{"id":35474,"date":"2021-06-10T00:05:06","date_gmt":"2021-06-10T07:05:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hakaimagazine.com\/?post_type=custom_news&p=35474"},"modified":"2021-06-09T15:29:44","modified_gmt":"2021-06-09T22:29:44","slug":"in-mexico-dive-tourism-is-worth-as-much-as-fishing","status":"publish","type":"custom_news","link":"https:\/\/hakaimagazine.com\/news\/in-mexico-dive-tourism-is-worth-as-much-as-fishing\/","title":{"rendered":"In Mexico, Dive Tourism Is Worth as Much as Fishing"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mexico\u2019s warm waters and diverse marine ecosystems make it a popular destination for divers from around the world. But with most dive tourism operations being mom-and-pop shops scattered across the country, nobody knew just how much money dive tourism was generating each year. Now, a new study<\/a> finds that Mexico\u2019s dive tourism industry is much, much larger than previously thought\u2014pulling in as much revenue as the country\u2019s industrial and artisanal fishing industries combined.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe total value is surprising\u2014even though it\u2019s often not a surprise for the people who are living in these places,\u201d says Andr\u00e9s Cisneros-Montemayor, a resource economist at the University of British Columbia who was not involved in the research. \u201cBut when you see all the numbers added up, you go, Wow, this is huge.\u201d<\/p>\n

Based on surveys, the researchers estimated the dive tourism industry generates between US $455-million and $725-million annually, comparable to revenues generated by Mexico\u2019s fishing industries.<\/p>\n

The finding lays the groundwork for better coordination between and advocacy by members of the dive tourism industry, and provides support for greater marine conservation in Mexico says Octavio Aburto-Oropeza, a marine biologist at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego who worked on the study. As Mexico\u2019s dive tourism industry recovers from a year of shutdown during the pandemic, the study is also prompting conversations about how to better manage tourism in coastal communities.<\/p>\n

Aburto-Oropeza has visited dive sites throughout Mexico and Latin America, diving both for research and for his hobby of underwater photography. \u201cOne day I woke up and said, \u2018If dive sites generate money just by bringing in divers, why are they not protected?\u2019\u201d He realized that more data was needed to make the case for better management, and embarked on the study.<\/p>\n

Mexico\u2019s dive economy was so understudied that prior to the report there was no comprehensive listing of all the dive sites or tour operators in the country. That\u2019s in stark contrast to the well-organized fishing industry, in which Mexico\u2019s National Institute of Fisheries and Aquaculture regularly studies and publishes reports on the status of fisheries and the industry\u2019s annual take and revenues, notes Aburto-Oropeza.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you don\u2019t see the size of your business, the probability that you will be empowered or inspired to protect these areas is minimal,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

The researchers started by building Mexico\u2019s first database of dive sites and dive tour operators, compiling 264 tour operators and 860 dive sites around the country in 2019. They divided the list into four regions: the Baja Pacific and Gulf of California, the South Pacific, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Yucatan Peninsula. They then started contacting operators one by one\u2014often conducting surveys door to door.<\/p>\n

The researchers also looked more closely at the business structures of the dive tour operators, and studied how they affected their communities. Around 91 percent of the dive operators were small family-run businesses, serving an average of 74 tourists weekly. The other nine percent were large businesses that served an average of 1,600 tourists per week, mainly snorkelers.<\/p>\n

Aburto-Oropeza and his colleagues found that the kind of mass ocean tourism offered by the large businesses poses a greater risk to reefs and marine ecosystems while also offering fewer benefits to local communities. Large businesses were more likely to be owned by foreigners than Mexican nationals. And because they rely on selling large volumes of cheap snorkeling tours, rather than smaller and more costly scuba excursions, they also generate less revenue per tourist, the researchers found.<\/p>\n

Aburto-Oropeza says the research is already having an impact in Mexico, where dive operators have taken the first steps toward organizing their industry. And while the pandemic led to major revenue losses, it\u2019s also prompted discussion about how dive tourism can reopen in a more sustainable way, such as by managing tourism numbers to avoid overcrowding.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe pandemic reaffirmed the importance of a more political voice for this sector,\u201d Aburto-Oropeza says. \u201cSome of the lessons, especially for the small towns, is how to start thinking of better ways to manage tourism, and strategies to grow in the coming years.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mexico\u2019s warm waters and diverse marine ecosystems make it a popular destination for divers from around the world. But with most dive tourism operations being mom-and-pop shops scattered across the country, nobody knew just how much money dive tourism was <\/p>\n

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