Arctic tourism
Downloads
- Linking Tourism and Conservation in the Arctic (Russian) 5.70 MB pdf
- Cruise tourism on Svalbard 2.84 MB pdf
Links
Linking tourism and conservation
As you can probably imagine, the Arctic attracts many people who wish to experience its fantastic wildlife, pristine landscapes and local cultures. No wonder that tourism activities in the region over the last 15 years have experienced an unrivalled growth.
Although the number of tourists travelling to the North is still relatively small, some areas are seeing mass tourism-like development in a fragile environment.The WWF International Arctic Programme sees tourism as one way to support the protection of the arctic environment.
Tourism activities can be conducted responsibly so that visitors learn to appreciate and respect arctic nature and cultures, as well as provide an additional income to local communities and traditional lifestyles.
10 principles for Arctic tourism
The WWF International Arctic Programme along with a group of people working in tourism, government, research, conservation and communities from all over the Arctic came together to discuss pressing issues concerning tourism and conservation.This forum led to the first arctic specific guidelines for tourism, the Ten Principles for Arctic Tourism.
These principles have been specified to address tour operator and visitor conduct.
Sustainable tourism in the Arctic
Tourism in the Arctic is based on its unique nature and cultures. Any development that does threaten these assets will eventually destroy the basis for why tourist travel to the North.
What is sustainable tourism?
For a tourism activity or development to be sustainable, it has to take into account and balance not only its economic interests but also its impact on the natural and sociocultural environment of the destination.
What is ecotourism?
There is no generally accepted definition of ecotourism, but it is widely understood that it
• is nature-based
• is small scale or operates with small groups
• contributes actively to nature conservation
• offers excellent nature interpretation
• is based in, actively involves and benefits the local community.
While ecotourism is almost always nature-based tourism, not all nature-based tourism is ecotourism!