Tourism Operators Praised, Pushed To Do More For Marine Conservation

Green Hotelier magazine devoted part of its January 2007 issue to encouraging the tourism industry to do more to help protect the coastal ecosystems on which it depends. According to the authors, the economic benefits of early protective action are much greater than future costs of coastal restoration. The magazine’s press release states,

Governments, developers, hotels, cruise lines and other tourism industry operators need to work together with community members and adopt integrated coastal zone management strategies. One way to do this is by setting up more marine protected areas in destinations where ecosystems are threatened and taking an active role in their management – for example helping with education, setting constraints on numbers, leveraging visitor fees and ensuring the proceeds are used for effective species protection schemes.

The magazine also highlights the following regional resorts and programs for their positive contributions to conservation: (1) Le Meridien, Bora Bora and JW Marriott, Phuket for their sea turtle protection and education programs; (2) the Wakatobi Dive Resort, Sulawesi, Indonesia, for its Community-based Reef Conservation Program; and (3) Regent Seven Seas Cruises for their investment in waste management technology on their ships.
Source: SeaWeb Asia Pacific News