PHOTO(S): © Mike Theiss/National Geographic Stock
Coastal and marine tourism is a vital part of a country’s economy. This goal measures participation in sustainable tourism to coastal regions.
COVID-19 surely impacted tourism, however, our score for this goal does not incorporate the pandemic because the source data we use to calculate this goal only extends to 2019.
The countries with the lowest scores have unsafe or unappealing conditions owing to poverty, political turmoil, war or other volatile conditions and scores will likely be depressed until those fundamental conditions improve. Once these conditions are resolved, improvements to Tourism and Recreation can occur rapidly. In Sri Lanka, 2009 marked the end of a 25 year civil war, and since then the proportion of people employed in tourism has more than doubled.
Overall, the global Tourism and Recreation score has increased modestly from 2012 to 2019. However, several countries have witnessed dramatic improvements. For example Iceland and Georgia have essentially doubled employment in tourism and recreation from the start of global Ocean Health Index in 2012 to the present assessment.