Ninth International Conference on Food Studies

Abstract

There has been as increase in the number of countries that have declared to use the aquatic resources in participating and making full use of the Blue Economy. This, they believe, shall play a role in improving the lives of people, especially those poor and impoverished communities. Seafood tourism is a sector in the tourism industry which has grown throughout the years and contributes towards sustainable local economic development. The research took a qualitative approach and made use of document analysis in which an extensive literature review was conducted from a wide range of scholarly documents. The report investigated the challenges and opportunities of seafood tourism and its contributions towards local economic development. It further looked at the opportunities and challenges of the use of aquaculture in seafood tourism. Seafood tourism offers a diverse range of activities which include aquaculture, recreational fishing offered to tourists, seafood festivals, and restaurant services where tourists can be served their own catch. All the above mentioned activities show that this sector can offer a diversified range of employment opportunities which contribute towards the local economy as well as destination development, which is particularly beneficial to underdeveloped communities. Seafood tourism can be a catalyst to sustainable development. Seafood tourism in association with aquaculture shows a bright future in the sustainable use of resources whilst meeting local economic needs however, the industries can compete against each other. When the two sectors benefit/complement each other they can play a huge role in poverty alleviation and food security.