The Economic Benefits of Nature-Based Tourism

Nature-based tourism can help countries achieve their development goals while promoting biodiversity conservation. In destinations with rich natural assets but limited economic opportunities, nature-based tourism can create jobs and diversify rural economies. Money spent by tourists on activities, transportation, food, and accommodation ripple through local communities - generating jobs, income, and indirect impacts, benefiting poor and nonpoor households alike. By stimulating investment and economic activity in and around protected areas, tourism provides benefits to local communities and strengthens incentives to support and engage in conservation, which may otherwise create opportunity costs for them.

Nature-based tourism can also generate financing for biodiversity conservation.In many countries, visitor entrance fees, tourism concessions and leasing fees, and other financial mechanisms account for a substantial proportion of the budgets of protected and conserved areas. As a result, more and more countries are prioritizing nature-based tourism to fuel economic development and conservation.

The World Bank is investing in projects that help countries protect their natural assets, grow and diversifynature-based tourism businesses, and share the benefits from tourism with local communities. The World Bank also invests in new tools and knowledge to measure the local economic impacts of nature-based tourism, to help inform policies for sustainable development and conservation of protected areas.

Estimating the economic impact of tourism in protected areas on local economies

There is a significant lack of data and methodologies that measure the impacts of tourism at the local level.Furthermore, most cost-benefit studies of tourism projects focus only on activities that are directly affected by tourism, like hotels and lodges, restaurants, tour operators, and souvenir shops. Economic spillovers, or indirect impacts, are an important part of how tourism affects local economies and create income multipliers. Yet they are rarely considered in policy design or cost-benefit analysis for new tourism operations.

Local economy-wide impact evaluation (LEWIE) models can be used to quantify both the direct and indirect impacts of tourist spending on economies around protected areas. These approaches measure visitor numbers and tourist spending in protected areas and gather data from surveys of local households and businesses. The resulting data can make the case for greater investments in natural areas and tourism and inform policies that improve tourism and refine business models. Assessments can also help identify those protected areas that are generating high returns from government investments.

In Banking on Protected Areas, the World Bank published a LEWIE approach for protected area tourism, presenting data from assessments in Brazil, Fiji, Nepal, and Zambia (see country tabs below). The results documented how protected area tourism can be an engine for development, providing economic benefits to communities living around these areas.

The report showed that tourism generated jobs for:

• 30 percent of the working age population around Zambia's South Luangwa National Park
• 14 percent around Zambia's Lower Zambezi National Park
• 13 percent in Nadroga-Navosa and the Mamanuca Islands in Fiji
• 12 percent around Brazil's Whale Coast, home to Abrolhos Marine National Park
• 3 percent around Nepal's Chitwan National Park

A new LEWIE-lite methodology for protected area tourism provides a more accessible and user-friendly methodology to assess the impacts of tourist spending on local economies. The World Bank piloted LEWIE-lite in Madagascar and Uganda. Better and more readily available data can be used to advocate for greater investments in natural areas and tourism and improve tourism policy and decision-making.

Funding for the studies was provided by PROBLUE, PROFOR, PROGREEN, the Global Wildlife Program, and WAVES.

Brazil

Brazil is the most megadiverse country in the world. However, tourists visit only a small number of the parks in Brazil's protected area network, and federal and state parks are substantially underfunded. This study took place in Abrolhos Marine National Park and found that spending by tourists generates significant income multipliers for households in the local economy: a Real spent by visitors at Abrolhos raises the income of households around the park by 1.74 Reals. There is much potential for Brazil's protected areas to improve their performance, further contribute to development, and to maintain the country's rich natural assets.

For summary of results: Banking on Protected Areas: Promoting Sustainable Protected Area Tourism to Benefit Local Communities

Read the country report: Assessing the Economic Impact of Protected Area Tourism on Local Economies in Brazil

Fiji

Tourism is the largest source of foreign exchange in Fiji and vital for local livelihoods. Fiji recognizes the need to protect its natural assets for sustainable tourism development. The study estimated the economic impact of tourism in three island destinations in the Mamanuca Islands that are being considered for formal marine protected area status. It found that tourism there created 8,304 jobs (through direct and indirect channels), employing 13 percent of the local population in the Mamanucas Islands and on the mainland (the western coastal region in Nadroga-Navosa province).

For summary of results: Banking on Protected Areas: Promoting Sustainable Protected Area Tourism to Benefit Local Communities

Nepal

More than 45 percent of tourists to Nepal visit the country's wealth of natural resources. While tourism already contributes significantly to Nepal's economy, there are opportunities for further investments in the sector to reap more benefits. Tourism-related jobs around Chitwan National Park are held by 3 percent of the working age population, and one tourist dollar spent leads to an increase in local incomes of US$ 1.78.

For summary of results: Banking on Protected Areas: Promoting Sustainable Protected Area Tourism to Benefit Local Communities

Read the country report: Economic Impacts of Protected Area Tourism on Local Communities in Nepal

Feature story: Harnessing Tourism to Enhance the Value of Biodiversity and Promote Conservation in Nepal

Zambia

Approximately 40 percent of the Zambia's land area is protected, with globally significant biodiversity. The assessment found that tourist spending strongly infiltrates local economies, while government revenues from park fees exceed investments in the two parks, generating a net of US$ 1.1 million.

For summary of results: Banking on Protected Areas: Promoting Sustainable Protected Area Tourism to Benefit Local Communities

Read the country report: Assessing the Economic Impact of Tourism in Protected Areas on Local Economies in Zambia

Blog:Protecting biodiversity to improve economic outcomes in Zambia

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