1998 Year of the Ocean Coastal Tourism and Recreation 



Coastal and Marine Tourism in the United States 



The precise magnitude of foreign and domestic tourism in U.S. coastal and marine areas 

 is not clear, since no separate statistics are kept for foreign or domestic tourists to these areas. 

 Figures on foreign tourism receipts are generally based on surveys of departing travelers, 

 generating data which are "imperfect and cannot be compared over time with precision" 

 (Wildavsky, 1995, p. 2279). Data on tourism in coastal areas cannot easily be disaggregated from 

 national-level statistics, but impressionistic evidence as well as a number of recent works on the 

 subject suggest continued growth of tourism in coastal and marine areas in the United States and 

 worldwide (see, for example. Miller, 1993; Miller and Auyong, 1991). Detailed information on 

 the economic impact of domestic tourism has been difficult to find, but growth in all forms of 

 recreation in coastal areas in which both foreign and domestic tourists partake is readily apparent. 

 Such activities include beach going, recreational boating, cruises, marine mammal watching, 

 recreational fishing, underwater recreation, bird watching, nature appreciation, and the like. 



In terms of U.S. tourism, studies have shown that beaches are the leading tourist 

 destination while national parks and historic sites are the second most popular destination 

 (Houston, 1 996). Consistent with these findings, approximately 1 80 million people visit the coast 

 for recreational purposes, with 85 percent of tourist related revenues generated by coastal states. 

 In addition to growing numbers of visitors, the permanent population of U.S. coastal regions is 

 also increasing at a faster rate than the population as a whole. The population of coastal counties 

 has increased by approximately 25 percent since 1970 (Cunningham and Walker, 1996; Houston, 

 1996). 



In California, for example, Wilson and Wheeler (1997) provide the following estimates 

 for the annual contribution of various ocean industries to the California economy. Their study 

 shows that tourism (predominantly coastal) is the largest contributor at $9.9 billion, with the next 

 largest contributor being ports at $6.0 billion. Offshore oil accounted for $860 million, and 

 fisheries and mariculture combined contributed $550 million. Similarly, between June 1995 and 

 May 1996, 2.5 million visitors to Monroe County, Florida (in the Florida Keys) spent about $1 .2 

 billion. Recreation and tourism (all coastal) accounted for over 60 percent of output/sales, 45 

 percent of income, and over 46 percent of all employment (English et al., 1996). 



Recently the Envirormiental Protection Agency (EPA) undertook a national study on the 

 benefits of water quality improvement in terms of numbers of people involved and the economic 

 value of the activities in which they participate (EPA, 1996). This study provides some valuable 

 quantitative information on the importance of coastal tourism and recreation: 



• Saltwater fishing generates expenditures of over $5 billion annually, a total economic 

 output of $15 billion, total earnings (wages) of over $4 billion, and over 200,000 jobs. 



• Over 77 million Americans participate in recreational boating (NMMA, 1996). The 

 number of recreafional boats in the United States almost doubled from 1970 to 1990 

 (16.2 million), and is expected to increase by a further four million by the year 2000 



F-6 



