Estimating the impact of whaling on global whale-watching

After the commercial whaling moratorium was enacted in 1986, whale-watching became one of the fastest growing tourism industries worldwide. As whaling was regarded as an activity that is incompatible with whale-watching, the possible resumption of commercial whaling caused an urgent need to investigate the potential negative effects of whaling on the whale-watching industry. We examine the potential impacts of whaling on the global whale-watching tourism industry using an unbalanced panel data model. The empirical results indicate that the resumption of commercial whaling has the potential for a negative effect on the global whale-watching industry, especially for nations that are engaged in commercial whaling.