A proposal for valuing diving and surf tourism in the marine protected areas of the Fernando de Noronha Archipelago (PE, Brazil)

Abstract

Tourism has been growing in the last decades, as well as visits to Conservation Units (UCs). The increase in tourism in UCs can economically help the region to structure itself and invest in conservation. It is essential to carry out studies to identify the profile of the tourist who visits the UCs, mainly regarding their environmental awareness. Ecotourism, sports tourism, and adventure tourism have great potential to be sustainable tourist activities. In this way, the present study has the objective of valuing surf and diving tourism in Fernando de Noronha. The methodology used was the travel cost method. Analyzes of past data, metadata and interviews with visiting surfers and divers were carried out in 2019. It was verified that this public is composed mainly of young adults with high purchasing value. The total average expenses of trips by surfers and divers were R $ 7,912.47 and R $ 8,331.34, respectively. The main expenses for surfers and divers were for lodging, passage, and food. Spending on diving represented only 8% of the divers' total trip and was the expense with the highest level of satisfaction. For surfers, the most worthwhile expense was car rental (12% of the total trip) to take their equipment to different beaches. Other expenses with a high level of satisfaction were those related to contact with nature, such as boat trips and Hawaiian canoe. It was noticeable, that this public injects significant capital on the island. In this way, it is clear that this public has the potential to assist in the maintenance of economically and environmentally sustainable tourism, provided that training courses are also offered for tourism service providers and guidance for visitors, so that surfing and diving do not become predatory.