This special issue offers a timely reflection on the relationship between marine tourism and the blue economy, featuring five papers from coastal environments in Vietnam, Timor-Leste, India, and Australia. The United Nations recognises the blue economy as a concept for understanding economic activities in ocean and freshwater environments (Picken, 2025).
Coastal tourism in Bali, Indonesia, presents intricate sustainability challenges involving environmental degradation, overtourism, and unequal economic distribution. This study employs the MACTOR (Matrix of Alliances and Conflicts: Tactics, Objectives, and Recommendations) methodology to analyze stakeholder influence, interdependence, and strategic alignment in Bali’s coastal tourism governance. Through expert consultation and focus group discussions, eight key stakeholder groups were examined against four core objectives: ecological and social balance, overtourism control, economic inclusivity, and collaborative governance. Findings reveal that large tourism businesses, NGOs, and academic institutions hold high influence with low dependence, while local government, traditional communities, and MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises) play central but interdependent roles. The greatest alignment occurs among community-based actors, while tensions persist between profit-oriented and conservation-focused groups. The government emerges as a key mediator in bridging these divides. The MACTOR approach proves valuable for diagnosing governance dynamics and identifying strategic priorities. These insights support inclusive, anticipatory policy design in small island contexts facing similar pressures.
Island tourism destinations are increasingly required to balance experiential quality with environmental sustainability, particularly in fragile marine settings. Guided by the Stimulus–Organism–Response (S–O–R) framework, this study examines how international tourists perceive island marine environments, how these perceptions shape emotional responses, and how such emotions influence behavioral intentions in an island tourism context. Qualitative data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 16 international visitors to a tropical island destination in Vietnam and analyzed using thematic analysis. The findings indicate that island-specific environmental stimuli—including clear seawater, healthy coral reefs, starfish habitats, fresh air, and tranquil coastal landscapes—play a critical role in evoking positive emotions such as relaxation, enjoyment, and emotional connection to nature. These affective responses subsequently encourage pro-environmental behavioral intentions, such as destination recommendation, environmentally responsible conduct, and support for conservation-oriented management. However, the results also reveal tourists’ concerns about environmentally harmful practices, particularly the handling of starfish for photography, highlighting the vulnerability of island marine ecosystems. This study contributes to island tourism literature by extending the S–O–R framework to a qualitative marine setting and provides practical implications for sustainable island destination management.
The tourism development in Labuan Bajo faces complex social, economic, and environmental challenges. Persistent challenges hinder the long-term growth of the tourism sector, making marine-based tourism a strategic method to improve the effective utilization and management of marine resources. This study applies the PROMETHEE (Preference Ranking Organization Method for Enrichment Evaluations) method to identify and rank key institutional strategies that support sustainable development. The method determines the order or priority of the best alternatives based on various criteria through a pairwise comparison process using preference functions. PROMETHEE enhances the Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) framework (Elinor Ostrom’s approach) for coastal tourism governance by adding structured, transparent, and operationalized multicriteria decision support that complements IAD’s institutional diagnostic and qualitative insights. There are 11 main criteria considered in determining the most appropriate treatment options, where these criteria were obtained from the results of FGDs with 18 stakeholders in Labuan Bajo. The results highlight that a collaborative approach is the most effective strategy. This involves active cooperation among local communities, site managers, local authorities, and the central government. By working together, these stakeholders can build a more integrated and sustainable governance model to support tourism and marine resource management in Labuan Bajo.
Tourist satisfaction is significantly influenced by both attraction features and supporting facilities. While prior studies underscore the importance of measuring satisfaction to sustain a destination’s competitiveness, limited attention has been paid to the role of environmental certifications in shaping revisit intentions. This study adopts a mixed-methods approach, combining qualitative insights from in-depth interviews with machine learning analysis of field survey data collected from visitors to Blue Flag-certified beaches. The findings reveal that certification enhances the perceived quality of beach destinations. However, its impact on tourists’ intention to revisit is contingent on their awareness and understanding of the certification. The study highlights the importance of not only maintaining high environmental and service standards but also actively communicating the value of certification to beachgoers. These insights offer critical implications for policymakers and destination managers aiming to foster sustainable tourism through behavioral engagement and informed decision-making.
