Whale Watching Worldwide

Acknowledgements:
Claire Garrigue and Aline Schaffar at Opération Cétacés and New Caledonia Tourism (South)
References:
Research for this country was taken from the Pacific Islands Whale Watch Tourism report undertaken by Economists at
Large for IFAW along with discussions with a local whale organisation in New Caledonia, Opération Cétacés. Large
cetacean watching numbers have been updated to 2008 figures, however dolphin watching numbers remain the same
as reported in 2005 due to a lack of more up to date data.
New Zealand
Year Number of
whale
watchers
AAGR Number of
operators
Direct
expenditure
Indirect
expenditure
Total
expenditure
1994 90,000 31% N/A $3,900,000 $8,600,000 $12,500,000
1998 230,000 27% >50 $7,503,000 $41,233,000 $48,736,000
2004 425,432 11% 90 $22,477,154 $51,861,003 $72,338,157
2008 546,445 9% 55 86 $34,058,744 $46,859,797 $80,918,541
Capital City: Welington
New Zealand has a large cetacean watching industry across both the
North and South Islands, with visitors able to see and swim with a
variety of whales and dolphins. The whale watch industry has been
operating for over 20 years and is one of the more well‐known and
better‐studied industries worldwide. It also is quickly becoming one
of the largest, with nearly 550,000 whale watch tourists resulting in
over $80 million in expenditure.
Since the last detailed study in 2004 56 , the industry has continued to
show a strong annual growth of 6.5% and bring economic benefits
to many coastal communities across the country. Growth in the decade since 1998 has averaged 9%. The
industry remains an important part of New Zealand’s attraction for tourists, both international and
domestic.
Along with the growth and benefits from the industry, a strong base of research has also been underway,
particularly focused on the impact of cetacean watching on the animals being observed. Examples of this
include work by Rochelle Constantine, David Lusseau, Christoph Richter, Elizabeth Slooten, Dave Lundquist,
Wendy Markowitz, Tim Markowitz, Bernd Würsig and others. This pioneering research already forms a
critical part of the international whale watching industry’s sustainable long‐term future as we continue to
learn more about whale watching strategies that ensure minimal impact on the animals. Clearly, the
benefits of such an outcome are mutual to both operators and whales to ensure the long term success of
this industry.
55
AAGR from 1998 to 2008
56
Economists at Large 2005, ‘The Growth of the New Zealand Whale Watching Industry: a socioeconomic assessment’,
a report for the International Fund for Animal Welfare.
186