Reef-adjacent tourism value of Caribbean coral reefs : a new study by The Nature Conservancy

Abstract

An important new study led by The Nature Conservancy, and supported by JetBlue, the World Travel & Tourism Council and Microsoft, brings to light and quantifies the extraordinary value that coral reefs contribute to the Caribbean economy through tourism. Using an innovative approach that has increasingly attracted scientists and researchers in recent years, the study combines the analysis of coral reef images and related text gathered through social media outlets with data gathered from a review of existing literature. The study reveals that total values for all reef-associated tourism are estimated at over $7.9 billion of expenditure annually from more than 11 million visitors, with average values of 660 visitors and $473,000 per square kilometer of reef per year. These dollar values represent 23% of all tourism expenditure and are equivalent to over 10% of GDP in the region. The study delves deeper by examining the remarkable value of reefs through reef-adjacent tourism activities alone.