Marine wildlife tourism offers significant potential for conservation education, yet how different tourism modalities shape visitor attitudes (and whether observed differences reflect experiential impacts or preexisting visitor characteristics) remains poorly understood. This study examines how different cetacean tourism modalities influence visitors’ proconservation attitudes and behaviors through value–belief activation. Using a questionnaire-based pre–post unmatched design with 790 participants across two Portuguese Algarve contexts—a marine-themed zoological park ( N = 499) and an in situ whale-watching operator ( N = 291)—we tested mediation pathways within the value–belief–norm framework. Biocentrism emerged as the strongest mediator of differences between tourism contexts, while anthropocentrism and awareness of the ocean vulnerability showed weaker mediation effects. Whale-watching visitors demonstrated significantly higher baseline biocentric values compared to marine park visitors, suggesting self-selection effects shaped by prior media exposure, marketing communications, and cultural narratives about cetaceans. Moderation analyses identified that anthropocentrism significantly attenuated the positive relationship between awareness of vulnerability and proconservation behavioral intentions. Ceiling effects in measures limited detection of intervention impacts. These findings highlight that visitor self-selection may be more influential than experiential differences in explaining conservation outcomes in marine tourism settings, supporting the value of diverse tourism offerings that can reach broader audiences with tailored conservation messaging. The research advances cross-cultural understanding of marine tourism–conservation relationships in southern European contexts.
Small island states often promote tourism as a development solution, yet weak governance and unequal political–economic structures frequently allow benefits to leak offshore while environmental costs are borne locally. In Timor-Leste, this risk is acute as the economy confronts the imminent loss of oil and gas revenues following the closure of the Bayu-Undan field in 2025. Despite the prominence of tourism in national policy, policymakers lack concrete evidence on whether marine tourism can deliver high-value growth without undermining fragile marine ecosystems or customary governance systems. This study assesses economic opportunity, marine biodiversity, and conservation effectiveness for marine tourism in Timor-Leste, and it compares ecological outcomes across protected and unprotected sites. Our methods combine ecological surveys, exit-survey economics, and stakeholder interviews. The data collection includes biological observations from four Ataúro Island sites (5,308 individual taxa; 118 fish species) and a purpose-built international passenger survey of 238 visitors conducted at Dili Airport in July 2024, providing current and activity-specific spending data. Marine tourism is found to deliver high economic returns, with SCUBA divers spending an average of US$1,600 over 10 nights, and 90% reporting complete satisfaction. By 2035, forecasts suggest that diving, snorkelling, and whale watching could generate an estimated US$60.64 million (approximately 44% of leisure visitor spending) in an optimistic scenario, or around US$33.00 million (38% of leisure visitor spending) under more conservative estimates. Community-managed Tara Bandu sites exhibit significantly higher predator abundance and far lower coral damage than unmanaged sites (8% versus 27%). The results demonstrate that marine tourism can underpin the country’s economic diversification; however, it must be accompanied by strengthened governance, community authority, the enforcement of spatial protection, and the alignment of investments with ecological sustainability.
Drawing on responses from 685 residents of the Croatian coastal destinations of Rijeka and Opatija, the study investigates whether higher satisfaction with living conditions in a tourism destination is associated with a) positive assessments of coastal zone management, b) favorable views of the contribution of tourism to quality of life and its alignment with community needs, and c) higher perceived levels of community participation. The findings reveal that resident perceptions concerning the coastal management process, and community involvement, are the strongest positive predictors of satisfaction with living conditions alongside tourism-related perceptions. By explicitly linking residents’ perceptions of coastal management and of tourism development to residents’ satisfaction with living conditions in a coastal destination context, this study addresses a previously unexplored research gap, offering an original empirical contributionto literature on coastal governance, tourism and resident well-being.
