What Is Sustainable Ocean Tourism?

What Is Sustainable Ocean Tourism?

The UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) defines "sustainable tourism" as tourism that takes full account of its current and future economic, social, and environmental impacts, addressing the needs of visitors, the industry, the environment, and host communities. The key point is that this isn't the name of a particular hotel or tour — it's a way of thinking about how to manage an entire destination.

How It Differs from Ecotourism

Japan's Ministry of the Environment defines ecotourism as "a form of tourism in which visitors experience and learn about the natural environment, history, and culture of a region while taking responsibility for conserving them." While ecotourism is a travel style focused on experiencing and conserving nature and culture, sustainable tourism is a broader destination-management concept that also encompasses the local economy, society, and residents' lives. In other words, ecotourism can be seen as one concrete method for achieving sustainable tourism.

Why the Ocean Is Especially Important

On land, destinations can be managed relatively easily — putting up ropes to block access, or building boardwalks. In the ocean, however, it's hard for travelers themselves to see what's happening beneath the surface, so it's easy to end up "trampling something without realizing it" or "letting a chemical wash off without realizing it." How to compensate for this lack of visibility is a challenge unique to ocean tourism. That's exactly why third-party certifications like Green Fins and JSTS-D, discussed later, or pre-trip briefings from guides, play an even more important role than they do on land.

Unlike land-based sightseeing, which is mostly about viewing scenery, ocean tourism centers on experiences — diving, snorkeling, whale watching, sea turtle observation — that involve direct contact with the ecosystem itself. Stepping on coral, disturbing a nesting sea turtle, letting sunscreen chemicals wash into the water: a traveler's actions translate directly into pressure on the ecosystem in a way that's different from land-based destinations.

Marine ecosystems also take a long time to recover. Coral reefs grow over decades, sometimes centuries, so a landscape that has once been lost rarely returns within just a few years. That's precisely why, to keep enjoying the benefits of tourism, we need to build systems that "protect while using" the resource, ahead of its growth rather than after the fact.

The Three Pillars Behind Sustainable Tourism

UNWTO's definition rests on three pillars: environmental, socio-cultural, and economic. Applied to ocean tourism, the environmental pillar means reducing pressure on coral reefs and marine life; the socio-cultural pillar means respecting the livelihoods and culture of local fishers and residents; and the economic pillar means ensuring tourism revenue benefits the community, not just a handful of large operators. Meeting only one of these isn't enough — UNWTO's view is that a destination can only be called "sustainable" once all three are in balance.

The Gap Between Traveler Awareness and Action

According to a 2025 survey by the booking platform Booking.com, 84% of travelers worldwide (69% of Japanese travelers) said "traveling more sustainably is important," and 93% (85% in Japan) said they want to make more sustainable choices when they travel. Yet a 2024 survey found that only 53% of Japanese travelers actually said they wanted to "travel more sustainably over the next 12 months," showing there is still a gap between awareness and action. Meanwhile, 59% (69% globally) said they want to leave a destination in better condition than they found it — a sign that traveler awareness is steadily rising.

Ocean Tourism by the Numbers: Scale and Challenges

The relationship between the ocean and tourism is significant even in purely economic terms. Let's start with the big picture, in numbers.

The Economic Value of Coral Reefs

According to analysis by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the research group Mapping Ocean Wealth, the world's coral reefs generate $3.6 billion a year in tourism value — $1.9 billion from "on-reef" tourism such as diving and snorkeling, and $1.6 billion from "reef-adjacent" tourism such as beaches and local seafood. Trips to coral reefs are estimated at around 70 million a year worldwide.

Reefs Keep Disappearing as Tourism Demand Grows

At the same time, the world's coral reefs have lost 14% of their extent over the past decade. Rising sea temperatures and bleaching driven by climate change, combined with pressure from human activity including tourism, are compounding the damage. Even so, coastal and marine tourism is projected to become the largest value-adding segment of the ocean economy by 2030, at 26% of the total, highlighting a dilemma in which both the economic benefits and the environmental burden keep growing.

