Island Nations (SIDS) vs. Scuba Diving

Imagine this: you’re chilling on a beautiful tropical island, crystal clear water, colorful fish everywhere – paradise, right? Well, a big part of what makes these islands tick economically is tourism, and a super fun and economically significant slice of that is scuba diving. People travel from all over the world to strap on scuba cylinders and explore those amazing underwater worlds.

Scuba diving around coral reefs to see cool marine life is a huge money-maker globally – we’re talking billions of dollars a year. And guess who often has the most stunning coral reefs and marine critters? You got it, those beautiful island nations we were just imagining. In some places, scuba diving tourism can bring in as much money as or even more than fishing! That’s a big deal for their economies.

But here’s the catch: it can be like buying a souvenir from a local artisan on vacation and then realizing most of your money went to a big company somewhere else – maybe it was “Made in China.”

In our case, for instance, while dive training agencies provide standards and training, a significant chunk of the money tourists spend – for courses, certifications, memberships of the instructor and dive center, insurance, and the like – goes to these outside corporations.

From our Porter’s Five Forces analysis of the scuba diving industry, we already know that dive training agencies grab an inordinate percentage of the scuba diving experience value chain.

Zaidy and her colleagues highlight the necessity of integrating the diving sector, including its workforce and economic contributions, into blue economy strategies and policy frameworks to achieve the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially SDG 8 (Decent Work) and SDG 14 (Life Below Water). Part of their goal is for small island nations to keep more of the tourism dollars at home to reinvest in themselves.

This is where a national or regional “Blue Economy” plan comes in. Think of it as island nations trying to make the most of their ocean resources in a sustainable way. This requires developing a skilled local workforce instead of hiring expatriates. For these islands to thrive, especially with beautiful but fragile coral reefs, they need more of that scuba diving tourism money to stay on the island.

That money can then be reinvested right back into the things that matter for their Blue Economy. We’re talking about things like:

• Protecting and restoring their precious coral reefs. Healthy reefs mean more amazing diving, which brings more tourists! It’s a win-win.
• Building better and safer infrastructure for the diving industry, like hyperbaric chambers in case of diving accidents, and supporting local dive businesses.
• Training local people to be top-notch dive guides, instructors, and marine conservationists creates good jobs and ensures the expertise stays local.
• Developing sustainable tourism practices that benefit both the environment and the local communities.

In a nutshell, it’s about empowering island nations to be the primary beneficiaries of their stunning underwater attractions. They need to figure out ways to keep more of the scuba diving dollars flowing into their own economies instead of seeing too much of it swim away to companies and individuals elsewhere like dive professionals coming in for short periods and leaving with all their earnings.

That way, island nations can invest in a healthy ocean and a prosperous future – their very own Blue Economy. It’s like saying, “Hey, these are our amazing reefs, and we should be able to use the income from showing them off to build a better future for our islands!”