According to the existing literature, coastal tourism is a spatial term and marine tourism is an activity and experience-oriented term. However, the definitions in the literature do not meet the standards required by the philosophy of science (clarity, consistency, testability, and delimitation), which causes practical and theoretical problems. This study aims to fill this gap by adapting the contrapositive proposition of the “visual fix” method’s prerequisite specifically to coastal and marine tourism definitions, considering the qualities that philosophy of science expects from a scientific definition. This new approach provides a measurable, testable, and demarcating threshold. With the PRISMA 2020 protocol, a systematic literature review was conducted, and thematic analysis was applied to the 52 remaining studies. Inconsistencies and overlaps in existing definitions have been revealed. Definitions of coastal tourism and marine tourism were reconsidered, and the study minimized categorical uncertainties in statistical measurements, preventing regional administrative conflicts and sustainable destination planning, thereby highlighting both theoretical and practical contributions.
Women are central to tourism worldwide, yet their labour, particularly in coastal and island settings, remains undervalued and largely invisible. This study investigates women’s participation in emerging sea–island tourism economies in South-Central Vietnam, where ecological vulnerability, seasonality, and persistent gender norms intersect with shifting livelihoods. Drawing on field observations across six coastal communities and 25 semistructured interviews, the study examines women’s multifunctional work spanning formal, informal, and household-based sectors, as well as the opportunities, constraints, and enabling conditions that shape their agency. The findings show that women sustain coastal tourism through homestay hospitality, seafood vending, service work, and cultural labour, generating income, supporting household welfare, and strengthening community resilience. Yet their empowerment is limited by patriarchal expectations, restricted access to finance and training, language barriers, and heightened exposure to environmental shocks linked to coastal change. To explain these dynamics, the study develops the Sea–Island Tourism Empowerment (SITE) framework, which integrates Scheyvens’s empowerment domains, Longwe’s progression model, and Moser’s gender-planning concepts with contemporary blue-economy perspectives. The framework conceptualises empowerment as relational and collective, embedded in ecologically fragile marine systems rather than solely within individual advancement. In doing so, the study contributes to broader debates on blue-economy governance and gendered coastal livelihoods by revealing how women’s often invisible labour underpins the sustainability of marine tourism. Practical implications include expanding financial inclusion, strengthening skills training, recognising household-based contributions, and increasing women’s representation in local tourism governance and marine protected area committees
Conflicts between biodiversity conservation and sustainable tourism are increasingly problematic in protected areas globally. The investigation centers on Hat Chao Mai National Park in Trang Province, Thailand. This area has been declared as the 45th ASEAN Heritage Site and the 5th heritage site in Thailand that attracts a large number of tourists. This study employs semi-structured interviews with stakeholders to explore their perceptions of the trade-offs between national park closure and socio-economic impacts. Various factors play a role in agreement to accept a temporary halt due to the park closure, such as the recovery of the tourism site and awareness of the ecological significance of the park. Stakeholders appreciate the importance of ecosystems as destinations for natural tourism and recreation, sources of food, habitats for young and rare species, and regulators of natural processes. Policy recommendation suggests a balanced approach that integrates conservation initiatives with economic viability.
Coastal and marine tourism is a growing subsector of tourism, and it is globally recognised for its notable economic contribution in coastal regions. However, in the coastal regions of developing cities such as Gqeberha South Africa, pollution, specifically the plastic, street litter and waste from ships, is among the prominent challenges in this area. Thus, there is a need for sustainability management and planning in Nelson Mandela Bay’s (NMB) coastal and marine tourism sector. This study evaluated the effectiveness of the current sustainability strategies used in NMB’s coastal region. It aimed to develop strategies to contribute towards coastal and marine tourism (CMT) sustainability. Using an interpretivist paradigm which followed a qualitative research approach, eight semi-structured interviews were conducted with local government officials, coastal and marine tourism business top managers, and ocean economy-related non-profit organisation operators. The analysis was done through the lens of the systems thinking theory (STT) which enabled the identification of key themes using feedback loops. The results indicated the need for decision makers and local communities to be empowered with knowledge to enable creative communication of the importance of sustainability while encouraging more collaboration among stakeholders. Additionally, it was noted that the coastal communities of NMB were not prioritising sustainability hence the call for sustainability to be practised as a way of life. Moreover, recommendations were made towards empowering decision makers and local communities through workshops, as well as teaching children about sustainability and its importance. Lastly, the researchers encourage recycling and the separation of waste.
