Abstract
This Best Practice Industry Manual was produced for the purpose of providing specific guidelines for tour operators during the operation of dolphin swim tours. This Manual was also produced in conjunction with a Technical Report entitled ‘Best Practice and Interpretation in Tourist/Wildlife Encounters: A Dolphin Swim Tour Example’ which consists of literature and survey-based studies
relating to ecotourism, best practice, education and interpretation, marine mammal tourism and dolphin swim tours.
The Technical Report that accompanies this Best Practice Manual focuses on a particular site where dolphin swim tours occur, that place being the Dolphin Discovery Centre (DDC) in Bunbury, Western Australia. The examples used in this manual are specific to the site. Some of the initial Code of Practice procedures have undergone changes since the inception of the project (2000), both as a result of management expertise and research processes. These swim tour guidelines are encouraged to be applied to other sites where dolphin swim tours operate and critiqued for usefulness in managing wildlife tourism impacts.