Ecotourism in the Australian and New Zealand Sub-Antarctic Islands

Abstract

The development of special interest tourism, with particular attention being placed on the adventure, educational, and environmental market segments and advances in polar technology has been a growing awareness of the potential for a substantial growth in the levels of Antarctic tourism. In addition, the possibility exists for commercial tourism operations to subsidise government scientific operations and justify claims to Antarctic and sub-Antarctic territory (Reich, 1979; Hall 1990, 1992a; Beck 1990a, b). However, tourists have disrupted scientific programmes through either their presence or the need to offer emergency services, and have created substantial legal problems concerning jurisdiction and liability. Indeed, tourists now exceed the number of government personnel (Stephenson, 1990), although the period of time they spend in the Antarctic region is substantially shorter. Furthermore, tourism has the potential to dramatically impact the fragile sub-Antarctic island environments, a situation which...