TY - JOUR
T1 - Antarctic Tourism
T2 - An Overview of 1992/93 Season Activity, Recent Developments, and Emerging Issues
AU - Enzenbacher, Debra J.
N1 - Funding Information:
The US National Science Foundation (NSF) announced at its July 1993 meeting with Antarctic tour operators that it has funded tourism research as part of the Long Term Ecological Research Program at Palmer Station, Anvers Island. Two researchers were placed on Torgersen Island, near Palmer Station, to collect data, beginning in October 1993. The research team from Project Antarctic Conservation based at the Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge (Stonehouse 1993), conducted its third consecutive field season of tourism research in the Antarctic Peninsula area during the 1993/94 season.
Funding Information:
Table 1. Tour operators in the Antarctic during the 1992/93 season, with numbers of cruises and tourists, ship name, registry, capacity, load factor, and countries in which operators are primarily based and/or markettours. Sources: Information reported to the Office of Polar Programs, US National Science Foundation, compiled by N.Kennedy (NSF 1993a); surveyresultscollected by the Antarctic Unit of IN.FUE.TUR (Galimberti and Bugnest 1993); and data gathered by the author during fieldwork. Note: Operator market lists may not be complete; major known markets are listed as estimated in order of market share. Aus=Australia, Eur=Europe, Jpn=Japan, NA=North America, SA=South America, US=United States, 'denotes estimated number of passengers
PY - 1994/4
Y1 - 1994/4
N2 - Antarctic tourism is evolving at an ever-increasing pace. More than 7000tourists, arecord number, visited the Antarctic aboard cruise ships, yachts, and aircraft during the 1992/93 season. As annual tourist, tour operator, cruise, and cruise ship totals increase, so do the number of landing sites used for tour visits. Although the Antarctic tourism industry was once characterized by small expedition-sized vessels, 50% of Antarctic cruise passengers travelled aboard ships with a capacity of 250 or more during the 1992/93 season. These developments present challenges to Antarctic policy makers. There is growing awareness that environmental issues arising from Antarctic tourist activity are increasingly important, but, to date, comprehensive data on Antarctic tourism are not available from a central source. This study compiles data from numerous sources in order to develop a clearer picture of the nature and scale of Antarctic tourist activity. In an effort to present an overview of Antarctic tourism, data from the 1992/93 season are considered along with important issues in the tourism debate, including significant trends and recent developments in the tourism industry, Antarctic tourism research, tourist landings in Antarctica, industrial self-regulation, emerging issues, Antarctic Treaty negotiations on tourism, and national initiatives to improve dialogue between the industry and Antarctic policy makers. Research is underway to understand better the nature of tourist visits and the effect they have on the Antarctic environment and related ecosystems. The International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (I AATO) plays an important role in disseminating information to tour operators planning visits to the Antarctic, but more could be done by this organization and non-members of IAATO to comply with Treaty provisions. Improved compliance with Treaty provisions and tour operator and visitor guidelines is needed, at least until the environmental effects of tour visits are better understood and the more comprehensive regulation set out in the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty is implemented.
AB - Antarctic tourism is evolving at an ever-increasing pace. More than 7000tourists, arecord number, visited the Antarctic aboard cruise ships, yachts, and aircraft during the 1992/93 season. As annual tourist, tour operator, cruise, and cruise ship totals increase, so do the number of landing sites used for tour visits. Although the Antarctic tourism industry was once characterized by small expedition-sized vessels, 50% of Antarctic cruise passengers travelled aboard ships with a capacity of 250 or more during the 1992/93 season. These developments present challenges to Antarctic policy makers. There is growing awareness that environmental issues arising from Antarctic tourist activity are increasingly important, but, to date, comprehensive data on Antarctic tourism are not available from a central source. This study compiles data from numerous sources in order to develop a clearer picture of the nature and scale of Antarctic tourist activity. In an effort to present an overview of Antarctic tourism, data from the 1992/93 season are considered along with important issues in the tourism debate, including significant trends and recent developments in the tourism industry, Antarctic tourism research, tourist landings in Antarctica, industrial self-regulation, emerging issues, Antarctic Treaty negotiations on tourism, and national initiatives to improve dialogue between the industry and Antarctic policy makers. Research is underway to understand better the nature of tourist visits and the effect they have on the Antarctic environment and related ecosystems. The International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (I AATO) plays an important role in disseminating information to tour operators planning visits to the Antarctic, but more could be done by this organization and non-members of IAATO to comply with Treaty provisions. Improved compliance with Treaty provisions and tour operator and visitor guidelines is needed, at least until the environmental effects of tour visits are better understood and the more comprehensive regulation set out in the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty is implemented.
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U2 - 10.1017/S0032247400021318
DO - 10.1017/S0032247400021318
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:0028159005
SN - 0032-2474
VL - 30
SP - 105
EP - 116
JO - Polar Record
JF - Polar Record
IS - 173
ER -