How Overtourism Burdens the Ocean

"Overtourism" refers to a situation where growth in visitor numbers exceeds a destination's capacity, harming the environment and residents' daily lives. Okinawa has drawn attention at home and abroad as a leading example.

According to Okinawa Prefecture, the number of visitors in fiscal 2025 rose 9.9% year on year to an all-time high of 10.935 million, surpassing the roughly 10 million recorded in fiscal 2018. Tourism revenue topped ¥1 trillion for the first time, and the economic benefits keep growing year after year. At the same time, the question of how to accommodate an ever-growing number of visitors has become more urgent than ever.

Coral Trampling and Sunscreen

Tourism spending's share of Okinawa's GDP reached 20.9% in 2019, before the pandemic — a strikingly high level for Japan. As visitor numbers have surged, cases of divers and snorkelers accidentally touching and damaging coral, and people entering the water without rinsing off environmentally harmful sunscreen ingredients, have become a growing concern. In shallow areas where people can stand, inexperienced swimmers accidentally standing on coral is far from rare.

Illegal Parking, Traffic Congestion, and Water Accidents

Traffic congestion and accidents caused by an increase in rental cars, illegal parking around beaches, and a rise in water accidents among inexperienced travelers have all been reported, showing that the burden extends beyond the ecosystem to residents' daily lives. In outlying islands such as Miyako, road infrastructure has struggled to keep pace with visitor growth, and traffic and noise are cited as impacts on the local living environment. There are even warnings that chronic congestion on access roads to popular beaches during peak season could hamper emergency vehicles, underscoring that environmental strain and strain on daily infrastructure cannot be separated.

Onna Village's Response: The "Coral Village Declaration"

In 2018, Onna Village issued its "Coral Village Declaration — the World's Most Coral-Friendly Village," and has since pursued land-use regulation through an environmental conservation ordinance, measures to prevent red-soil runoff, wastewater regulations for large facilities, the removal of crown-of-thorns starfish, and coral farming and transplanting, among other efforts to balance tourism with conservation. A key feature is that this isn't the effort of a single local government alone — accommodation operators, dive operators, and government share the responsibility.

As visitor numbers themselves keep climbing, however, there are cases where the efforts of individual municipalities alone can't keep pace with the growing burden. A perspective on managing the overall volume on the receiving side — such as spreading visitors across popular areas, or tightening the cap on the number of visitors per guide during peak season — is becoming more important the larger the economic scale grows.

Regulations on Reef-Harming Sunscreen Ingredients Are Spreading

One factor that travelers rarely think about, yet which has an outsized impact, is the chemical ingredients in sunscreen.

The Spread of Oxybenzone Regulations

In 2018, the Pacific island nation of Palau became the first country in the world to announce a national ban on sunscreens containing chemicals harmful to coral reefs. Under its 2018 Responsible Tourism Education Act, Palau has banned the import, sale, and possession of sunscreen products containing oxybenzone and other such ingredients since January 2020. The U.S. state of Hawaii passed similar legislation in 2018, banning the sale of sunscreens containing oxybenzone and octinoxate from January 2021.

According to Japan's embassy in Palau, an estimated 14,000 tonnes of sunscreen wash into the ocean worldwide every year via beaches and wastewater, and similar regulations are spreading to other ocean tourism destinations such as Thailand, following Hawaii and Palau. Oxybenzone has been shown to trigger bleaching even in cooler waters, and there are concerns that combined with rising water temperatures from climate change, the pressure on coral reefs will only grow.

Mineral ("non-chemical") sunscreens that use UV-scattering agents such as titanium dioxide or zinc oxide, rather than chemical UV absorbers, and products labeled "non-nano" (with particles not ground down too finely), are believed to have comparatively less impact on coral. If it's hard to judge from labeling alone, the surest approach is to check the ingredient list for oxybenzone and octinoxate.

