Contrasting views on Antarctic tourism: ‘last chance tourism’ or ‘ambassadorship’ in the last of the wild

Possibilities of Using the Tourism Area Life Cycle Model to Understand and Provide Sustainable Solution for Tourism Development in the Antarctic Region

“…However, it is important to note that it was tourists to Antarctic bases in the 1980s who first forced base personnel to respect the recommendations on environmental protection, sometimes appealing to governments to ensure that members of personnel cleaned up the area around the bases. In addition to this type of social pressure, tourists are more frequently becoming ambassadors for the whole of the Antarctic, spreading the word about the need to protect the continent [23][24][25]. What is more, tourist traffic also has a purely practical role, as tour operators often help individual bases with logistical issues.…”

Conserving Antarctic biodiversity in the Anthropocene

“…Even if only 20% of these tourists were to carry 9.5 seeds, there would still be over 1.8 million opportunities to disperse over 2.2 million seeds, not to mention the potential to transfer invertebrates (Houghton et al 2016). If only a handful of these species established it providing much needed support for protection and conservation of the visited regions (Headland et al 1994;Vila et al 2016). For example, one study found that education and experience led to increased understanding of threats facing the region (climate change, human activity), and indeed, over 60% of surveyed tourists supported the implementation of a conservation tax for Antarctic visitors (Vila et al 2016).…”

“…If only a handful of these species established it providing much needed support for protection and conservation of the visited regions (Headland et al 1994;Vila et al 2016). For example, one study found that education and experience led to increased understanding of threats facing the region (climate change, human activity), and indeed, over 60% of surveyed tourists supported the implementation of a conservation tax for Antarctic visitors (Vila et al 2016). Policy change is primarily driven through public awareness and pressure (Anderson et al 2017), and an increasing number of visitors, and associated increase in public awareness will only help to fuel this support.…”

“…Natural experiences and wildlife encounters can contribute to conservation via increased appreciation and understanding of the natural world, which can lead to growing support and advocacy for conservation initiatives (Zeppel & Muloin 2008;Ballantyne et al 2009;Ballantyne et al 2011). This phenomenon is often termed 'ambassadorship' (Eijgelaar et al 2010;Vila et al 2016). Transformative learning and education during guided tourist trips can even result in behavioural changes of tourists, such as increased adherence to guidelines and reduced wildlife disturbance, as well as pro-environmental behaviours and attitudes being retained at least six months after the tourism experience (Zeppel & Muloin 2008;Ballantyne et al 2009).…”

“…Nature-based tourism is often used to fund National Parks, and in some cases can also financially contribute to indigenous communities or local conservation projects (Brandon 1996 Recently, a distinct subset of nature-based tourism has emergedlast chance tourism where thousands flock to experience ecosystems and charismatic megafauna on the verge of total collapse or extinction (Lemelin et al 2010). This global phenomenon includes witnessing polar bears in the Arctic, elephants in Africa, snorkelling on the Great Barrier Reef, and sighting Antarctic icebergs and glaciers -all before it's too late (Eijgelaar et al 2010;Lemelin et al 2010Vila et al 2016Piggott-McKellar & McNamara 2017). While such experiences might serve to raise public concern about the plight of these species and environments, the mounting visitor numbers may place increasing pressure on already sensitive places.…”