Explore the Wonders of the Sea: Tourism & Recreational Opportunities - Essay Sample

Introduction

The see is known for providing numerous opportunities that are meant for tourism as well as reactional purposes. In addition to that, the sea is a source of transport and food. In the past, most of the marine setting was protected from tourist activities due to safety matters, the expensive cost associated with recreating in the seas and inaccessibility. Nevertheless, as a result of the advances in terms of technology as well as an increase in multinational travel, it has made marine settings to become more accessible. As a result, marine and coastal tourism have become a gigantic venture that forms a significant part of the growing worldwide tourism industry. For instance, reports from the World Tourism Organization indicate that tourism has significantly contributed to the international economy. Over the past two decades, the expenditure from tourism amounted to approximately $1.4 billion, which is almost three times the number in the mid-1990s (Tolvanen et al. 58).

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In this light coastal and marine tourism has gained much attention amongst scholars and researchers. In addition, international bodies such as the United Nations, the World Conservation Union (IUCN), non-governmental organizations, large corporations, national governments, and educational institutes have also recognized the global phenomenon of travel. In regard to this interest, a number of researchers and academicians have created more curiosity in exploring distinct parts of this diverse and massive tourism industry at a deeper level. In light of this statement, this paper will discuss the feature of marine tourists by considering the role played by marine tourism activities and opportunities. In addition, this paper explores the impacts of tourist practices on marine ecosystems as well as the surrounding coastal communities and determine suitable management techniques to reduce adverse effects and maximize benefits associated with marine tourism.

Features of Marine Tourism: The Role Played by Marine Tourism Activities and Opportunities

Growth of the Cruise Industry

The cruise industry started as a commercial venture in the 1840s by the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company, which was first to organize cruises from Britain to Spain, China, Malaya, and Portugal. Currently, the cruise industry is worthy approximately 7 billion US dollars, and it transports nearly 5 million passengers in North America alone. Accordingly, the cruise industry is a lucrative sector whereby, on average, one passenger generates a profit of approximately $1000 annually.

Island Tourism

Besides cruise tourism, island tourism is another crucial aspect of marine tourism. For example, studies have shown that island State, such as Bermuda contributes to approximately 25% of its Gross National Product (GNP) (Wongthong, and Nick 139). Increasingly, a significant part of marine tourism activities is also related to islands in the form of highly specialized pursuits and ways of mass tourism activities. Therefore, based on the tourism planners' point of view, the availability of activity options as well as development options, these features make island tourism quite a critical aspect for any nation's tourism sector. In this regard, one of the regions that have significantly benefited from island tourism on a big scale in the Caribbean. This region receives millions of tourists from all corners of the world. Other areas that also enjoy island tourism include South Asia as a result of promoting island tourism as a chief tourist attraction.

Special Interest in Tourism

Special interest tourism is rapidly gaining pace within the general context of tourism as well as marine tourism. Certainly, this is evident due to the rise in sales of water sports equipment such as sports fishing, scuba diving, and leisure craft equipment (Tolvanen et al. 58). As a result, many countries bordering the coast are showing interest in establishing marine parks where the investment is being challenged into the construction of marinas, among other boating facilities. For instance, marine parks in Labuan and Peninsular Malaysia, which is under the management of Sabah Parks is being protected in the South China Sea.

However, as a result of the increase in the number of visitors, it is translating into a rising impact on the fragile ecosystems in the marine parks, in particular, coral reefs and mangroves. The development of these marine parks and the influx of visitors in these regions has led to conflict between nature conservation and tourism. Consequently, this conflict is ultimately likely to result in the collapsing of the tourism industry or the marine park system (Marafa, and Chau 7). Indeed, ecotourism is a large business that leads to foreign exchange as well as other economic rewards for preserving wildlife and the natural system. Nevertheless, the same ecotourism is threatening to destroy the resources that it depends on for survival. Tour boats tour garbage in the waters, shutterbugs harass wildlife in the coastal parks, and tourists trample fragile areas. Accordingly, these frenzied activities are threatening the viability of natural ecosystems.

