Environmental Impacts of Tourism TOMG 200 Tourism Management

Environmental Impacts of Tourism TOMG 200 Tourism Management & the Environment

Global Environmental Issues & Tourism • Climate change is restructuring the tourism industry (see Eijgelaar, Thaper and Peeters, 2010) • Tourism accounts for 5% of annual human-caused emissions of CO 2 (see chapters 5 & 6 in Garrod and Fyall, 2011) • Habitat change and loss; impacts on wildlife • Pollution (water quality, oil, waste) • Biosecurity threats • Environmental interest and consciousness drives ‘conservation’ (Hall and Lew, 2009)

“If the global tourism industry were represented as a country, it would consumer resources at the scale of a northern developed country. International and national tourists use 80% of Japan’s yearly primary energy supply (5, 000 million k. Wh/year), produce the same amount of solid waste as France (35 million tons per year), and consume 3 times the amount of fresh water contained in Lake Superior, between Canada and the United States, in a year (10 million cubic meters)” (Christ et al. 2003: cited in Hall and Lew, 2009, pp 215)

Case Study: Antarctica • • Example of a new frontier destination Human impact is considerable Important issues for tourism management Unique tourism management

Antarctica - Characteristics • • • Covers 10% of the world’s surface area Entry is seasonal Governed by Antarctic Treaty System NZ is custodian of the Ross Sea Region Christchurch is the NZ strategic gateway to Antarctica

• Watch video clip from Frozen Planet (My. Web)

Human Impacts • Changing land use • Human impact is considerable: – Effect of noise on nesting birds – Disturbance of soils by vehicle traffic – Permanent alterations / building – Air quality change – Waste – Deterioration to historic huts • Impacts depend on nature, intensity, spread, duration, degree of reversibility

The Tourism Industry • Antarctic Treaty Consultative Parties • Self-regulating by IAATO – – – – All tour operators have written EIAs Expedition leader handbooks & resource notebooks All hut visits are supervised Each hut has a management plan Experts provide briefings on board ship Shore parties are small Reinforce environmental objectives ‘Linblad pattern of managing Antarctic cruises’

Tourism in Antarctica • Tourists on ships, flyovers, science & base personnel, students, artist programmes, VIPs • Major tourist interest began in 1950 s • 1992 -2000: – 14, 750 tourists carried by 14 IAATO members operating 16 ships & 1 yacht, & 3 non-members operating 4 ships – RSR receives 10% of tourists (approx 1000 pa) & 2000 scientists – 139 tourists on land-based programmes organised by ANI • ‘Last chance tourism’? (Eijgelaar, Thaper and Peeters, 2010)

• Youtube (Antarctica tour operator interview) http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=NU 1 k 3 ZWr. Vq. E

Tourism in the Ross Sea Region

Scott Base, RSR

http: //www. antarcticanz. govt. nz/scott-base/webcams Scott Base Web Cam today:

Management of Impacts in Antarctica: • Attitudes as well as activities cause impact – Should Antarctica be treated the same as the rest of the world? (“ambassadorship” - Maher, Steel & Mc. Intosh, 2003) – Should philosophical & ethical restraints apply? – Is global disneyfication reaching Antarctica? • There is no long term strategic planning to state which activities are acceptable • Tourism numbers (concentrated) continue to grow at a rapid rate – raises issues for sustainability

Main Issues for Sustainability Should Antarctic tourism be left to market forces? Is self-regulation sufficient in mitigating impacts? How to manage the tourist experience? How to manage the risks for tourists? What does the future hold for Antarctic tourism management? (see Liggett, Mc. Intosh, Thompson, Gilbert and Storey, 2011) • What does the future hold for more global issues? (polar cruises = high per capita CO 2 emissions in tourism - Eijgelaar et al. , 2010) • • •

Conclusion “The paradoxical roles of tourism in both resource exploitation and environmental management and conservation, as well as the interrelatedness of environmental change factors, clearly point to the need for an integrated approach to planning tourism” (Hall and Lew, 2009: 226)

Readings • Read chapter 5 of required text • Read chapters: S. Gossling & B. Garrod (Chapter 5) and J. Dickinson & L. Lumsden (Chapter 6). In: Garrod, B. & Fyall, A. (2011). Contemporary Cases in Tourism • Selected readings on Antarctic tourism, climate change, CO 2 emissions, water, oil, impacts on wildlife