The Path from Traditional Fisheries to Ecotourism in Cimei Island

Abstract

Cimei Island is a second-class outlying island. In recent years, due to the lack of coastal fishery resources and restrictions on traffic and climate, the traditional fishery and tourism industries that residents rely on for a living have faced challenges. This research is based on the Barbados Programme of Action, from the perspective of environmental conservation, industrial economy, and social development in sustainable development, and from the perspective of local stakeholders, to construct a sustainable tourism action approach and development mechanism in Cimei Island. A qualitative research method was adopted. Various sources of data, including focus discussions and in-depth interviews with local stakeholders, textual materials, and field observations, were collected and analyzed. The results are as follows: (1) Cimei faces great threats in social, economic, and environmental aspects, which has led to Cimei Islands’ promotion of permanent development. (2) The current development of Cimei cannot effectively drive industrial development or the transformation of fishing villages. However, residents are worried that overdevelopment will impact the ecological environment and lifestyle on the Islands. (3) Cimei’s sustainable tourism development approach should be to first take inventory of the ecological environment and cultural resources, plan related environmental laws and regulations, and finally, use sustainable tourism to drive industrial development to carry out island development.