• Check for "oxybenzone-free" or "octinoxate-free" labeling when buying sunscreen
• Consider mineral, "non-nano" UV-scattering sunscreens as an option
• Prioritize rash guards, hats, and other protection over relying on sunscreen alone
• Apply sunscreen while getting changed, rather than right before entering the water, so it has time to absorb

Rules to Protect Sea Turtle Nesting Sites

Sea turtle nesting sites are another setting heavily affected by visitor behavior. According to the Yakushima World Heritage Conservation Center (Ministry of the Environment), loggerhead turtle landings at Nagata Beach on Yakushima account for 30–40% of all landings in Japan, making it the largest nesting site in the North Pacific. Because a single beach carries such a large share, the rules for observing it are directly tied to the conservation of the species.

Nesting Behavior Sensitive to Light and Footsteps

According to the Yakushima World Heritage Conservation Center (Ministry of the Environment), sea turtles are extremely sensitive to light and human presence — if people walk around the beach at night or use flashlights, a turtle may abandon its landing and return to the sea without laying eggs. Nesting begins in late April, and during hatching, which starts in early July, human footsteps can compact the sand so hatchlings can't dig their way out, and streetlights or car headlights can trigger "phototaxis," drawing hatchlings in the wrong direction.

Observation Rules at Nagata Beach, Yakushima

At Nagata Beach on Yakushima, one of the world's foremost sea turtle nesting sites, a local organization formed by the Nagata district runs sea turtle observation tours, with rules developed by a dedicated Sea Turtle Conservation and Use Subcommittee. Since sea turtles react not only to camera flashes but also to the light from camera and smartphone screens, visitors are asked to thoroughly control light — for example, covering screens with cloth or using infrared cameras — while observing. Participation requires joining a reservation-only guided tour, and access to the beach and length of stay are also set by zone.

Marine Park Rules in the Kerama and Ogasawara Islands

Beyond individual etiquette, there's also a move to build rules into the framework of national parks. Located about 40km west of Okinawa's main island, the Kerama Islands are known for their multi-island seascape of over 30 large and small islands and some of the world's clearest water, and were designated Japan's 31st national park on March 5, 2014 (Coral Day).

Coral Damage from Crown-of-Thorns Starfish and Diving

When the Kerama Islands National Park was designated, coral damage from crown-of-thorns starfish outbreaks and from activities such as scuba diving was already recognized as a challenge. In response, the Tokashiki Village and Zamami Village ecotourism promotion councils drafted a comprehensive plan under Japan's Ecotourism Promotion Act, which received certification from relevant ministries in June 2012.

Guidelines the Region Sets for Itself

The two village councils established the "Kerama Regional Ecotourism Guidelines," calling on dive shops and visitors to use the area appropriately. Rather than the national government imposing regulations unilaterally, having local tourism operators themselves participate in creating the guidelines makes it more likely the rules will match conditions on the ground. Combining the perspective of locals for whom the sea is part of daily life with specialist conservation knowledge is a model that can be applied to other ocean tourism destinations as well.

Designating a national park is also an opportunity for a region to publicly declare how it intends to use and preserve its sea, beyond mere legal regulation. In the case of the Kerama Islands National Park, the designation itself was pursued as a direct response to concrete problems — the crown-of-thorns starfish outbreaks and coral damage — a case where the institution and the on-the-ground challenge are directly linked.

Ogasawara's Voluntary Whale-Watching Rules

In the Ogasawara Islands, a UNESCO World Natural Heritage site, Japan's first whale-watching-based ecotourism began in 1988. In 1992, the Ogasawara Whale Watching Association established voluntary rules, which have since been revised twice and remain in effect today. Boats under 20 tonnes must maintain a reduced-speed zone within 300m of a whale and a no-entry zone within 100m; for drone photography, operators must not approach within 30m of a whale, must not fly over a pod that another boat is already watching, and must not approach from the whale's direction of travel. Japan's Ministry of the Environment has also compiled rules visitors should follow as the "Ogasawara Country Code." Rather than waiting for national regulation, the fact that an industry association itself quantified and enforces standards for distance and speed is an approach that can be applied to ocean tourism beyond coral reef diving.

