Editing Oil spill (section)

=== Decline in tourism ===
In the short term, an oil spill will prevent tourists from partaking in usual recreational activities such as swimming, boating, diving, and angling.<ref name=ITOPF>{{cite journal |last1=ITOPF |title=Effects of Oil Pollution on social and economic activities |journal=Technical Information Paper 12 |date=2011}}</ref> As such, the area will witness a decline in tourism. This will negatively impact several industries. Firstly, the hotels, restaurants, and bars in the immediate vicinity will have significantly fewer customers. Local car park owners and shopkeepers will be affected too. Then, this decline in tourists will cause further damage to travel agencies, tour guides, and transport companies.<ref name="Economic Effects">{{cite web |last1=ITOPF |title=Economic Effects |url=https://www.itopf.org/knowledge-resources/documents-guides/economic-effects/ |access-date=9 December 2023}}</ref> The beaches will likely stay shut for several days whilst clean-up operations take place, and there may be disruption caused by an increase in clean-up vehicles.<ref name=ITOPF/> Overall, several businesses will be negatively impacted by the spill in the short term, which can lead to further long-term damage should companies be forced to reduce staff or shut down entirely.

Similarly, tourism in Ibiza was severely impacted in 2007. Just 20 tonnes of oil were spilled from the Don Pedro in July 2007, a relatively limited volume compared with other spills. Whilst this caused just a small amount of environmental damage, the economic damage was disproportionately large. Most beaches were reopened within a week, just a dozen seabirds were affected, and there were no reports of injured sea mammals. Nonetheless, 27 percent of hotels in Ibiza were negatively affected, with two thirds of these being seafront hotels. Thus, 32 claims were made by tourist firms, equating to approximately 1.5 million euros of compensation.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cirer-Costa |first1=Joan Carles |title=Tourism and its hypersensitivity to oil spills |journal=Marine Pollution Bulletin |date=2015 |volume=91 |issue=1 |pages=65–72|doi=10.1016/j.marpolbul.2014.12.027 |pmid=25561004 |bibcode=2015MarPB..91...65C }}</ref>  This provides a clear example of an oil spill resulting in massive economic disaster. Furthermore, following the world's largest oil spill, the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill in 2010,<ref name="Encyclopedia Brittania">{{cite web |last1=Rafferty |first1=J. P. |title=9 of the Biggest Oil Spills in History |url=https://www.britannica.com/story/9-of-the-biggest-oil-spills-in-history |publisher=Encyclopedia Brittania |access-date=11 December 2023}}</ref> the U.S. Travel Association estimated 23 billion dollars’ worth of associated costs for affected tourist infrastructure.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ritchie, Crotts, Zehrer and Zolsky |title=Understanding the Effects of a Tourism Crisis: The Impact of the BP Oil Spill on Regional Lodging Demand |journal=Journal of Travel Research |date=2014 |volume=53 |issue=1 |pages=12–25|doi=10.1177/0047287513482775 }}</ref>