Impacts of the offshore marine industry on coastal tourism: The case of Padre Island national seashore

Abstract

Abstract In the 1980s there was concern about potential aesthetic and pollution threats to Padre Island National Seashore, Texas (PAIS), from the offshore marine industry. These threats came at a time when coastal tourism attractions were becoming increasingly important to the Texas economy. To understand better the extent of these threats, a random sample of summer season visitors to PAIS (nonlocal first‐time visitors, nonlocal repeat visitors, local first‐time visitors, and local repeat visitors) were surveyed regarding their attitudes about onshore impacts of offshore marine activity and their level of satisfaction with the beaches at PAIS and their trip to PAIS. Attitudes about the onshore impacts of offshore marine activity as well as levels of satisfaction were consistent across the four visitor groups studied. Results indicated that perceived frequency of seeing litter or debris and of getting stained or dirty from tar directly influenced satisfaction with the beaches at PAIS and indirectly influenced satisfaction with the trip to PAIS. Furthermore, regional tourism development efforts to encourage repeat visitation by nonlocal residents would probably not alienate local users, since the four visitor groups had similar attitudes concerning the onshore impacts of the offshore marine industry. Finally, the National Park Service continues to deal with a variety of beach impacts and external threats of the offshore industry over which it has no control.