ABSTRACT
Chilika, the largest brackish water lagoon in Asia, is a habitat of the Irrawaddy Dolphin (IRD) and a popular tourist destination for dolphin watching. However, this dolphin-based tourism has turned unsustainable due to the adverse impacts of tourism on IRD. This study uses SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) to analyze various internal and external factors that control IRD-based tourism in Chilika. Content analysis and sentiment analysis are also used to know the tourists' views regarding dolphin tourism in Chilika lagoon, and telephonic interviews with boat owners to determine the impact of tourism on local communities before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. SWOT analysis highlights existing opportunities and strengths of IRD tourism in Chilika, such as prevalent ‘positive' perception (48%) among the tourists and stable IRD population. 38% of tourists' perceptions were ‘negative,' corroborating inherent weaknesses and threats of IRD tourism, such as faulty marketing strategy, excessive tourist pressure, and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Interviews with boat operators reveal that the pandemic lockdown laid the financial situation of local tourist boat operators down. This study suggests multipronged solution approaches, for example ensuring the integrity of IRD habitat, optimal resource utilization, high service quality, and necessary infrastructure development to facilitate a sustainable ecotourism model in the lagoon. © 2023 Elsevier B.V.
ABSTRACT
The ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic driven by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus–2 (SARS-CoV-2) has become the most critical universal health disaster of this century. Millions of people are staying at home obeying lockdown to halt the spread of this novel virus. The spread of the virus has forced people to use the mask, gloves, hand sanitizer, etc. daily, and healthcare workers to use personal protection equipment following the WHO guidelines, resulting in huge amounts of medical waste. This pandemic has led to a slowdown of economic activities significantly, and consequently, stock markets have nosedived beyond speculation. Although the deadly coronavirus has taken away millions of precious lives and the livelihood of many sections of people worldwide, it has brought several positive changes in the world. Furthermore, it has led to a massive restoration of the environment and improved air and water quality. Pandemic showed the resilient nature of the environment, including air and water, when human activities are paused. In addition, we also discussed how this pandemic affects human lifestyle behavior. © 2021 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.