The economic value of birdwatching

Birdwatching at Eaglleby Wetlands, Brisbane: Araucaria Ecotours

Many authors recently have noted that birdwatching (or birding or avitourism) can be lucrative for tour operators and   ecolodges, and have flow-on effects that benefit local communities.

Hotels and B&Bs in regional areas might also consider  promoting on their websites the birds that visitors might expect to see during their visits, or any special features they might offer to facilitate birding for their guests (e.g. packed breakfasts for those heading out early into the field, or late checkout so birders can do their early birdwatch and then have a siesta before packing up and moving on).

Some of the articles and press releases on the economics of birdwatching tourism include:

• Birdwatching Tourism in Australia “Significant numbers of inbound tourists visiting Australia do so in part or primarily to watch birds.”
• https://www.thedailybeast.com/birding-yes-birding-is-a-multi-billion-dollar-ecotourism-industry.    “Birding (Yes, Birding) Is a Multi-Billion Dollar Ecotourism Industry”
  
• Socio-economic Impacts of Birdwatching along Lake Erie: A Coastal Ohio Analysis  “Birders visiting Lake Erie provide significant revenue infusions to the regions year around. “
• Adding it Up: Economic Value of Birding and Wildlife Viewing to Montana “Wildlife viewing is the number ONE reason people visit Montana “
• Economic Impacts of Two Birding Festivals in Mississippi  “The four-day Hummingbird Migration Celebration was attended by 7,970 individuals resulting in a total economic impact of $97,654 “
• Birding in the United States:A Demographic and Economic Analysis. “The following report provides up-to-date information so birders and policy makers can make informed decisions regarding the protection of birds and their habitats. “
• Economic Values of Bird Watching at Point Pelee National Park, Canada “We estimated that bird watching at Point Pelee National Parkin 1987 represented$6.3 million in net economic value.”
• Establishing a Birding-Related Business A Resource Guide “Developing a birding-related business requires research, planning, business sense, personal commitment, customer relations skills, and patience”
• Avitourism and Birding  “But to ignore the economic value of birding is as nonsensical as hunters or anglers discounting their economic contributions, a mistake neither group makes. “
• Bird-watching can help boost ecotourism industry, says UN environment agency “It is absolutely critical that governments use the forthcoming meeting, to continue to do all they can to work together to try to safeguard, retain and where feasible restore high quality habitats”
• The value of birds. “Forty-six million Americans watch birds and the sport of bird watching is growing.”
•  The value of avitourism for conservation and job creation-An analysis from South Africa “The extent of income benefits was positively related to the extent of support to projects”
• Bird Watching can help Ecotourism fly high in a Green Economy “The equivalent of at least 110 full-time jobs – 4 per cent of jobs in Scotland associated with wildlife tourism – is supported by this expenditure every year.”
• Assessing the economic value of a public birdwatching interpretative service using a contingent valuation method  “Although resource interpretative services are an essential conservation management tool that can add value to ecotourism experiences, there has been little empirical investigation on the ‘true’ economic value of such services.”
• Birding Economics and Birder Demographics Studies Conservation Tools. “As the primary user-group of neotropical migrant birds, birders represent a large, dependable source of revenue for nongame programs just as hunters and fishermen have funded game programs