Tourism in Marine Environments, Vol. 6, No. 4, pp. 175–183 1544-273X/10 $60.00 + .00 Printed in the USA. All rights reserved. DOI: 10.3727/154427310X12764412619046 Copyright  2010 Cognizant Comm. Corp. www.cognizantcommunication.com TOURIST ATTITUDES TOWARDS MARINE MAMMAL TOURISM: AN EXAMPLE FROM THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC MEGAN DRAHEIM,* IDELISA BONNELLY,† TOBY BLOOM,‡ NAOMI ROSE,‡ and E. C. M. PARSONS*§ *Department of Environmental Science and Policy, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA †Proyecto Amigos de los Delfines, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic ‡Humane Society International, Washington, DC, USA §University Marine Biological Station Millport, University of London, Cumbrae, Scotland 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 dolphinar- ium 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 con- ducted 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. conven- tional) tourism practices. Key words: Dominican Republic; Dolphins; Whale watching; Sustainable marine mammal tourism Introduction a GDP of US$35.6 billion (Economist Intelligence Unit, 2008). Although the economics of the captive cetacean The Dominican Republic, a Spanish-speaking nation that shares the Caribbean island of Hispan- industry have not been adequately studied, the lit- erature does demonstrate that revenue from whale- iola with Haiti, has a well-developed marine tour- ism industry, including whale watching, scuba watching activities has grown in recent decades. From 1991 to 1998, whale-watching expenditures diving, snorkeling, deep-sea fishing, and boating (Draheim & Parsons, 2008). Tourism is an impor- in the Dominican Republic grew from US$70,000 to US$5.2 million. In fact, the Dominican Repub- tant component of the Dominican Republic’s economy, being the largest earner of foreign ex- lic has the most valuable whale-watching industry in the Caribbean, and, as of 2001, the potential for change (Economist Intelligence Unit, 2008). In 2006, tourism accounted for US$3.8 billion out of cetacean watching in the Dominican Republic had Address correspondence to Megan Draheim, Department of Environmental Science and Policy, George Mason University, MSN 5F2, 4400 University Drive, Fairfax, VA 22030-4444, USA. E-mail: mdraheim@gmu.edu 175