RECREATION AND TOURISM 



Harry McGinnis, Ph.D. 

 Department of Public Administration 

 Florida State University 

 Tallahassee, FL 32308 



INTRODUCTION 



The purpose of this paper is to synthesize data on outdoor recreation and 

 tourism in Charlotte, Collier, DeSota, Hillsborough, Lee, Manatee, Monroe, 

 Pasco, Pinellas, and Sarasota Counties in Southwest Florida. The data and 

 analyses will be used to help assess the potential impacts of OCS oil and gas 

 development on tourism and outdoor recreation. 



Recreation is a major use characteristic of coastal Florida. According 

 to the Natural Resources Defense Council (1976), coastal recreation per capita 

 is 10 days annually. Sport fishing attracts millions of resident and out-of- 

 state (tourist) saltwater anglers, and is a multimillion dollar a year 

 business. Hunting, surfing, boating, skindiving, beach recreation, and nature 

 studies are popular coastal activities. In recent decades the demand for 

 recreation has been increasing, but opportunities have been declining. Only a 

 small fraction of Florida's coastline is now available for public recreation 

 and some of the finest and more accessible areas are being developed for other 

 uses. 



The rapid growth of population, urbanization, urban sprawl, the auto- 

 mobile, and new highways have created a crisis in the amount of land available 

 for recreation. Each year, it becomes more expensive and more difficult to 

 obtain new areas for playgrounds, parks, forests, wildlife management areas, 

 and fish and wildlife preserves. 



Water resources are in need of a comprehensive program of restoration and 

 expansion. The problems caused by water pollution, sedimentation and dredge 

 and fill operations, have reduced the value of coastal waters as recreation 

 areas. As Floridians and tourists increase their mobility, disposable income, 

 and leisure time, their demands for recreation and tourism also increase. The 

 consequences are that many different interest groups are likely to compete for 

 the use of a limited supply of resources. 



Perhaps the most visible problem created by a rapidly shrinking natural 

 coastline is that of public access to fishing grounds (Hinman 1978). Sewage 

 disposal and silt-laden runoff from dredge and fill navigation projects usu- 

 ally increase turbidity and lead to deleterious effects on estuarine and 

 nearshore fisheries. Most fisherman must venture farther offshore to less 

 polluted water, which leads to a greater expenditure of time and money. Bell 

 (1978) states that increasing population, higher real per capita incomes, 

 shorter work weeks, and longer vacations mean more leisure time and money for 

 outdoor recreation. The effect of increasing demand and dwindling supply will 

 most certainly raise the real value of sport fishing. The terms sport fishing 

 and recreational fishing are used interchangably in the literature; for conti- 

 nuity in this report, sport fishing, or sport fish, is used. 



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