This study aims to identify and explain an effective transformational public leadership model in supporting the development of community-based marine tourism in coastal areas. It assesses how the role of local leaders influences community participation, innovation, and destination sustainability. The research used a qualitative approach with a case study method in three coastal villages within the Prigi Bay tourist area. Data were collected through in-depth interviews with 15 informants, including village leaders, village officials, tourism businesses, community groups, and MSME communities. Purposive and snowball sampling techniques were used to identify key informants, and thematic analysis was conducted on the dimensions of transformational leadership.The study found that transformational public leadership plays a central role in community tourism development. Leadership, motivation, stimulation of innovation, and individualized attention to the community have been shown to increase participation, creativity, and involvement in tourism management. Villages with active leaders show more significant destination growth and tourism product innovation than villages with passive leaders. Transformational leadership has proven to be a key driver of CBT success in coastal areas.This research offers a new perspective by applying the concept of Transformational Public Leadership (TPL) to the context of village communities and marine tourism. This study also integrates the TPL framework with CBT principles and produces a public leadership model relevant to community-based tourism development.
Cruise tourism competitiveness is often evaluated without considering climate resilience, leaving a critical knowledge gap as climate change increasingly disrupts urban port cities. This issue is particularly urgent for emerging cruise hubs such as Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), which faces both significant climate risks and intensifying regional competition. To address this, the study reframes competitiveness through a climate-resilience lens, drawing on insights from destination competitiveness theory and adaptive governance. A qualitative case study was conducted using 27 semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders, complemented by field observations and document analysis. Findings reveal three key dynamics: first, fragmented governance hampers coordinated responses to climate threats; second, grassroots and operator-led initiatives are emerging to address adaptation gaps; and third, resilience is increasingly perceived not merely as a defensive cost but as a potential source of competitive advantage and branding. The study concludes that climate resilience is a fundamental pillar of contemporary destination competitiveness. Theoretically, it introduces a logic model that links climate risks, adaptive mechanisms, and competitive outcomes. Practically, it highlights the importance of polycentric governance, digital risk management tools, and embedding resilience indicators into port evaluation and branding strategies. These insights contribute to advancing both academic understanding and practical approaches to positioning HCMC as a climate-resilient cruise destination.
Coastal areas, once predominantly reliant on fisheries and agriculture, have undergone significant transformation into zones of marine tourism. While creating job opportunities and generating income, this shift has also triggered adverse social, cultural, and environmental impacts. Focusing on Pahawang Island, Indonesia, this research examines the socioeconomic and ecological consequences of transitioning from a fishing village to a marine tourism village. It employs qualitative methods, including in-depth interviews, participatory observation, and document analysis. This study provides an in-depth understanding of this transformation. The study shows that the transformation from a fishing village to a marine tourism village on Pahawang Island has undergone the first four stages, as described in the critical article by Butler. Currently, Pahawang Island is in a poststagnation stage. The research findings reveal that marine tourism has improved local livelihoods through tourism activities, expanded employment opportunities, and increased access to goods and services. However, the transition has disrupted social cohesion, diminished adherence to traditional customs, and contributed to coastal pollution. Furthermore, conflicts over land ownership and access between tourism investors and the local community have escalated, resulting in social tensions and occasional violence. These findings underscore the need for sustainable tourism development strategies that balance economic benefits with social and environmental preservation.
The purpose of the study was to explore the influence of scuba divers’ consumers’ perceived value of shark-oriented tourism products on their shark conservation behavior. Data were collected from 294 scuba divers at popular South African scuba diving destinations. As part of a quantitative deductive study, a partial least squares-structural equation model (PLS-SEM) was developed in SmartPLS 4 to test the hypotheses posed. The results of our study provide some insights into the debate around sustainable tourism and the role of tourists in conserving endangered species. The results indicated no relationship between scuba divers’ consumer perceived values and their attitude towards shark conservation. Intriguing, however, are some unique relationships between consumer perceived value dimensions and how social references mediated the relationship between the functional value of shark tourism-related products and stereotypes towards sharks. The results highlight the complexity of human behavior and decision-making. The study concludes that shark-based tourism promotion as tourism-driven value creation is vital to shark-oriented conservation. The results may be necessary to tourism marketing practitioners, conservationists, and policymakers interested in shark or marine conservation.
