The Sustainability of Scuba Diving Tourism: Principles and Implications

Sustainable scuba diving tourism can be studied through the lens of systemic perspective that highlights the intersections between environmental, socio-cultural and economic aspects. Specifically, the key issue is how sustainable diving tourism can help restore and maintain coastal and marine ecosystems by managing the interdependent goals of recreation and resource protection. The establishment of marine protected areas is broadly considered as a milestone for the quality of underwater sites and for marine resources conservation, as well as one of the key strategies that contribute to pushing the diving system towards a path of sustainability. The systemic approach used to conceptualize the sustainable diving tourism demand advances the idea that the management of a tourism scuba diving destination and its outcomes are also related to the study of the multiple relationships between stakeholders to ensure participation in the decision-making process for the sustainability of marine resources.