Harriott, 2004:

"The impacts of marine tourism within the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (GBRMP) are generally localised and of small magnitude compared with those of other environmental concerns (overfishing, inshore water quality, crown of thorns starfish, coral bleaching). Commercial tourism operators have strong motivation to protect the reef resources on which their industry is based. There has been increased emphasis in recent years on involvement of stakeholders including the tourism industry in management of the GBRMP. The status of tourism as one of the 'critical issues' in marine park management is justified by the fact that tourism is the major commercial activity within the GBRMP. It generates significant income, supports a large number of employees, and contributes to the reef's World Heritage Values by presenting the reef to tourists and the community. Apart from the local tourism impacts within the Marine Park, which are generally well managed, there has been concern that rapid expansion of tourism can increase pressure for coastal and urban development, with potential indirect and cumulative effects on the GBRWHA."

Harriott, 2002:

"Concerns about the impacts on the reef communities of pontoon structures resulted in a series of environmental monitoring programs which have been a required condition of pontoon permit approval since 1989 (reviewed by Inglis 1997, Nelson and Mapstone 1998). The development of pontoon monitoring systems by a number of consultants coincided with the requirement of more comprehensive impact assessment within the GBRMPA. Some of the monitoring has lacked sufficient rigour in survey design to detect any other than major impacts (Nelson and Mapstone 1998). Their detailed analysis of 11 pontoon monitoring studies reported that early pontoons had an impact on benthic communities under the pontoons as a result of shading and movement of the mooring chains (Nelson and Mapstone 1998). The response to these early studies was to site pontoons over sandy areas and away from living corals, and to improve the technology of mooring systems. More recent monitoring has demonstrated few significant impacts on coral or fish communities by operating pontoons (see sections on snorkelling and fish feeding) (Nelson and Mapstone 1998). There is strong motivation for tourism operators to implement practices to protect the environment near pontoons, because of the limited number of suitable sites and the high cost of moving the pontoons should the reef be damaged."

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Citation and/or URL

Harriott, V J. 2004. Marine tourism impacts on the Great Barrier Reef. Tourism in Marine Environments, Vol. 1, No. 1, pp 29-40.

Harriott, V J. 2002. Marine tourism impacts and their management on the Great Barrier Reef. CRC Reef Research Centre Technical Report No 46. CRC Reef Research Centre, Townsville. 

Spatial Coverage

2002 and 2004

Temporal Coverage

Great Barrier Reef Marine Park

Update Frequency

Not applicable

Other Information

None