Tourists perceptions of Caribbean islands facing environmental threats before the COVID-19 health crisis: Holbox Island and Archipelago of Bocas del Toro

Knowledge gaps exist in the socio-ecological systems of small touristic islands in Latin America. Understanding tourists' perceptions of their environmental knowledge can help plan actions to prevent natural capital loss necessary for local economies. Tourists' perceptions of a touristic h...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2022-03, Vol.17 (3), p.e0262014
Main Authors: Rubio-Cisneros, Nadia T, Montero-Muñoz, Jorge L, Rubio-Cisneros, Igor I, Morales-Ojeda, Sara, Pech, Mónica, Ruiz-Ayma, Gabriel, Rueda-Flores, Marisol, Baker, Rachel, Jiménez, Armando, Fuentes, Karen, González-Rojas, José I
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Archipelagoes
Biodiversity
Biology and Life Sciences
Carbon sequestration
Caretta caretta
Conservation
Coronaviruses
COVID-19
COVID-19 - epidemiology
COVID-19 - virology
Earth Sciences
Ecology and Environmental Sciences
Economic development
Employment
Environment
Environmental aspects
Environmental effects
Environmental impact
Environmental protection
Epidemics
Eretmochelys imbricata
Fishing
Humans
Islands
Knowledge
Latin America
Medicine and Health Sciences
People and places
Perception
SARS-CoV-2 - isolation & purification
Similarity
Social-ecological systems
Surveys
Surveys and Questionnaires
Tourism
Tourists
Travel industry
West Indies
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Summary:Knowledge gaps exist in the socio-ecological systems of small touristic islands in Latin America. Understanding tourists' perceptions of their environmental knowledge can help plan actions to prevent natural capital loss necessary for local economies. Tourists' perceptions of a touristic hotspot, Holbox Island, were documented. Surveys demonstrated that tourists are aware of their environmental impacts and are interested in minimizing these. Results were compared with results on Bocas del Toro, Panama. Tourists' perceptions had similarities among sites driven by similarities in tourists' populations with a common geographic origin. Tourists lack site-specific knowledge to steer them towards environmentally conscious decisions in both regions. Findings suggest the need to promote local actions to gain tourists' understanding about their destination and support education programs on island conservation. Addressing these needs can help build resilience to overcome the adverse socio-environmental effects of tourism, environmental disasters, and health crises as COVID-19 on small islands.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0262014