Over the past few decades, tourists worldwide have become increasingly interested in birdwatching tourism, a form of sustainable outdoor travel. New research indicates, however, that some destinations are lagging behind.
In a changing world, people are desperately searching for ways to slow down and reconnect with nature. Slow travel is more popular than ever and represents an alternative kind of tourism, one off the beaten path and away from a fast-paced kind of life.
Birdwatching tourism is one of the many form of slow travel that has been on the rise over the past few years. It allows travellers to discover new destinations at a slower rhythm, while supporting fragile wildlife and local communities. Technological novelties, such as the eBird app, further underline this trend and allow people to not only recognise rare bird species but also to connect with other birdwatchers globally.
Researchers from the University of California, Santa Cruz, recently looked into data from the eBird app to identify how birdwatching tourism is growing across 155 countries. In order to explain geographical differences, the research also focused on how sociological and ecological factors affect the rise of the slow tourism trend.
“Birdwatching tourism is one of the fastest-growing sectors within nature-based tourism. This specialised form of ecotourism has the potential to bring economic and conservation benefits to tropical countries, which house the richest avifaunas, but little is known about the factors driving birdwatchers’ decisions about which country to visit when they travel abroad”, the scientists write.
The researchers focused on the growth of birdwatching tourism from 2010 to 2022 in particular, using data from the community-science platform eBird. Using a so-called Bayesian hierarchical model, they evaluated the factors that predict variation in eBirding tourism rates.
Four driving factors
Overall, birdwatching tourism can majorly impact the economy and wildlife health in destinations across the world and more particularly in tropical countries with high numbers of unique bird species and an often underdeveloped economy. Between 2010 and 2022, Colombia and South Africa stood out as top destinations for birdwatchers. And while some destinations – such as Mexico, Costa Rica, Peru, Brazil, Ecuador, and Australia – showed both high numbers of unique bird species and birdwatching tourists, others – Venezuela, Democratic Republic of Congo, Bolivia, Madagascar, and Papua New Guinea – had a disproportionately low number of tourists compared to their number of unique bird species.
To explain this discrepancy, the researchers were able to identify four major factors influencing birdwatching tourism: the number of small-range bird species, total bird biodiversity, the Global Peace Index, and the Human Development Index.
“Avitourism is one of the fastest growing forms of ecotourism globally and one that promises co-benefits for conservation and economic development, particularly for tropical countries. We show that eBirding activity, as a proxy for avitourism, is growing around the world but that countries exhibit different trajectories, with some experiencing explosive growth (e.g. Colombia) and others remaining stagnant despite harbouring diverse avifaunas (e.g. Bolivia, Venezuela, DRC)”, the scientists conclude.
In order to boost their birdwatching tourism numbers, countries should thus concentrate on multiple factors influencing the tourism flow. Developing adapted birdwatching tourism infrastructure is a first step towards attracting tourists, yet according to the research, it is equally important to safeguard tourism safety within the specific tourism areas designed for birdwatching tourism. Subsidies and wildlife conservation also have their role to play.
