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Conclusion: Polar Tourism for Regional Development?
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Dieter K. Müller Department of Social and Economic Geography, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden Conclusion Polar Tourism for Regional Development? Tourism in peripheral areas, which include the sub-polar and polar areas of the globe, is often promoted as a response to economic downturn in other industries and as a way of promoting endogenous growth (Jenkins et al. 1998). Although tourism development has shown advancement even within the polar regions, there are certainly challenges for a successful development. These may not be exclusive to polar regions, but the locations on high latitudes implying a strong seasonality , polar winter conditions, and fragile environments are often accompanied by relatively low population figures, sparse settlement patterns, and a lack of power and influence in relation to political and economic centres, contributing to the situation of being a periphery within countries that usually may be considered part of the 24303.indb 251 11-10-12 10:49 AM 252 Polar Tourism: A Tool for Regional Development world’s economic and political core. Antarctica, owing to its lack of permanent population and the governance of the Antarctic Treaty signed in 1959, already has a special position. Although considered for a long time as exotic places to be conquered and utilized (Malmberg et al. 1995; Stonehouse and Snyder, 2010), global change has once again put the polar regions into the centre of global interest (Hall and Saarinen 2010b; Stonehouse and Snyder 2010). In particular, climate change and the anticipated significant changes, not least in the Arctic, have bundled economic interests focusing resource exploitation, new transport options, and environmental concern, in an attempt to preserve a last “wilderness.” This renewed interest can also be noticed in an increasing number of publications addressing polar issues and polar tourism in particular (Hall and Saarinen 2010a; Lück et al. 2010; Stonehouse and Snyder 2010; Maher et al. 2011). It is also manifest in the establishment of the International Polar Tourism Research Network (IPTRN) in 2006. As this volume has demonstrated, tourism is at the nexus of polar developments. On the one hand, tourism is promoted as an important way of contributing to sustaining polar environments and communities. Having seen pristine polar environments as well as local outcomes of climate change is expected to transform tourists into ambassadors of the polar regions (Gelter, chapter 9). The “last chance” to see and experience the polar regions is thus uplifted from being just an individual project of seeking pleasure into a common responsibility for the global environment. No matter whether this is just another way of making money or calming the tourist’s conscience for yet another long-haul trip, it has to be acknowledged as an important trend in conceptualizing polar travel. Moreover, tourism is expected to create new livelihoods for the inhabitants of the Arctic, particularly in cases where climate change challenges traditional practices and sources of income. On the other hand, tourism is also sometimes seen as a major environmental threat. It is expected that climate change contributes to an increasing accessibility to the Arctic but also to altering the polar attractions (Johnston 2006). For example, Dawson et al. (2010) argue that a declining polar bear population is likely to increase the tourist demand for viewing them, which will contribute to an amplification of emissions. Besides a growing environmental footprint owing to airborne transportation to the regions, increasing visitation to Antarctica and the Arctic creates numerous other risks. Safety and rescue management related to cruises in the polar regions is an increasing field of concern, not least after the sinking of the MS Explorer (Jabour 2007). Other concerns are related to cultural dimensions. Although tourism development often seems to be desired, local populations see limitations when culture is disrespected and threatened (Stewart et al. 2011). 24303.indb 252 11-10-12 10:49 AM [35.173.254.36] Project MUSE (2024-03-29 16:24 GMT) Conclusion 253 Regardless of whether Polar tourism is about “sustaining the ego,” as Wheeller (1993) once claimed with regards to nature-based tourism, or about serious concern for the region, it is narrated and promoted as a way of providing alternative livelihood to local and sometimes indigenous communities and as a tourism form that respects the limitations of the destination. However, tourism development is not always initiated locally, but often dependent on outside operators and markets. Thus, the imagination of outside stakeholders may influence the success of a tourism enterprise. In fact tourist expectations may conflict with local traditions, as in the case...