Introduction: Contact Points Between Offshore Oil and Nature-Based Tourism

Coastal societies across the North Atlantic pursue offshore oil as a form of extractive development, as well as nature-based tourism as a form of attractive development. These are generally treated as separate development paths, though both are interpreted as positive for host communities in terms of economic and social benefits. The concept of the oil-tourism interface is introduced to explain the cultures, politics, and economics of eco-tourism and industrial coastal activities. An analysis of contact points across sectors shows that they do not just coexist but are intertwined in many ways, which can be direct or indirect, conflictual, or collaborative. The concept of the oil-tourism interface encourages connective ways of environmental planning and management across multiple modes of development that share social-ecological space.