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PROSPECTS FOR POLAR TOURISM This page intentionally left blank PROSPECTS FOR POLAR TOURISM Edited by J.M. Snyder Strategic Studies Inc., 1789 E, Otero Avenue, Centennial, Colorado 80122, USA and B. Stonehouse Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge, Lensfield Road, Cambridge, CB2 1ER, UK CABI is a trading name of CAB International CABI Head Office CABI North American Office Nosworthy Way 875 Massachusetts Avenue Wallingford 7th Floor Oxon OX10 8DE Cambridge, MA 02139 UK USA Tel: +44 (0)1491 832111 Tel: +1 617 395 4056 Fax: +44 (0)1491 833508 Fax: +1 617 354 6875 E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.cabi.org © CAB International 2007. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronically, mechanically, by photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owners. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library, London, UK. A catalogue record for this book is available from the Library of Congress, Washington, DC. ISBN-13: 978 1 84593 247 3 The paper used for text pages in this book is FSC certified. The FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) is an international network to promote responsible management of the world’s forests. Typeset by Columns Design Ltd, Reading, UK Printed and bound in the UK by Cromwell Press, Trowbridge Contents Contributors vii Editor’s Introduction ix Foreword xi Part I Tourism and the Polar Environment 1 Bernard Stonehouse 1 The Growing Significance of Polar Tourism 3 John M. Snyder and Bernard Stonehouse 2 Pioneers of Polar Tourism and Their Legacy 15 John M. Snyder 3 Polar Tourism in Changing Environments 32 Bernard Stonehouse and John M. Snyder Part II Economic Roles of Polar Tourism 49 John M. Snyder 4 The Polar Tourism Markets 51 John M. Snyder 5 Tourism in Rural Alaska 71 Henry Huntington, Mike Freeman, Bill Lucey, Grant Spearman and Alex Whiting 6 Development of Tourism in Arctic Canada 84 Mike Robbins 7 The Economic Role of Arctic Tourism 102 John M. Snyder v vi Contents 8 Gateway Ports in the Development of Antarctic Tourism 123 Esther Bertram, Shona Muir and Bernard Stonehouse Part III Developments in Antarctic Tourism 147 Bernard Stonehouse 9 Antarctic Ship-borne Tourism: an Expanding Industry 149 Esther Bertram 10 Antarctic Adventure Tourism and Private Expeditions 170 Machiel Lamers, Jan H. Stel and Bas Amelung 11 Antarctic Scenic Overflights 188 Thomas Bauer 12 Antarctic Tourism: What are the Limits? 197 Denise Landau and John Splettstoesser 13 Antarctic Tourism Research: the First Half-Century 210 Bernard Stonehouse and Kim Crosbie Part IV Managing the New Realities 229 John M. Snyder and Bernard Stonehouse 14 Managing Polar Tourism: Issues and Approaches 231 John M. Snyder 15 Tourism on South Georgia: a Case for Multiple Resource Management 247 John M. Snyder and Bernard Stonehouse 16 Tourism Management on the Southern Oceanic Islands 263 Phillip Tracey 17 Tourism Management for Antarctica 285 Esther Bertram and Bernard Stonehouse Index 311 Contributors Amelung, Bas, International Centre for Integrated Assessment and Sustainable Development, Maastricht University, Postbox 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands. Bauer, Thomas, School of Hotel and Tourism Management, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China. Bertram, Esther, Department of Geography, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, Surrey, UK. Crosbie, Kim, International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators, PO Box 2178, Basalt, CO 81621, USA. Freeman, Mike, Alaska Department of Fish and Game, PO Box 63, Yakutat, AK 99689, USA. Hall, C. Michael, Department of Management, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand. Huntington, Henry, 23834 The Clearing Drive, Eagle River, AK 99577, USA. Lamers, Machiel, International Centre for Integrated Assessment and Sustainable Development, Maastricht University, Postbox 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands. Landau, Denise, International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators, PO Box 2178, Basalt, CO 81621, USA. Lucey, Bill, Yakutat Salmon Board, PO Box 160, Yakutat, AK 99689, USA. Muir, Shona, Institute of Antarctic and Southern Ocean Studies, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 77, Hobart 7001, Tasmania, Australia. Robbins, Mike J., The Tourism Company, 146 Laird Drive, Suite 102, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4G 3V7. Snyder, John M., Strategic Studies, Inc., 1789 E. Otero Avenue, Centennial, CO 80122, USA. Spearman, Grant, Simon Paneak Memorial Museum, PO Box 21085, Anaktuvik Pass, AK 99721, USA. Splettstoesser, John, PO Box 515, Waconia, MN 55387, USA. vii viii Contributors Stel, Jan H., International Centre for Integrated Assessment and Sustainable