This thesis aims to describe and interpret the effects of tourism on historic sites in Antarctica and Svalbard (also known as Spitsbergen), and to assess the implications for management. Explorers, whalers, seal hunters, scientists and others have left many material remains in the Polar Regions that are significant because they tell the history of the exploration and exploitation of these regions. Contemporary polar tourism represents a new phase in this “exploration” and exploitation of the Polar Regions. The potential for the transformation of historic sites has increased following the substantial expansion of polar tourism in recent decades. Key cultural heritage sites are regularly included in standard tourist itineraries and are also the subject of specialized tourism. In this context, the central research question of this thesis is: What are the effects of tourism on polar historic sites, and what are the implications of this for the management of tourism and these historic sites?
Table of Contents
Dedication xiii
Preface xv
Abstract 1
1 General introduction 5
2 Research methods 51
3 Regulating Antarctic tourism and the precautionary principle 85
4 Monitoring the transformation of historic features in Antarctica and Svalbard: Local processes and regional contexts 109
5 Antarctic scientific bases: Environmental and cultural heritage perspectives 1983-2008 145
6 The polar cultural heritage as a tourism attraction 165
7 From extraction to exhibition: Tourism at a disused marble quarry at Ny-London, Svalbard 181
8 Cultural heritage tourism in Antarctica and Svalbard: Patterns, impacts, and policies 203
9 Overview and synthesis 225
10 General conclusions 249
Acknowledgments 261
References 265
Epilogue 287
Appendix 1 – Acronyms and abbreviations 291
Appendix 2 – Glossary 292
Appendix 3 – Cultural heritage in the 2001 Svalbard Act 297
Appendix 4 – Cultural heritage in the 1991 Antarctic Protocol 300
Appendix 5 – List of interviewees 301
Nederlandse Samenvatting 303
