Rockport Analytics Analyzes the Effect of Sargassum on the Florida Keys Economy

August 2nd, 2021 |

Rockport supported the Monroe County Tourism Development Council (TDC) to better understand sargassum’s impact on the tourism industry in the Florida Keys. Sargassum is a seaweed-type material (macroalgae) that collects in floating mats that have become more prevalent on the shorelines on the Atlantic coast of Florida and the Caribbean basin since 2010. Rockport conducted an assessment of visitor perceptions around the sargassum blooms and the impact that the presence of sargassum has on visitation. These results were pitted against the cost of various mitigation methods to assist the TDC and other stakeholders in determining a plan of action in the control of annual sargassum blooms.  An executive summary of the study’s results can be found here.