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 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 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 whaling.
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