in total value added, and USD 2 billion in total output to the region. With regard to the spending of snorkelers and divers only, total spending is about USD 1.07 billion, contributing about 12,441 total jobs, USD 466 million in total labor income, USD 767 million in total value added, and USD 1.2 billion in total output. Ocean recreation is therefore an important economic driver in the region and efforts should be directed at protecting the diverse and sensitive ecosystem of the sanctuary.

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 advance predictive capability and understanding of visitors. While various federal and state agencies and Coastal Treaty Tribes collaborate in the management of coastal and marine areas, there is little compatibility in methods for estimating visitation. The NMS-COUNT process offers an iterative framework that allows local management and stakeholders to contribute to the understanding of visitor use at an NMS unit throughout each phase of the process. Building off the Interagency Visitor Monitoring Framework, the NMS-COUNT process focuses on visitation estimates and direct communication with managers and researchers to develop and implement the most efficient methodology.

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 of accuracy, and detailed information they provide. Furthermore, the feasibility of applying these methods also depends on the site attributes of a marine area. Since each marine area varies in geographical scale and environmental and social conditions, some methods will be more appropriate or perform more successfully than others in a particular location. Therefore, the consideration of these methods should be part of a proposed alternative process, focused on adaptive monitoring that scales to address visitor ebbs and flows in these aquatic areas. The proposed alternative seeks to develop consensus around quantitative goals for visitor monitoring and estimating techniques in marine settings, using a customizable mix of methods and techniques. This alternative effort progresses to subsequent tasks and discussions, and recommendations are made considering the feasibility and confidence of using these methods in particular marine settings and future pilot sites.

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 phase.
Building off the US Interagency Visitor Monitoring Framework, NMS-COUNT facilitates local input on visitation and communication with managers and researchers to develop and implement the most efficient methodology. Understanding visitor use can help MPA managers create better policies, leading to more satisfied visitors and healthier coastal ecosystems. Visitation data helps to efficiently maintain and manage local ecological, economic and social resources. NMS-COUNT helps resource managers adhere to limits of resilience within MPAs, leading to sustainable use and maintenance for future generations.