Great Barrier Reef bleaching could cost 1 million tourists

Severe coral bleaching on Australia's Great Barrier Reef could cost it more than a million visitors a year and huge sums in lost tourism revenue, according to a survey released on Tuesday.

The World Heritage-listed reef which teems with marine life experienced an unprecedented bleaching earlier this year that saw much of it whiten and almost a quarter of corals die.

"The reef tourism areas are at risk of losing over one million visitors per year," a discussion paper from the independent think tank the Australia Institute said.