Blue economy

Abstract

The blue economy is the economy generated from resources obtained from marine space. The economic activities include tourism, fishery, fish processing industries, energy, port-related logistics, deep sea mining , etc. The vision of new India for the year 2025, envisages the economy generated from the coastal area and marine space as one of the key sectors of economic development. The economic advisory council of the Prime Minister of India has formulated a draft blue economy policy in the year 2020, it focuses on seven key areas of interest, some of them being logistics & ports, fisheries and allied activities, Mari-culture and tourism. The site was selected based on the presence of multi-use zones, which could provide an opportunity for the study. The site area selected is Thoothukudi district present in Tamil Nadu, situated on the shores of the Gulf of Mannar Biosphere Reserve. The district of Thoothukudi has a major port and is connected through road, airport and railway. The study uses location quotient analysis to identify the key sector, which was found to be tourism. Post identification of the key sector in the economy, the area is scrutinized through a composite index which compares the existing strengths of the blue economy in the district. The blue economy potential index uses socio-economic indicators and natural& ecological indicators, the economic factors include resource catch, harbor goods turnover value, socio-economic characteristics such as growth rate, literacy, , etc. infrastructure condition includes education and healthcare and the index also considers ecological factors such erosion & accretion, CRZ area, turtle nesting sites, , etc. The tourism from the location quotient and study area from the blue economic potential index is combined to provide specific economic activity in the study area. Tourism was studied at the district level to enlist and identify, the character of the attractions and tourists. 60 registered hotels were identified by the tourism department and interviews were held on infrastructure, nature of visitors and recommendations for promoting tourism. The tourist footfall is nearly 80% towards spiritual tourism and 20% towards the tourism to historical places. 35% of the pilgrimage tourists travel for the purpose of recreation and relaxation, the eco-tourism with the adventure activities could capture the 35% of tourism footfall. A suitability analysis was done to identify areas that are suitable for eco-tourism. The case study of proposal included Cyclades islands, Iran and Ethiopia, the learnings suggested to sep arate the mass tourism location from the eco-tourism destination to build economy, also not damaging the ecologically sensitive zone due to anthropogenic factors. The study then tries to propose eco-tourism activities, in synergy with the local fishermen community for island and adventure tourism. The study also tries to provide recommendations for improving tourism at the district level.