WHALE WATCHING WOR L D WIDE TOU R I S M NUMBERS, EXPENDITURES AND EXPANDING SO C I O E CO N OMIC BENEFITS BY ERICH HOYT 2 001 A special report from the International Fund for Animal Welfare WHALE WATCHING 2001 WORLDWIDE TOURISM NUMBERS, EXPENDITURES, AND EXPANDING SOCIOECONOMIC BENEFITS by Erich Hoyt A special report from the International Fund for Animal Welfare Whale Watching 2001: Worldwide tourism numbers, expenditures, and expanding socioeconomic benefits Erich Hoyt A special report from the International Fund for Animal Welfare Citation:Hoyt,E.2001.Whale Watching 2001: Worldwide tourism numbers, expenditures, and expanding socioeconomic benefits. International Fund for Animal Welfare,Yarmouth Port,MA, USA,pp. i–vi; 1–158. ISBN:1-901002-09-8 © International Fund for Animal Welfare Based partly on previous research from the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society Please address any comments, corrections or further information regarding the material in this report to: Erich Hoyt email:[email protected] Fax:+44 (0)1620 895 257 This report has been endorsed by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) International Headquarters 411 Main Street P.O. Box 193 Yarmouth Port,MA 02675 USA 87-90 Albert Embankment London SE1 9UD United Kingdom www.ifaw.org The designations employed and the presentation of the materials in this document do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of UNEP concerning the legal status of any State,Territory, city or area,or its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of their frontiers or boundaries.The document contains the views expressed by the authors acting in their individual capacity and may not necessarily reflect the views of UNEP. Contents Preface 1 Author’s note and acknowledgments 2 Executive summary 3 Introduction 7 Box 1. Rate of Return in Whale Watch Communities 8 Methodology 10 Box 2. Explanations and Notes on Categories and Data Presented 10 Results 12 WORLD 12 Box 3. Estimated Growth of Whale Watching Worldwide 13 NORTH AMERICA 14 United States of America (50 states) 14 New England 15 Eastern US and Gulf of Mexico 17 California 18 Northwest: Oregon and Washington 20 Alaska 21 Hawaii 23 Canada 24 Newfoundland 26 Maritimes: New Brunswick and Nova Scotia 26 Québec 27 Manitoba and The Arctic 28 British Columbia 28 St. Pierre and Miquelon (France) 30 México 31 CENTRAL AMERICA AND THE WEST INDIES 34 Belize 34 Honduras 35 Costa Rica 36 Panamá 37 Bermuda (UK) 38 Bahamas 39 Turks and Caicos Islands (UK) 40 Dominican Republic 41 Puerto Rico (US) 43 US Virgin Islands (US) 44 British Virgin Islands (UK) 45 Bonaire (Netherlands) 46 St. Kitts and Nevis 47 Guadeloupe and islands (including St. Martin and St. Barthélemy) (France) 48 Dominica 49 Martinique (France) 50 St. Lucia 51 St. Vincent and the Grenadines 52 Grenada 53 SOUTH AMERICA 55 Colombia 55 Venezuela 56 Ecuador 57 Peru 58 Brazil 60 Argentina 62 Chile 66 Falkland Islands (UK) 67 EUROPE 69 Norway (including Svalbard) 69 Iceland 70 Greenland (Denmark) 73 Faeroe Islands (Denmark) 74 Denmark 75 United Kingdom 76 Ireland 79 Germany 81 France 82 Spain (not including Canary Islands) 83 Gibraltar (UK) 85 Portugal 86 Azores (Portugal) 87 Monaco 88 Italy 89 Croatia 90 Greece 91 Cyprus 93 AFRICA 94 Canary Islands (Spain) 94 Egypt 96 Mauritania 97 Gambia 98 Senegal 99 Namibia 100 South Africa 101 Mozambique 102 Madagascar 104 Mauritius 105 Tanzania 106 Kenya 107 Eritrea 108 ASIA 109 Russia (including European sector) 109 Turkey 110 Oman 111 Maldives 112 Nepal 113 India (especially Goa) 114 Sri Lanka 116 Thailand 117 Indonesia 118 Japan 119 Philippines 123 China (especially Hong Kong) 124 Taiwan 125 AUSTRALIA, OCEANIA AND ANTARCTICA 127 Australia 127 Queensland 128 New South Wales 129 Victoria 130 South Australia 131 Western Australia 132 New Zealand 133 Fiji 135 New Caledonia (French overseas territory) 136 Solomon Islands 137 Guam (US) 138 Midway (US) 138 Micronesia (Federated States of Micronesia) 139 Tonga 140 French Polynesia (Tahiti and Moorea) (France) 142 Niue (New Zealand) 143 Antarctica 144 Conclusions 146 References 151 Appendices Appendix 1. Survey 1 (circulated to 1,000+ whale watch operators worldwide) 154 Appendix 2. Survey 2 (circulated to limited number of whale watch operators) 155 Appendix 3. Whale Watching within the International Whaling Commission (IWC) 156 Map: Whale Watching Countries and Overseas Territories 158 Preface The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) is committed to identifying and promoting solutions to conservation challenges that benefit both animals and people. Some of our most significant and successful work over the past decade has been on whale watching. Through our international workshops and gatherings of experts, codes of conduct and research reports, and on-the-ground work in many countries, IFAW is now widely