This study establishes the intrinsic and extrinsic value local residents derive from additional public beach access in Da Nang, Vietnam. The study’s hypothesis states local residents of Da Nang, Vietnam derive value from additional public beach access and are willing to pay a fee (WTP) for such access. Data were collected through a survey and analyzed using quantitative tools including Contingent Valuation Method (CVM). The study’s results indicated mean WTP by local residents for additional public beach access points and related facilities was Vietnamese Dong (VND) 54,403.78 per visit. Findings demonstrate local residents value public beach access and are willing to pay for such access. Findings carry important implications for public and private sector organizations with a stake in infrastructure development, not only at the study site of Da Nang, Vietnam, but potentially in other locales facing similar issues.
The Whale and Dolphin Tracker (WDT) smartphone application (app) allows for near real-time, standardized data collection of cetacean sightings from anywhere around the globe. WDT is a free versatile tool designed to offer a user-friendly platform to record cetacean encounters according to their project requirements. The app allows users to record sightings along with GPS location to track spatial and temporal patterns. It integrates photo identification with image media storage, enabling individual-level analyses, with an optional add-on for real-time humpback whale identification via a Happywhale integration. The app also facilitates data collection for distance sampling so researchers can study population density and produce abundance estimates. The associated web portal (log.pacificwhale.org) allows users to easily access, review, and download their data. WDT can be used to support long-term, low-cost monitoring by taking advantage of existing vessel traffic (e.g., tour boats, ferries) as well as enhance educational experiences on ecotourism vessels. To date, more than 11,000 registered users have logged over 32,000 sightings of 23 species since 2017. Data collected using WDT have been used to produce four scientific publications, demonstrating the value of this app toward advancing marine science.
Marine protected areas (MPAs) are increasingly recognized as essential strategic tools for maintaining ecological balance and promoting sustainable resource management. However, management strategies including the economic valuation of marine ecosystem services, particularly in developing countries, remain underexplored in relation to terrestrial ecosystems. This research addresses this gap by analyzing a proposal for a new MPA in the northern region of Peru. Thus, we employ a discrete choice experiment methodology to elicit stakeholder preferences and willingness to pay (WTP) for various attributes of the marine ecosystem. The findings reveal a positive WTP for the establishment of the MPA, with the highest support and WTP coming from direct beneficiaries of the area’s biodiversity, such as fishermen and tourists. This study contributes to the limited literature on economic valuation of marine ecosystem services in developing countries, providing valuable insights for policymakers and stakeholders involved in the design and implementation of MPAs.
The future sustainability of tourism requires young travelers to prioritize environmental stewardship, because they represent the next generation of tourism industry transformers. This study aims to identify the key drivers of young tourists’ adoption of environmentally responsible behaviorsin the beach tourism destination in Bangladesh. A qualitative approach was employed, collecting data through semistructured indepth interviews with 16 young individuals aged 18???30 who have visited Cox’s Bazar sea beach. Thematic analysis technique was then applied for analyzing and interpreting the collected data. The findings reveal that the environmental knowledge, the quality of scenic spots, and the natural aesthetic appeal significantly motivate young tourists to engage in environmentally responsible behaviors. Various social factors like peer pressure and societal expectations, along with interpersonal factors like place attachment and personal values were also found to be crucial motivators. Additionally, conscious management strategies of a destination like sustainable design and scenic spots environmental policies were exhibited as a key driver of tourists to adopt environmentally responsible behavior. Research findings confirm previous studies demonstrating that raising awareness and social effects alongside destination administration practices support sustainable tourism development. The geographic limitation to Cox’s Bazar in this study restricts the wider applicability of its findings. Future studies must explore different travel locations while assessing opinions from local inhabitants along with suppliers, vendors, and destination managers to develop a more comprehensive understanding of environmentally responsible behavior. This study contributes to the growing literature on sustainable tourism in Bangladesh and provides actionable insights for destination managers and policymakers to develop targeted strategies that foster environmentally responsible tourism practices.
