Whale Watching Worldwide

References:
Research for this country was taken from the Pacific Islands Whale Watch Tourism report undertaken by Economists at
Large for IFAW. 2005 data from that report have been projected forward to 2008 at an average annual growth rate of
2.4% based on UN World Tourism Organisation regional growth data.
Samoa
Year Number of
whale
watchers
AAGR Number of
operators
Direct
expenditure
Indirect
expenditure
Total
expenditure
1991 None N/A None None None None
1994 None N/A None None None None
1998 Minimal N/A N/A Minimal Minimal Minimal
2005 725 20% 9 $18,488 $0 $18,488
2008 778 12% 64 9 $19,851 $0 $19,851
Capital City: Apia
Samoa attracted in the vicinity of 99,000 tourists in 2004 65 . With a
well‐established tourism industry, the country’s marine‐based
operators, such as dive and surf tour operators, take advantage of
opportunities to view cetaceans when they are encountered on
trips. The country is visited seasonally by humpback whales and
resident spinner dolphin populations. In 2008, nine opportunistic
operators were estimated to take around 800 tourists to see
cetaceans, with these trips mainly focusing on small cetaceans. This
is an average growth of around 12% per annum in the decade since
1998.
64 AAGR from 1998 to 2008
65 Op.cit., Hopkins, R (2006)
Main species: Large cetaceans:
humpback whale
Small cetaceans:
spinner dolphin
Tourists:
International 100%
Domestic 0%
Types of tours: Boat‐based, opportunistic
Average adult ticket price: $25.50
Estimated employment
9
numbers:
Main whale watch season: July to October for whales, year‐round for
dolphins
194