Locals benefit from nature based tourism: WB Report

A new World Bank report shows that for every dollar governments invest in protected areas and support for nature-based tourism, the economic rate of return is at least six-times the original investment.

The report, “Banking on Protected Areas: Promoting sustainable nature-based tourism to benefit local communities” found that the original investment triggered a chain of benefits for local businesses and households – even for those not directly connected to the tourism sector. Given these economic benefits, the report argues that the promotion of sustainable tourism in protected areas should be included in COVID-19 economic recovery plans, an investment that creates local jobs, improves incomes and protects biodiversity.

“Prior to the pandemic, there were more than 8 billion visits a year to marine and terrestrial protected areas, providing a vital source of income for communities who rely on tourism.

As countries emerge from the pandemic and rebuild their tourism sectors, investing in protected areas is a win for conservation and for development,” said Karin Kemper, World Bank Global Director for Environment, Natural Resources and Blue Economy.

When tourists visit protected areas, they pay park entry fees, which provide direct revenues to governments, and they also spend money on hotels, meals, transportation, souvenirs, and other tourism services that stimulate the local economy. When the sum of these direct and indirect economic benefits is calculated, it provides an estimate of the rate of return on public investment in protected areas and nature-based tourism.

The report also looked at how the promotion of nature-based tourism in protected areas impacts economic development and create jobs. The findings show that for every additional dollar spent by a tourist, local incomes increase by more than a dollar. This means that the revenues from nature-based tourism mostly stayed and accrued additional benefits in local economies. Specifically, for every dollar spent in:

• Brazil’s Abrolhos Marine Park, local incomes increase by US$ 1.74.
• Fiji’s Mamanuca Islands, local incomes increase by US$ 1.83.
• Nepal’s Chitwan National Park, local incomes increase by US$ 1.78.
• Zambia’s Lower Zambezi Park, local incomes increase by US$ 1.82.

Nature-based tourism creates jobs, with people hired as hotel employees and tour operators, for example. It also boosts employment in other sectors as demand rises for tourism-related goods and services. The report finds that before the pandemic, protected areas annually provided:

• 7,463 new jobs in the Lower Zambezi National Park in Zambia;
• 28,210 new jobs were generated in South Luangwa National Park in Zambia;
• 6,412 new jobs were generated in the Mamanuca Islands of Fiji; and
• 4,309 new jobs were generated in Chitwan National Park in Nepal.

The report includes a range of policy actions to promote more sustainable tourism in protected areas. These actions can be grouped into three interconnected categories: (1) protecting natural assets; (2) growing and diversifying the tourism business; and (3) sharing benefits with local communities. Within each category there are multiple policy recommendations, including increasing public investment in protected areas, enhancing the capacity of protected area managers, developing concession policies to promote tourism in protected areas, and formalizing benefit sharing arrangements with local communities.

“Banking on Protected Areas: Promoting sustainable nature-based tourism to benefit local communities” is available for download here. It was financially supported by Global Wildlife Program, PROBLUE, PROFOR, and WAVES.