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1. Impact of Tourist Behavior on the Discharge of Sunscreen Contamination in Aquatic Parks, Sinkholes, and Beaches of the Mexican Caribbean

   https://doi.org/10.3390/app11156882  

   Casas-Beltrán, Diego Armando; Febles-Moreno, Karelys; Hernandez-Yac, Emely; Gallaher, Courtney Maloof; Alvarado-Flores, Jesús; Leal-Bautista, Rosa María; Lenczewski, Melissa (August 2021, Applied Sciences)

   null (Ed.)

   The Mexican Caribbean is part of the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System, considered the second largest reef system globally. This system, as well as inland aquatic ecosystems, are at risk of contamination due to the intensive use of sunscreen by the tourists who visit the Riviera Maya each year. At present, the regulation and management of sunscreens are inconsistent, with most policies and legislation focused on the protected marine areas with little current focus on inland aquatic ecosystems. An estimated 229.76 tons of sunscreen are used annually, with residues putting the health of the marine and freshwater aquatic ecosystems and residents at risk. Groundwater is used recreationally (e.g., tourists swimming in sinkholes or cenotes) and as household drinking water. To understand the environmental impacts of sunscreen use and the management implications, a mixed-methods study was carried out, combining survey and interview data on how tourists use sunscreen and their perceptions of discharge of sunscreens into the water, with analysis of regional, national and international policies and legislation. Our findings of touristic behaviors, gaps in current legislation, and the pollution implications of different sunscreen types provide useful information for future decision-making and the creation of stronger environmental regulations. 

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2. Seaweed Invasion! Temporal Changes in Beach Conditions Lead to Increasing Cenote Usage and Contamination in the Riviera Maya

   https://doi.org/10.3390/su12062474  

   Casas-Beltrán, Diego Armando; Gallaher, Courtney Maloof; Hernandez Yac, Emely; Febles Moreno, Karelys; Voglesonger, Kenneth; Leal-Bautista, Rosa María; Lenczewski, Melissa (March 2020, Sustainability)

   null (Ed.)

   Since 2011, tourism to Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula has been heavily impacted by large masses of sargassum seaweed washing up on the beaches, with the largest seaweed event occurring in 2019. Seaweed deters beach tourism, potentially shifting tourism inland towards other activities such as swimming in cenotes (sinkholes). Our mixed methods study combined data from surveys of visitors to the region, interviews with tourists and tour operators, thematic analysis of newspaper articles, laws and policies and analysis of water samples from a cenote to understand the environmental impact on cenotes of this shifting tourism industry. We identified intentional efforts by the tourism industry to encourage cenote tourism in response to the seaweed problem, and our survey and interview data confirmed that tourists are choosing to visit cenotes in lieu of beaches. Water samples from one tourist cenote in 2019 indicated increased pollution relative to previous years. Current regulations and management of tourist cenotes are weak, creating the potential for significant long term harm to the environment and to the water sovereignty of surrounding communities. Regulation of cenotes should be strengthened to protect these fragile karst ecosystems and to give local and indigenous residents a formal voice in the management process. 

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3. International Tourism in the Arctic under COVID-19: A Telecoupling Analysis of Iceland

   https://doi.org/10.3390/su142215237  

   Remer, Michele; Liu, Jianguo (November 2022, Sustainability)

