TOURISM IN ANTARCTIC

The Role Of Management And Policy On The Environmental Impacts Of Tourism In The Antarctic

Abstract

The aim of this study was to analyze the role of Management and Policy on the environmental impacts of tourism in the Antarctic.Representing the major financial undertaking on the Antarctic continent, Antarctic tourism is progressively pushed into the limelight as both benefactor and detractor to the ecological and political integrity of Antarctica. In outlook of its unprecedented development, inquiries originate about the limitations of future tourism development in Antarctica. This paper assesses Antarctic tourism development over the last five decades and assesses its present and future rank from the viewpoints of Antarctic tourism stakeholders. This evaluation is acquainted by meetings with Antarctic tourism stakeholders and a Delphi study attempted in 2007. The authors discovered that Antarctic tourism stakeholders are worried about the expanding scale and diversification of Antarctic tourism and usually subscribe to a conservation imperative when expressing their wants for the future use of Antarctica and the development of Antarctic tourism. In deduction, the fast development of Antarctic tourism needs functional, institutional and legislative alterations if Antarctic tourism guideline is to stay successful.

Table of Contents

Significance5

Chapter II: Literature Review7

Arguments in Favour of Permanent Tourist Facilities in Antarctica20

Arguments Against Permanent Tourist Facilities In Antarctica26

Chapter 3: Methodology34

The study and methods34

The interviews40

Between January 2006 and March 2007, eighteen semi-structured interviews were conducted with Antarctic tourism organisers, regulators and monitors as outlined in Table 2. The interviews followed a broad topical guide covering four key themes:40

The Delphi study44

Chapter 4: Results and discussion48

The status and anticipated future of Antarctic tourism48

Hopes and concerns regarding Antarctic tourism development53

Management Options For Consideration63

Option I63

Option iii:68

Regulating Activities In The Antarctic68

Chapter 5: Conclusion72

References78

Chapter 1: Introduction

This paper assesses the role of Management and Policy on the environmental impacts of tourism in the Antarctic and Antarctic tourism development over the last five decades and assesses its present rank and promise future development from the viewpoints of Antarctic tourism stakeholders. As a worldwide commons (Buck, 1998) and one of the most farthest and isolated environments on soil, Antarctica comprises an eccentric, albeit progressively well liked, tourism destination. Tourism management in Antarctica is identically unconventional due to the need of undoubted sovereignty and, as an outcome, the need of a “clear recipient state” (Vidas, 1996, p. 295). The major stakeholder assemblies engaged in the management of Antarctic tourism are the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO) and the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Parties (ATCPs). Founded by seven trip operators in 1991, IAATO is a self-regulatory tourism commerce association with the aim to “advocate, encourage and perform protected and environmentally to blame journey to the Antarctic” (IAATO, 2006a). Over the years, IAATO members has developed to more than 100 businesses (IAATO, 2009a), encompassing all of the major financial coordinators of Antarctic cruise tourism. IAATO has been identified as one of the key players in organising Antarctic tourism in situ (Beck, 1994) through rigorous self-imposed ciphers of perform that are enforced through gaze force (Liggett, 2009), high guide-tourist ratios, and the provision ...