Tourism

Bonairean ecosystems support touristic activities that depend on the quality of the natural environment, such as diving, snorkelling, kayaking, boating, enjoying beaches, and participating in land activities. The tourism sector is an industry with substantial size and financial contribution to the economy of Bonaire. However, the economic value of the contribution of nature to Bonaire’s tourism has never been quantified, nor have the most important aspects of Bonairean nature for tourism been identified. It is essential that the economic value of the ecosystem service to tourism and the dependence of tourism on Bonairean ecosystems while impacting these same ecosystems be determined in order to further assist policy-makers in understanding this crucial relationship and support them in wise long-term decision-making.

To determine the value of Bonairean ecosystems for the tourism industry a survey among tourists visiting Bonaire is conducted. This study estimates the average expenditures of these visitors, as well as their Willingness-To-Pay (WTP) for protection of Bonairean nature. The result of this survey also elucidates tourists’ perceived value of different aspects of Bonairean nature. The socio-economic value of the ecosystem services for tourism is combined with spatial data to determine which ecosystems are the most economically valuable with regards to tourism.

The expenditure by tourists on Bonaire is found to be around $125 million annually. An estimated welfare of around $50 million dollars is contributed by Bonaire’s nature to tourism. Stay-over tourists are found to contribute more to the tourism industry than cruise tourists, and marine ecosystems are found to be more economically significant than terrestrial ecosystems on the island. The high WTP of tourists for additional nature protection in Bonaire provides opportunities for the local government to increase the current user fees of visitors to Bonaire. 

IVM Institute for Environmental Studies 

Managing the pathways by which non-native species are introduced and spread is consid- ered the most effective way of preventing species invasions. Tourism and outdoor recrea- tion involve the frequent congregation of people, vehicles and vessels from geographically diverse areas. They are therefore perceived to be major pathways for the movement of non- native species, and ones that will become increasingly important with the continued growth of these sectors. However, a global assessment of the relationship between tourism activi- ties and the introduction of non-native species–particularly in freshwater and marine envi- ronments–is lacking. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to determine the impact of tourism and outdoor recreation on non-native species in terrestrial, marine and freshwater environments. Our results provide quantitative evidence that the abundance and richness of non-native species are significantly higher in sites where tourist activities take place than in control sites. The pattern was consistent across terrestrial, freshwater and marine environments; across a variety of vectors (e.g. horses, hikers, yachts); and across a range of taxonomic groups. These results highlight the need for widespread biose- curity interventions to prevent the inadvertent introduction of invasive non-native species (INNS) as the tourism and outdoor recreation sectors grow. 

Tropical regions and developing states depend largely on their “blue nature” and related tourism for their potential and economic well-being. Even so, coral reefs are degrading around the globe, whereas the pressure exerted by diving tourism is increasing steadily. This conflicting situation empathizes the need for sustainable use of marine ecosystems and sustainable tourism development. Here, we looked at the potential of sustainable growth of diving tourism for the small tropical island Sint Eustatius, part of the Dutch Caribbean. We evaluated the ecological and social carrying capacity of the reefs surrounding the island and studied the possibilities for artificial reefs. Our study showed that a new methodology identifying pressures and sensitivities of dive sites was effective in differentiating between sites, and could act to evaluate intrinsic and extrinsic risks acting on reefs for management purposes. Consequently, our study demonstrated that pressures associated with the diving sector were relatively small for St.Eustatius, but that the marine resources of St. Eustatius have declined over time. Moreover, we found that the diving tourist especially prized the natural resources and tranquility of the island, while stakeholders envisioned growth of tourism. And lastly, we showed that divers valued landscaped reefs positively depending on the design of the reef. Natural looking reefs with rich biotic growth and wrecks were particularly well appreciated and were considered a possibility to dive on. In summary, our results indicate that the reefs of St.Eustatius can sustain growth of the diving sector and that landscaped reefs can support sustainable growth. As the attraction of St.Eustatius to visitors is currently characterized by the rich nature and quiet atmosphere, growth of tourism should be carefully considered in terms of both ecological as social carrying capacity. Such consideration requires adequate ecological and environmental data for which consistent monitoring programs need to be developed. This will safeguard sustainable use of St.Eustatius’ blue-nature, for generations to come.

This research was conducted as part of the Wageningen UR innovation program TripleP@sea – Caribbean Netherlands (as funded by the Netherlands Ministry of Economic affairs under project number KB-IV-007). More specifically, this report contributes to the subproject “Towards a Tourism Masterplan for St.Eustatius”. 