Where coral reef rules are built around divers and snorkelers making a "quiet approach," whale watching centers on controlling the physical distance and speed between a boat and a whale. Tailoring the shape of the rules themselves to the ecology and type of risk posed by the target species is another point other regions can learn from when designing their own systems.

International Diving Standards and Japan's JSTS-D

Alongside individual traveler awareness, standard-setting on the part of operators and destinations is also advancing.

"Green Fins," an Environmental Standard from UNEP and the UK

Green Fins is an international environmental standard for dive and snorkel operators launched in 2004 by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the UK-based environmental charity Reef-World Foundation. Member operators are assessed annually against a 15-point code of conduct and ranked Gold, Silver, or Bronze based on how little impact they have on coral reefs; the standard is now implemented in over 14 countries. In Japan, Onna Village in Okinawa became the first local government to fully adopt Green Fins in 2019, and around 20 shops now operate under the standard. The initiative has drawn in accommodation and tourism operators more broadly — for example, a resort hotel within Onna Village has earned Gold certification.

"JSTS-D," Which Evaluates an Entire Destination

Beyond the efforts of individual operators, Japan has also built a domestic system for managing entire destinations. In June 2020, Japan Tourism Agency established the "Japan Sustainable Tourism Standard for Destinations (JSTS-D)," aligned with international criteria developed by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC). It's an index that lets local governments and DMOs (destination management organizations) measure their consideration for both visitors and residents using multifaceted, objective data, as a basis for medium- to long-term destination management plans.

Local governments and DMOs that pass JSTS-D review can obtain and use the "JSTS-D logo mark." Regions across Japan, from coastal areas to mountain towns — such as Tonosho in Kagawa Prefecture and Hakuba Village in Nagano Prefecture — have been adopting the logo mark, and it is becoming a shared language for destination-building that is "good to live in, good to visit."

A Two-Layer Structure: Operator Level and Destination Level

Green Fins and JSTS-D operate at different levels. Green Fins is a scheme that assesses the code of conduct of individual operators such as dive shops, while JSTS-D evaluates the management system of an entire destination run by a local government or DMO. From a traveler's perspective, checking both indicators — Green Fins when choosing an operator, and the JSTS-D logo mark when choosing a destination — makes it easier to make sustainable choices on multiple levels at once.

Entry Fees and Pledges: A Global Trend in Managing Visitor Numbers

Looking abroad, alongside certification schemes, there's also a growing movement to directly manage visitor numbers through "entry fees" and "pledges."

The Palau Pledge: The World's First Environmental Immigration Policy

In December 2017, Palau introduced the "Palau Pledge," requiring every visitor to sign a pledge stamped directly into their passport upon arrival — considered the world's first immigration policy built around environmental responsibility. The pledge text includes a commitment to "tread lightly, act kindly, and explore mindfully," and it was notably co-created with local schoolchildren. It explicitly bans acts such as collecting marine souvenirs, feeding fish or sharks, touching coral, and littering, with fines of up to $1 million for violations.

What's distinctive about the Palau Pledge's balance is that while signing it is mandatory to enter the country, the content itself is framed less around punishment and more around language that encourages voluntary behavior change. Using the airport — a place every visitor must pass through — is also a deliberate design choice, ensuring the message reaches even travelers who never read a guidebook.