Development, Maastricht University, Postbox 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands. Stonehouse, Bernard, Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge, Lensfield Road, Cambridge CB2 1ER, UK. Tracy, Phillip, Australian Government Antarctic Division, Department of Environment and Heritage, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. Whiting, Alex, Native Village of Kotzebue, PO Box 296, Kotzebue, AK 99757, USA. Editors’ Introduction Tourism or travel for pleasure results from a spreading of prosperity that is relatively recent in the history of mankind. Early travellers crossed oceans and continents to seek wealth, to colonize new lands, to exploit human populations and resources, or to right real or imagined wrongs. Travel for its own sake, to satisfy curiosity or to learn, required surplus wealth, time and motivation, and was rare before the 18th century. Among the earliest tourists were the scions of wealthy families, a tiny minority of the population, seeking culture in the discomforts and dangers of the European Grand Tour. During the 19th and early 20th centuries, steamships and expanding railroad networks vigorously promoted commercial tourism. Entrepreneurs exploited these new transport modes, allowing a broader spectrum of people affordable access to a wide variety of attractions. Following World War II, international prosperity, accompanied by commercial air travel and the omnipresent automobile, provided both the financial means and the transport modes for millions of people to travel. Commercial enterprises created resorts, theme parks, golf courses and other amusements, while simultaneously governments established more national parks and protected areas. Collectively, these diverse attractions now comprise a huge industry, reputedly the world’s largest, supplying tourist experiences on a grand scale, virtually unlimited by distance. Polar regions are the newest tourist destinations. Remoteness, lack of access and public perceptions that they were cold, distant and unattractive, delayed their acceptance: who could possibly want a holiday in a polar region? The earliest recreational tours to the Arctic began during the mid-19th century, to the Antarctic in 1958. From small beginnings, within the span of a human generation, polar tourism has become a distinct sector within the tourism industry. Still small, but now rapidly growing and diversifying, it caters to rising numbers of tourists who, in the spirit of the Grand Tour, seek unique experiences in remote places. ix x Editors’ Introduction Polar regions are still not everyman’s ideal for holiday-making – a fact that has safeguarded essentially wilderness areas from massive human incursions. But, as individual chapters in this volume testify, polar tourism is expanding both north and south. Tourism does not merely occur; it transforms the regions within which it occurs, catalysing changes in environment, economics and culture, and affecting decisions regarding their use and management. Host countries and communities dedicate considerable financial, human and political resources to tourism, creating and implementing environmental management, economic development and cultural conservation plans. Simultaneously the environments in which these activities occur experience significant change. The keynote textbook Polar Tourism, edited in 1995 by Colin Michael Hall and Margaret E. Johnson, first spelled out some of the issues and problems presented by this small but burgeoning corner of the industry. The editors’ approach was largely geographical, and most chapters covered important issues occurring throughout wide areas. At a time when polar research in the north was concerned mainly with social and political issues, and in the south with the physical and biological sciences, Hall and Johnston’s book was a timely reminder that those who were managing either polar region faced an emergent industry with far from negligible impacts. Since the publication of Polar Tourism, both the magnitude of tourism impacts and the contexts within which they are evaluated have changed considerably. Tourists now overwhelmingly outnumber residents at most polar destinations. Tourism’s role in polar economies has grown from minor contributor to prominent force. Indigenous Arctic peoples are exerting more decisive roles in tourism, and insisting that their voices be heard and views respected. Polar tourism now thrives on a remarkable combination of human-induced and natural events. Its magnitude and growth will inevitably produce changes, but changes need not be for the worse. That tourism has arrived late in polar regions means that people, jurisdictions and organizations responsible for stewardship can benefit from a wealth of research and management experience gained in other regions, selectively adapting to meet unique