This Initiative draws attention to the economic benefits of biodiversity and highlights the growing costs of biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation. Insight in the value of ecosystems and biodiversity can support decision makers to make wise and inclusive decisions for long-term sustainable economic development.

Information on the Total Economic Value (TEV) of Bonaire’s nature is used to build a strategy to advocate for the effective conservation measures on Bonaire. The TEV is the sum of the ecosystem services provided by the marine and terrestrial ecosystems of Bonaire. In total, more than 10 different services have been valued on monetary terms. The most relevant services that were estimated in extensive sub-studies include the following:

• Local cultural and recreational values
• International tourism value 
• Fisheries values 
• Non-use value 
• Coastal protection value 
• Functional Valuation of Ecosystem Services on Bonaire 

Through the use of simulation models, scenario development and cost & benefit analysis the efficacy of various interventions is determined. Cost-benefit analysis of different scenarios provides an objective means of deciding which interventions produces the highest yield. Such an integral approach ultimately ensures the betterment of Bonaire’s environment while at the same time warranting sustainable economic development.

How large was the population of Bonaire, Saba, and St Eustatius on 1 January 2017? How did the economy of each island develop in 2015? What were the results of the labour force survey which was held in 2016?

This and more new statistical information is presented here in the latest edition of Trends in the Caribbean Netherlands. The book provides updated as well as new and additional information, covering many aspects of life in the Caribbean part of the Netherlands as of 2017.

Growing demand from the Dutch central government has resulted in the compilation of new statistics and an increase in available data. The edition before you includes data on all three islands with topics including consumer prices, firefighting, gross domestic product, inbound tourism by air, international trade, nature and environment and value added by tourism in the GDP of Bonaire.

This publication gives an impression of the diversity in facts and figures provided by Statistics Netherlands. The information can also easily be accessed through our press releases, available on our website.

As of 10 October 2010, Statistics Netherlands (CBS) is responsible for the collection and publication of statistical data on the three islands of the Caribbean Netherlands: Bonaire, Saba and St Eustatius. An annual, comprehensive overview of the latest figures and developments is presented in this compact and colourful booklet, Trends in the Caribbean Netherlands. Aside from a wide range of recent data, it provides information on developments in many areas, from education to energy, from population to prices and from trade to tourism.

In addition to the regular statistical programme, Statistics Netherlands now also provides statistics for externally financed projects on national accounts, income statistics and labour and wage
statistics.

All our statistics can be found in our online database, StatLine (cbs.nl/statline). News and information can also be accessed through our press releases, published daily on our website
(www.cbs.nl). News on the Caribbean Netherlands is featured in a special dossier on this site.

User fees can contribute to the financial sus- tainability of marine protected areas (MPAs), yet they must be acceptable to users. We explore changes in the fee system and management of Bonaire National Marine Park (BNMP) from the perspective of users. Responses from 393 tourists indicated that 90% were satisfied with park conditions and considered current user fees reasonable. However, only 47% of divers and 40% of non-divers were prepared to pay more. Diver willingness-to-pay (WTP) appears to have decreased since 1991, but this difference could be due in part to methodological differences between studies. Although current fees are close to diver maximum stated WTP, revenues could potentially be increased by improving the current fee system in ways that users deem acceptable. This potential surplus highlights the value of understanding user perceptions toward MPA fees and management. 

Coral reefs worldwide are attracting increasing numbers of scuba divers, leading to growing concern about damage. There is now a need to manage diver behaviour closely, especially as many dive companies offer unlimited, unsupervised day and night diving from shore. We observed 353 divers in St. Lucia and noted all their contacts with the reef during entire dives to quantify rates of damage and seek ways of reducing it. Divers using a camera caused significantly more contacts with the reef than did those without cameras (mean 0.4 versus 0.1 contacts min-1), as did shore versus boat dives (mean 0.5 versus 0.2 contacts min-1) and night versus day dives (mean 1.0 versus 0.4 contacts min-1). We tested the effect of a one-sentence inclusion in a regular dive briefing given by local staff that asked divers to avoid touching the reef. We also examined the effect of dive leader intervention on rates of diver contact with the reef. Briefing alone had no effect on diver contact rates, or on the probability of a diver breaking living substrate. However, dive leader intervention when a diver was seen to touch the reef reduced mean contact rates from 0.3 to 0.1 contacts min-1 for both shore and boat dives, and from 0.2 to 0.1 contacts min-1 for boat dives. Given that briefings alone are insufficient to reduce diver damage, we suggest that divers need close supervision, and that dive leaders must manage diver behaviour in situ.