Tourist Attitudes Towards Marine Mammal Tourism: An Example from the Dominican Republic

In 2002, residents of the village of Bayahibe, Dominican Republic, became concerned about their local dolphin population when eight bottlenose dolphins were captured for a Dominican dolphinarium off the coast of their village within a national park. Subsequently, a collaborative project, El Proyecto Amigos de los Delfines , was established to learn more about this dolphin population and to initiate conservation efforts in the region. In 2007, a survey of tourists in Bayahibe was conducted to assess the degree of interest in local sustainable marine mammal tourism. The results indicated that tourists in this area had a high concern for dolphin conservation and would rather see wild than captive dolphins. Respondents also expressed support for sustainable (vs. conventional) tourism practices.