   During the COVID-19 pandemic, tourism slowed down as the world went into lockdown. This pause in tourism provides a unique opportunity to analyze the environmental and socioeconomic effects of tourism by comparing tourism participation levels before, during, and after the pandemic restrictions. We examined tourism in Iceland, an island nation in the Arctic where international tourists vastly outnumber residents. Specifically, we systematically analyzed the materials, energy, tourist, and information flows, as well as the causes, effects, and agents of tourism in Iceland using the framework of telecoupling (human-nature interactions over distances). Results show that the U.S., U.K., and Nordic countries sent the highest numbers of tourists to Iceland. Flows of tourists to Iceland were tracked based on international flights and cruise ships, with Iceland’s tourism industry returning close to pre-pandemic levels in 2022 for air arrivals, while cruise ship tourism was slower in returning to pre-pandemic levels. Agents in the Icelandic tourism industry include government entities, local businesses, tour operators, and many others. There are diverse causes for tourism in Iceland, such as the demand for nature-based tourism and a cooler climate. International tourism in Iceland had both substantial environmental effects (CO2 emissions, damage to sensitive areas, etc.) and socioeconomic effects (e.g., increases in GDP and jobs). Many effects also spillover to the rest of the world as increases in CO2 emissions contribute to global climate change. Tourism is also expected to continue increasing after Iceland’s 2022 marketing launch of “Iceland Together in Progress.” Since Iceland has had such a strong tourism rebound, other countries around the world (especially other Arctic countries) that are looking to increase their tourism can gain insights from Iceland. However, it is important to make tourism more sustainable (e.g., reduction in CO2 emissions). 

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4. Mapping Spatiotemporal Tourist Behaviors and Hotspots Through Location-Based Photo-Sharing Service (Flickr) Data.

   https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71470-7_16  

   Lee, Joey Ying; Tsou, Ming-Hsiang (December 2017, Progress in Location Based Services 2018. LBS 2018. Lecture Notes in Geoinformation and Cartography. Springer, Cham)

   Social media services and location-based photo-sharing applications, such as Flickr, Twitter, and Instagram, provide a promising opportunity for studying tourist behaviors and activities. Researchers can use public accessible geo-tagged photos to map and analyze hotspots and tourist activities in various tourist attractions. This research studies geo-tagged Flickr photos collected from the Grand Canyon area within 12 months (2014/12/01–2015/11/30) using kernel density estimate (KDE) mapping, Exif (Exchangeable image file format) data, and dynamic time warping (DTW) methods. Different spatiotemporal movement patterns of tourists and popular points of interests (POIs) in the Grand Canyon area are identified and visualized in GIS maps. The frequency of Flickr’s monthly photos is similar (but not identical) to the actual tourist total numbers in the Grand Canyon. We found that winter tourists in the Grand Canyon explore fewer POIs comparing to summer tourists based on their Flickr data. Tourists using high-end cameras are more active and explore more POIs than tourists using smart phones photos. Weekend tourists are more likely to stay around the lodge area comparing to weekday tourists who have visited more remote areas in the park, such as the north of Pima Point. These tourist activities and spatiotemporal patterns can be used for the improvement of national park facility management, regional tourism, and local transportation plans. 

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5. Risk perceptions and behaviors concerning rural tourism and economic-political drivers of COVID-19 policy in 2020

   https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0299841  

   Lieberthal, Brandon; Jackson, Sarah; de_Urioste-Stone, Sandra (April 2024, PLOS ONE)

   Alam, Mumtaz (Ed.)

   When COVID-19 was first introduced to the United States, state and local governments enacted a variety of policies intended to mitigate the virulence of the epidemic. At the time, the most effective measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 included stay-at-home orders, closing of nonessential businesses, and mask mandates. Although it was well known that regions with high population density and cold climates were at the highest risk for disease spread, rural counties that are economically reliant on tourism were incentivized to enact fewer precautions against COVID-19. The uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic, the multiple policies to reduce transmission, and the changes in outdoor recreation behavior had a significant impact on rural tourism destinations and management of protected spaces. We utilize fine-scale incidence and demographic data to study the relationship between local economic and political concerns, COVID-19 mitigation measures, and the subsequent severity of outbreaks throughout the continental United States. We also present results from an online survey that measured travel behavior, health risk perceptions, knowledge and experience with COVID-19, and evaluation of destination attributes by 407 out-of-state visitors who traveled to Maine from 2020 to 2021. We synthesize this research to present a narrative on how perceptions of COVID-19 risk and public perceptions of rural tourism put certain communities at greater risk of illness throughout 2020. This research could inform future rural destination management and public health policies to help reduce negative socioeconomic, health and environmental impacts of pandemic-derived changes in travel and outdoor recreation behavior. 

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