Title: Self-regulation of tourism in Antarctica: exploring the conditions for

• Main Author: The Netherl
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.664.670; http://www.2007amsterdamconference.org/Downloads/AC2007_LamersEtAl.pdf

success and failure Tourism in Antarctica has grown rapidly over the past two decades, increasing from less than a thousand arrivals in 1985 to around thirty thousand in 2006. The increasing volume and diversity of tourism in Antarctica has gone hand in hand with increasing concerns about potential environmental impacts. Formal tourism legislation has been limited, partly as a result of the complex governance structure in Antarctica. Tourism management occurs mainly in the form of self-regulation by tour operators through the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO), and successfully so. To a large extent, the success of IAATO is attributable to the high degree of organisation in the sector, brought about by considerable perceived benefits of membership. Prolongation of the success of self-regulation (and effective tourism management) requires continued positive incentives of self-organisation, but this is not self-evident. Changing circumstances may lead tour operators to believe that IAATO membership is no longer in their interest.