The Galapagos Islands Raise Their Entry Fee

The Galapagos Islands (Ecuador), which have had an entry-fee system since 1998, doubled their fee for foreign visitors from $100 to $200 per person in August 2024 — the first revision since the system was introduced. Home to over 9,000 species, many of them endemic, the Galapagos have seen visitor numbers recover to near pre-pandemic levels, at around 268,000 a year, raising concerns about pressure on water and food resources and disruption to the ecosystem. Revenue from the higher fee goes directly toward conservation work that mitigates the ecological impact of tourism, infrastructure, and support for local communities.

The Maldives' "Green Tax"

The Maldives, made up of over 1,000 islands, has introduced a "Green Tax" aimed at environmental protection and improvement. Visitors staying at resorts, hotels, or safari boats pay $6 per night regardless of age, while guesthouse guests pay $3 per night; from January 2025, the accommodation tax at large resorts with 50 or more rooms doubled to $12. The aim is to channel tax revenue from tourism — the country's core industry — into environmental measures such as conserving the surrounding coral reefs and managing waste.

Insuring Coral Reefs: Cancun, Mexico's Experiment

There are also examples of securing funding from an angle other than managing visitor numbers. Off Cancun, Mexico, an insurance product for coral reefs developed by the major reinsurer Swiss Re has been introduced. Covering about 60km of beach and coral reef, tourism-related operators such as hotels pay premiums of $1 million to $7.5 million, while a payout of $25 million to $70 million is made if the reef suffers major damage from a hurricane. The payout funds work such as installing artificial reef structures and restoration efforts — relocating damaged coral to safety, growing it, and later returning it to its original reef. With Caribbean hurricanes growing more intense in recent years, this is drawing attention as an approach that uses a financial mechanism to protect a resource that is also economically vital to the tourism industry.

From "Cheap and Plentiful" to "Fair Contribution for Protection"

Palau's pledge system, the Galapagos' entry fee, and the Maldives' Green Tax share a common aim. Rather than simply reducing visitor numbers, the idea is to get each visitor to take personal responsibility for the environment, or to have part of the burden returned as conservation funding, sustaining both tourism and nature over the long term. A growing number of destinations within Japan are also introducing entry fees or cooperation fees, and these overseas examples offer useful reference points for designing future systems.

A Checklist for Choosing a Destination, and What You Can Do Today

Based on the institutions and case studies covered so far, here's a summary of what travelers should look for when choosing. Neither certification schemes nor entry fees can protect the ocean on their own. What ultimately makes them work is the behavior of each traveler — following the rules on the ground, and choosing wisely.

Tourism that takes full account of its current and future economic, social, and environmental impacts, addressing the needs of visitors, the industry, the environment, and host communities

― UNWTO's definition of sustainable tourism

The Roles of Government, Operators, and Travelers

Bringing together the examples covered here, sustainable ocean tourism is sustained by three parties each playing their role: government (building institutions such as national park designations and entry fees), operators (complying with standards such as Green Fins and guiding on the ground), and travelers (following the rules and choosing wisely). No single party can do it alone — a good policy from government means little if operators don't comply, and operators' efforts lose effect if travelers unknowingly break the rules. Conversely, travelers consciously choosing based on certifications and institutions is itself a force that reinforces the efforts of government and operators.

What You Can Do Before, During, and After Your Trip

1. Check for certifications such as Green Fins or JSTS-D before booking
2. Check the ingredient label on your sunscreen before entering the water
3. Don't touch or get too close to coral or wildlife without your guide's instruction
4. Don't use light-emitting devices on tours involving light-sensitive creatures, such as sea turtle observation
5. Where an entry fee or cooperation fee applies, pay it willingly, and take an interest in how it's used
6. Share the rules that need to be followed, along with your impressions, when posting about your trip on social media

For more on protecting Okinawa's coral reefs, see How to Enjoy Okinawa Tourism While Protecting Its Coral Reefs; for the relationship between tourism and disaster recovery, see What Is Ocean-Based Recovery Tourism?. For more on sea turtle biology itself, see The Life and Conservation of Sea Turtles.