Marine Tourism Case Study

According to Cater (2007, p. 6), the increase of interest in the global marine environment had meant that the growth rate of marine tourism exceeded that of most of the rest of the tourism industry. As stated by Orams (as cited in Cater, 2007, p. 7), "Coastal and marine tourism includes those recreational activities which involve travel away from one's place of residence which have as their host or focus the marine environment and/or the coastal zone." This is the case for Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines. Located at the Pacific Ocean, both Indonesia and Philippines are two of the main archipelagos of the world, while Thailand is engulfed by the Andaman Sea and the Gulf of Thailand. The main similarity of these three countries is they …show more content…
This includes any travelling experience in the environment such as wildlife tourism, adventure travel, and ecotourism. In the case of Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines, they are known for their exotic flora and fauna from dwelling of endangered animals such as Orangutans, Philippine Eagle, and Bumblebee Bat, to preserving Rafflesia Arnoldii, known as the “corpse flower”. These exotic features can motivate tourists to engage in wildlife tourism, as stated by Curtin and Kragh (2014), “Wildlife tourism like this, which occurs in natural, aesthetically pleasing environments, has great potential to reawaken human connection with the natural world.” This wildlife conservation contributes to the ecotourism of their countries which includes excursions to National Parks, scuba-diving with whale sharks, and bird watching. With the growing concerns for environmental issues, promoting ecotourism will result into positive image and an increase in motivation for tourists to visit the destination. As Perkins and Grace (2008)