Hiding Behind the Fish Tank with Katie Darr | Big Tourism

October 4, 2020

Observing coastal tourists in their natural habitat

Joining Arica Sears on this episode of the Big Tourism podcast is Katie Darr, a Sea Grant Knauss Fellow for the National Marine Protected Areas Center, housed within NOAA. Katie and Arica travel south to Ecuador, back north to the Oregon Coast and end their discussion in the Florida Keys. The common denominator in all three locations? Destination management. Learn how analyzing visitors to popular coastal destinations can help us understand common behaviors and better inform management and decision-making. Katie’s experiences hiding behind fish tanks to watch people interact with exhibits, observing tourists in the Galapagos interact with sea lions (bad idea), and tackling big questions with diverse partners in Florida is something we can all, strangely enough, relate to. Only on ASPN.

Show Transcription
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Arica Sears

Arica Sears is a fourth generation resident of a one stoplight town on the Oregon Coast. She was raised in the hand-me-down wetsuits, life jackets, and rubber boots of her two brothers and the waters of the Nestucca River. Her International Studies degree paved the way for her to research the effects of globalization in Peru on indigenous communities, count by-catch on the Ecuadorian coast, teach English in Spain & France, guide scuba diving in Mallorca, and document timber industry practices on the Oregon Coast. Arica currently works for the Oregon Coast Visitors Association as the Destination Management Coordinator for all 363 miles of Oregon coastline. She works with land management agencies, local businesses, nonprofits, government entities, and citizens to inspire travel and strengthen collaboration to create and steward a sustainable coastal economy.