Valuation of Reef Tourism: A Preliminary Review and Lessons Learned for a Study in the Philippines

Coral reefs are globally important ecosystems known for their high productivity and biodiversity. These reefs offer various ecosystem services, including provisioning and regulation. The coastal environment of the Philippines is rich in a diversity of reef species and associated marine organisms, attracting tourists each year, making the country a major tourist destination in Asia, and generating livelihoods for coastal communities. Recent studies suggest declines in reef diversity and abundance due to destructive fishing methods, industrial and agricultural waste, and unsustainable urban development, threatening the tourism sector and the economic opportunities provided by the reefs. This study compiles and synthesizes existing published research articles on valuation methods commonly used to assess the benefits of reef-related tourism. Articles published in Science Direct, Scopus, and Web of Science journals were searched using the PSALSAR framework. The initial search results of 7,982 using specific terms and Boolean operators were further refined, yielding 21 articles deemed eligible for annotation and preliminary review. Results of synthesis revealed that, despite the considerable number of studies on valuation, few focused on reef-related tourism. The articles encompassed a wide range of study sites, coastal habitat characteristics, and list of tourism activities. Valuation studies for reefs are commonly conducted in sites either in protected areas e.g., marine parks or popular tourist destinations e.g., Great Barrier Reef. Moreover, economic value is obtained from revenues earned, taxes collected, tourist expenditures and cost of handling reef-associated tourism activities. In this manner, the reef is undervalued as it only reflects the indirect use value of the ecosystem services e.g., supporting, cultural. Consequently, valuation studies that measure the economic value of provisioning services e.g., fish catch, fish population, and downstream employment is lacking. There is a significant monetary amount missing in reports that represent the reef’s value in providing food and employment to the most vulnerable sector – the coastal community. Thus, reefs in the Philippines remain exploited and non-prioritized for national programs in the absence of comprehensive valuation.