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The Resumption of Whaling by Iceland and the Potential Negative Impact in the Icelandic Whale-watching Market

Current Issues in TourismPublished 1 October 2003
E. C. M. Parsons, C. J. G. RAWLES
Citations56
SJR quartileQ1
SJR score1.70
SNIP2.23

Abstract

Whale-watching tourists were surveyed to determine their opinion on whether they would visit, to go whale-watching, in a country that conducted whale-watching operations: 79% of whale-watchers in the study area said they would boycott a country that conducted hunts for cetaceans, and a further 12.4% stated that although they would visit a country conducting whaling operations, they would not partake in a whale-watching trip in that country (i.e. 91.4% of whale-watchers would not go whale-watching in a country that hunted whales). The results of this study are of great significance to the whale-watching industry in Iceland (currently estimated to be directly worth over US$12 million per annum), a country whose government has stated its wish to resume commercial whaling in 2006, and 'scientific' whaling prior to this date.

Keywords

Social SciencesEnvironmental Science