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Research on shipborne tourism to the Ross Sea region and the New Zealand sub-Antarctic islands

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 October 2009

Gordon Cessford  and
Paul R. Dingwall
Gordon Cessford
Affiliation:
New Zealand Department of Conservation, Conservation Sciences Centre, PO Box 10-420, 58 Tory Street, Wellington, New Zealand
Paul R. Dingwall
Affiliation:
New Zealand Department of Conservation, Conservation Sciences Centre, PO Box 10-420, 58 Tory Street, Wellington, New Zealand
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Abstract

An ongoing programme of tourist survey research, conducted since the 1990/91 summer season, is summarised. While focusing initially on the nature reserves of the New Zealand sub-Antarctic islands, the programme was subsequently extended to encompass related tourist visits to Macquarie Island (Australia) and the Ross Sea region of Antarctica. In accordance with expressed management information needs, the research objectives and the methodology, based on questionnaires distributed by national representatives aboard tour vessels, have evolved from general descriptive visitor surveys to more site-specific visitor assessments. Research findings emphasised that these tourists constitute a distinctive activity group. The impact issues they reported were mainly related to trampling and some site-specific wildlife disturbance, with other impact issues not being prominent. No notable dissatisfactions were apparent or visit improvements demanded, and strong support was indicated for most of the management restrictions applied to onshore visits. Methodological lessons from conducting this survey programme are briefly summarised, and suggestions for future research directions are made, with more emphasis on post-voyage evaluation surveys and assessments of physical impacts related to tourist visits.

Type
Articles
Information
Polar Record , Volume 34 , Issue 189 , April 1998 , pp. 99 - 106
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1998

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