Implications for Resilience in the Cruise Tourism-Marine Protected Area Nexus in the Caribbean: The Case of St. Lucia

Myrna Ellis ()
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Myrna Ellis: Caribbean Maritime University

Chapter Chapter 4 in Managing Crises in Tourism, 2021, pp 67-87 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract Cruise passengers are naturally attracted to the rich biodiversity and tropical climate of the Caribbean, the world’s #1 cruise destination. The cruise tourism-marine protected area (CT-MPA) nexus in St. Lucia, employs a management tool designed to enhance resilience. Lately, however, it appears that cruise tourism activities (recreational services) may be threatening the fishing industry (provisional services) in the CT-MPA. This research seeks to: (i) identify the issues impacting resilience in the CT-MPA nexus, (ii) discuss the lessons learnt and (iii) propose recommendations for improving resilience. A mixed method approach was used in which qualitative data were collected via semi-structured interviews with 8 key interviewees and 2 focus groups of fisherfolk and analysed using content analysis while quantitative data were collected via surveys from 244 cruise visitors and 40 tour operators and analysed using SPSS. The findings revealed that the cruise industry may be threatening resilience by contributing to critical changes in the CT-MPA nexus including: (i) damaged reefs; (ii) decreased fish populations and (iii) increased conflict among users. The creation of the Soufriere Marine Management Authority (SMMA) to address these issues illustrated that using a one-time fix was not the solution. Rather, the instituting an adaptive co-management approach may be more expedient.

Keywords: cruise tourism; marine protected areas; tourism carrying capacity; resilience (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:sprchp:978-3-030-80238-7_4

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DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-80238-7_4

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