recognized as a driving force behind the growth and development of responsible whale watching worldwide. We have always believed whales and dolphins are worth a great deal more alive than dead. Thanks to the extraordinary and tireless work of author Erich Hoyt, this new IFAW report proves it. Whale watching has grown from humble beginnings in the 1950s to become an almost universal human passion. With 87 countries and overseas territories now offering whale watch tours, this new industry has begun to make a dramatic difference in coastal communities worldwide. Ironically, whale watching is popular and growing rapidly even in countries that still hunt whales, such as Japan and Norway, as well as Iceland, a country that only stopped hunting whales in the late 1980s and now threatens to reopen a commercial hunt. The overriding conclusion of this report is clear: whales and people both do better when these animals are seen and not hurt. Whale watching educates children and adults about our ocean planet, the magnificent creatures that share our world, and the importance of maintaining their habitat; it provides a method for scientists to gain substantial information and monitoring capability with whales and dolphins and thereby contributes to their conservation. It is our privilege to present this report on the explosive growth and economic impact of this truly sustainable industry. All of us at IFAW look forward to its further expansion in the years ahead. Fred O'Regan President International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) 2 WHALE WATCHING 2001 Author’s note and acknowledgements This report was first released in draft form in August 2000 and made available on the internet through www.ifaw.org. Since the main body of research was undertaken (during the period January 1999 to May 2000), more communities have started or expanded their whale watching activities and various new developments have occurred. This published version, therefore, incorporates some changes to the original data. In addition, key new developments regarding the socioeconomic value of whale watching have been added to an expanded Conclusions section, as well as to the Executive Summary. At the Inter national Fund for Animal Wel fa r e (IFAW), I would especially like to thank Pat ri c k Ram a g e and Carol e Ca r lson for all their help and patience. Vassili Pap a s tavr ou provided sever al invaluable contacts and refe re n c e s . Ec o n o m i s t Francis Grey, from Economists At Large, helped with var ious valuable comments and exam ples. The superb design and layout wer e the wor k of Chris topher Binding, assisted by Maris h k a Tem ple. Thanks to Kat e Cl e r e (Second Nat u r e Films), Mick McIntyre, Greg Vogt, Melanie Townsend, Rod Haesti e r , Over b e r g Tou r ism, and IF AW for help in obtaining cover photog raphs. Also tha n k s to Ros e m a r y Lomas and Margar et Hill at IFAW and Al e s s a n d r a Van z e l l a - K h o u r i, Uni t ed Nations Envi r onment Prog ramme (UNEP). This report would have been impossible without the previous funding and publications of the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS). Although all the data was collected and processed by Erich Hoyt, data previous to 1998 was collected as part of reports funded by the WDCS. In late 1998, WDCS kindly allowed the previous work and results to be included in this volume. Special thanks to Alison Smith, Chris Stroud, and Sue Fisher at WDCS for facilitating this. Alison Smith, Niki Entrup, Hal Sato, and Kate O’Connell also generously provided information for this updated, expanded report. Finally, I would like to spotlight the considerable contributions from more than six hundred local operators, researchers, tourism officials and whale watching managers who provided statistics or informed estimates of numbers and expenditures, as well as assessments of socioeconomic benefits, in each locality. Without their cooperation and help this report would have been impossible. Separate acknowledgments are given under each country listed, but these only reflect those who provided detailed reports, special summaries, draft or final discussion papers, not those who completed operator surveys. Some of the information I have received for and from various countries has been conflicting. I have tried to sort out inconsistencies, relying always on the more conservative numbers. In any case, the final figures are my own, and I am responsible for them. Erich Hoyt, July 2001 3 Executive summary Whale watching as a commercial endeavor — with important educational, environmental, scientific, and other socioeconomic benefits — is now at least a $1 billion USD industry attracting more than 9 million participants a year in 87 countries and territories. Since the last worldwide survey in 1994, whale watching has continued to grow at a rapid rate.