The Impacts of Tourism Practices on Marine Ecosystems and the Surrounding Coastal Communities

Sailing, Boating, and Yachting: The purchase of leisure crafts has led to an increase in the time spent on water sports equipment in the recent past. Therefore, it has led to the rise in the sales of leisure crafts, which has resulted in a lot of money being invested in facilities such as harbors and marinas to support to the rising numbers of boats and yachts. Indeed, there has been an increase in the number of water sports equipment operating in the coastal regions of many countries. At the same time, governments of these countries are proactively supporting the leisure craft sector to develop shipbuilding and ship repair as well as maintenance industry (Wongthong, and Nick 141). However, this activity is raising many questions related to this aspect of marine tourism. Accordingly, many items are being built in regard to the increase in capacity of the water sports equipment since there are no enough authorities to regulate the use of recreational boaters. Hence there is a general concern that recreational boaters could not be adequately trained to handle safety and navigation elements of boating. Certainly, much interest has is being raised by the fact that most of the reactional boating activities take place on busy waterways across the world. In addition to that, pollution is another primary concern which is caused by most of the leisure crafts.

Coral Bleaching and Ocean Acidification: Research has shown that climate change has a profound effect on the oceans (Tolvanen et al. 64). As a result of climate change, it has increased the levels of carbon dioxide in the air, which is causing changes in the pH of the oceans. Certainly, this condition is, in particular, evident in the tropical regions in which the marine ecosystems are severely sensitive as well as rich in biodiversity. Thus, in areas that are undergoing irreversible transformations, especially coral reefs, which is most notable are being affected by the change in the climate. In addition, due to the change in climate, it leads to an increase in temperatures causing dramatic changes in marine ecosystems with lethal and severe consequences to many species. Indeed this phenomenon is responsible for the differences in migratory routes, which has resulted in an imbalance in the food chain. For instance, as a result of the increase in water temperatures by approximately 0.5 degrees Celsius has been found to cause the death of coral reefs.

The rise in sea temperatures is a due to tourism activities at the coast, such as water sports, which releases carbon monoxides, among other toxic gases into the air. The coral reefs act as "maternities," which shelter regions that contain a wide range of species that offer food to humans. Furthermore, it is under these areas that most fishing communities rely on for food. However, due to marine tourism activities that are not sustainable, it has dramatically impacted the survival of coral reefs, which are getting depleted, calling for the measure to avert further destruction of the marine life.

Plastics and Littering of Trash: The Ocean has increasingly become a plastic soup which is mainly littered by tourists, particularly water bottles and other plastic materials that they carry around. However, these plastics are killing many marine species daily. Recent research has shown that these plastics pieces are soon will end up being consumed by humans because they are being consumed by some of the marine animals (Wongthong and Nick 138). On the same note, the amount of litter left on the beaches as well as that thrown on islands is of significant volumes. Certainly, these conditions get more severe, mainly when the left litters are non-biodegradable like plastics, which break up into smaller pieces. However, this litter is mistakenly consumed as food by marine species, which end up dying, thus interfering with marine life. In this regard, most of the island garbage is already in many parts of the ocean; hence, it has significantly contributed to the disrupting of marine life.

Similarly, many individuals are currently gaining access to the marine region; thus, the increase in the number of people accessing the marine world creates extra pressure toward the quality of the marine resources. While this is the case where marine settings fall in the ambit of protected area systems, it is likely to irritate the curiosity, which could lead to creating interest in visitation. As such, practices make these regions vulnerable to dilapidation (Tolvanen et al. 61). Truly, it is such matters of deterioration of the coastal as well as marine surroundings that have resulted in establishing areas as natural protected and resource areas in many parts of the world. Even though rural marine settings are getting attention, regions that are within the built settings are being subjected to the development of infrastructure for marine and coastal tourism. In this regard, there is a need to develop marine areas that are protected. With the establishment of marine and coastal protection laws, it will help to safeguard and manage ecologically essential regions of the oceanic surrounding.

Sustainable Coastal and Marine Tourism Development

The concept of sustainable tourism came into existence due to a heated argument that surrounds the matter related to sustainable development. Therefore, due to the case of sustainable development becoming an international concern in 1992 after the Earth Summit conference in Rio de Janeiro, it has found its way into the policy structure of most organizations, governments, and agencies. It is, therefore, crucial that marine and coastal tourism adopt Coastal Management Zone (CMZ) (Marafa, and Chau 4). Accordingly, CMZ is a framework that involves aspects related to resource management as well as management of user enterprises in addition to services, mainly when tourism plays a significant role in the area. Since sustainable development is presently a dynamic process and not a destiny, the management practices contained in the coastal management zone are particularly relevant to making sure sustainable tourism development is achieved. Indeed, the coastal management zone has a range of frameworks that can address issues facing coastal and marine tourism.

Conclusion

Tourism is significantly essential; however, there is a need to develop sustainable tourism. Many countries have only taken tourism as a center for economic development, which has resulted in a quick generation of adverse environmental effects, which is destroying resources that attract tourists. Nevertheless, sustainable tourism...