Towards the Sustainable Management of Whale-Watching Tourism: A Case Study of Port Phillip Bay, Australia

Abstract

With the rapid growth of whale-watching tourism, the importance of its management has become evident. Higham and colleagues indicated that adaptive management is the key to a sustainable whale-watching industry and proposed an integrated and adaptive management model, combining stakeholder perspectives and operating in a dynamic two-phase environment. This study applies the model to whale-watching tourism management in Port Philip Bay (Australia) examining the extent of its fit in this case study, and what management measures could be adopted to achieve sustainable development of whale-watching tourism. This study obtained secondary data to analyse the responses of target species to tourism activities and management strategies adopted since the inception of whale-watching tourism. A key outcome is the development of sustainable management for whale-watching tourism. As the tourism industry waits to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, such a rethink has implications for the shift towards more holistic sustainability and resilience of whale-watching tourism post-COVID-19.