Ecotourism as a revenue-generating activity in South Carolina Lowcountry plantations

Abstract

The South Carolina lower coastal plain, locally called the Lowcountry, is an area of great ecological diversity with bottomland swamps and coastal marshes. The Lowcountry still contains many large tracts of land, privately owned as ‘plantations’. These plantations tend to be self-supporting and many are seeking additional revenue sources, and ecotourism is developing as one of these sources. Tourism is the backbone of the Lowcountry economy. This study identified the level of existing ecotourism activities supported by Lowcountry plantations and their expectations for the future levels of natural resource-based activities. Ecotourism is blossoming as an income source, but hunting leases and timber harvests are the primary natural resource-based income sources. Owners did express interest in ecotourism activities as a source of future income. A lack of the management and business ability was the main obstacle to expanding ecotourism enterprises.

Keywords:

• ecotourism
• natural resources
• South Carolina Lowcountry
• plantation
• wildlife
• hunting
• fishing