Coastal and Marine Tourism in the Blue Economy: An Assessment of Strategies in Latin America and the Caribbean

Abstract

The blue economy (BE) aims to support tourism opportunities that provide economic development and marine conservation objectives, as well as social equity. For the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region, coastal and marine tourism is a crucial sector of the economy. This paper presents the degree to which countries in LAC have strategies and plans to develop the BE and the degree to which the strategies and plans address the role of coastal and marine tourism in the development of the BE. A systematic review was used to extract the official strategies, reports, and plans used for this research. Then, each country was categorized based on the level of development of a BE plan or strategy. Lastly, a sustainability analysis of each National BE strategy is used based on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and their relevance to tourism. Key findings show that LAC countries see potential for the development of tourism as part of their BE. Also, the involvement of local communities and the development of the cruise and yachting industry are evident throughout. From these findings, key opportunities for improvement and future research related to tourism in the development of a sustainable blue economy are presented.

Keywords: blue economy; coastal and marine tourism; sustainable development goals; Latin America and the Caribbean; sustainable tourism