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Regulating “Nirvana”: Sustainable surf tourism in a climate of increasing regulation

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  • Jess Ponting
  • Danny O’Brien

Abstract

•A response to the issue of crowding in a sport tourism context is analysed.•Physical carrying capacity regulation alone is inadequate to address crowding issues.•Current regulatory regimes fail to address behavioural management and social carrying capacity.•Vocational training and cultural interchange positioned as social adjuncts to purely physical capacity regulation.•Links between recreational carrying capacity and sustainability are highlighted.Indonesia's Mentawai Islands are widely regarded as a surfer's “Nirvana.” This paper uses qualitative interviews and participant observation to explore the politics of surf tourism recreational capacity management in the Mentawais, and the wider implications for Mentawaian host communities’ involvement in the surf tourism economy. While much of the Mentawaian surf tourism industry was vehemently opposed to a recently introduced capacity management model, the market responded favourably. There appear to be immediate advantages for government and local communities in incentivising low-volume, high-yield land-based surf tourism development, and social carrying capacity measures such as vocational training and cultural interchange emerge as viable adjuncts to purely physical carrying capacity regulation.

Suggested Citation

  • Jess Ponting & Danny O’Brien, 2015. "Regulating “Nirvana”: Sustainable surf tourism in a climate of increasing regulation," Sport Management Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(1), pages 99-110, January.
  • Handle: RePEc:taf:rsmrxx:v:18:y:2015:i:1:p:99-110
    DOI: 10.1016/j.smr.2014.07.004
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    Cited by:

    1. Virgílio Machado & Joaquim Pinto Contreiras & Ana Patrícia Duarte, 2021. "Planning Tourism in Protected Natural Areas: Safety, Soft Law and Conflict Management between Beach Users. The Case of Surf in Aljezur, Portugal," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-14, September.
    2. Martin Rode, 2022. "The institutional foundations of surf break governance in Atlantic Europe," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 190(1), pages 175-204, January.
    3. Natalie Fox & Jamie Marshall & Dorothy Jane Dankel, 2021. "Ocean Literacy and Surfing: Understanding How Interactions in Coastal Ecosystems Inform Blue Space User’s Awareness of the Ocean," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(11), pages 1-21, May.

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