Sustainability of Last-Chance Tourism

Tourism is one of the fastest growing industries in the world that makes it crucial to ensure that its development avoids as much damage as possible to the hosting destinations and is sustainable.

There are a number of definitions for sustainable tourism; however the most widely accepted is from the World Tourism Organisation (WTO): “tourism which leads to management of all resources in such a way that economic, social and aesthetic need can be fulfilled while maintaining cultural integrity, essential ecological processes, biological diversity and life support systems.”

Additionally they explain the development of sustainable tourism as a ’process which meets the needs of present tourists and host communities whilst protecting and enhancing needs in the future’ (Shah, 2002. p1). This discussion will analyse and reflect on whether sustainability might be applied to last-chance tourism and will be concluded with evaluation of its possible longer term prospective.

As tourism industry grows and develops rapidly with 935 million tourist arrivals recorded in 2010 (UNWTO, 2011) different stakeholders and authors may define and interpret tourism in various ways (Holden, 2000).

For instance, WTO (1991, cited in Holden, 2000. p3) proposed this definition: ‘Tourism comprises the activities of persons travelling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than 1 consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes’. However the main similarity within the characterizations of tourism that commentators would probably agree with is that tourism involves travelling (Holden, 2000), the activity which is directly responsible for greenhouse gases, that is fundamentally unsustainable.

This argument may put the whole concept of sustainable tourism under question and propose the possibility of considering the levels of sustainable tourism, according to type of tourists, attractions and reasons for visiting.

Tourists might be environmentally conscious throughout the holiday experience, starting from choosing destination to sharing experience and knowledge gained. They might also travel purely for recreational purposes with little other conscious thought, apart from recollecting the enjoyment of the last holiday and deciding on where to go the next time (Holden, 2000).

Depending on various scenarios, tourists may have different reasons that may influence their holiday choice such as beach, culture, health, nature-based tourism or many others.

Recently a number of publications identified an additional trend in tourism–“Last Chance Tourism”, also most known as “doom tourism” or ”disappearing tourism” that according to Dawson et al. (2009, cited in Lemelina et al, 2010, p477) is defined as a ‘niche tourism market where tourists explicitly seek vanishing landscapes or seascapes, and/or disappearing natural and/or social heritage’.

This type of tourism attracts a particular market of visitors who desire to witness vulnerable destinations and who prefer or do not mind long-haul flights or high costs. In addition some authors such as Lemelina et al (2010) notice the connection between last-chance tourism and dark tourism that enlarges the market of visitors.

Last-chance tourism is mainly associated with negative impacts and unsustainability (Utoday, 2009; Atanassova, 2010; Ord, 2010, Lemelina, 2010). However as a trend it may appear to be a contradictory issue, since it can be relatively sustainable as well as unsustainable, depending on disappearing attraction, type of tourists, etc.

It could be argued that, the main negative impact is the publicity of disappearing destinations. While it may increase awareness and promote a more environmentally friendly way of living, it could also attract more visitors seeking to experience attractions, before they are gone forever (Burns et al, 2009 cited in Lemelina et al, 2010). This may further damage fragile environment and increase negative tourism impacts.

In addition, it could persuade undecided potential tourists to prioritise disappearing destinations, when selecting holidays. As mentioned in Lemelina et al (2010) tour operators and travel agents use the promotion of such endangered destinations for economical benefits. While this statement is understandable, it is generalised because attractions, tourists and their reasons for last chance tourism can vary.

Therefore, the destinations may not experience a significant negative tourism impacts.

From the definition of last-chance tourism given above, it is clear that the main attraction is visiting endangered species of flora and fauna; and natural or social heritage that may disappear. It could also be a society or culture as a whole, in addition the meaning of heritage can be variously interpreted depending on person and his/her values.

It became clear that endangered species do attract additional tourists markets such as last-chance tourism and possibly dark tourism tourists. For instance Dawson et al (2009, cited in Lemelina et al, 2010), who examined last-chance tourism in Arctic, found that the majority of visitors in Churchill, Canada arrived for the purpose of viewing polar bears were strongly encouraged by the promoted vulnerability of the species and stated that tourists wanted to see bears before they disappear forever. While increased travelling to last-chance tourism destinations provides local communities and tour operators with the opportunity to benefit economically, at least in a short or medium terms, the biggest disadvantage lies in the fundament of the problem of long-haul travelling – the contribution to greenhouse emissions (Agnew & Viner, 2001, cited in Lemelina 2010).

This is the basic cause of polar bear becoming an endangered species. Moreover, the increased number of tourists attracted by last-chance tourism may disturb the locality and the natural habitat of bears. That in sum makes an existing negative tourist impact on endangered polar bears even higher.

On the other hand the very different example is the last-chance tourism in Cuba. Some may argue that apart from attractive beaches, that can be found anywhere in Caribbean, Cuba has a unique political structure that formed a society which is very different from others.

A visit to Cuba is now considered as essential, before it opens up to American commercialism and something special is gone forever (Tropical Sky, 2009). In general, tourism is very beneficial for the Cuban economy and it is aiming to attract more environment conscious tourists, who are willing to spend longer vacations and pay premium prices (Eturbonews, 2009, cited in Bhatia, 2011). According to Eturbonews (2009, cited in Bhatia, 2011) Cuba is one of the fastest developing destinations for ecotourism and eco-tourism is considered as the future (Trajillo, 2009, cited in Bhatia, 2011).

The last-chance tourism in Cuba can be seen as a positive phenomenon which might be categorised as high or higher level of sustainability.   In addition, according to WTO Conceptual Definition (2004) “Sustainable tourism development guidelines and management practices are applicable to all forms of tourism in all types of destinations, including mass tourism and the various niche tourism segments.

Sustainability principles refer to the environmental, economic and socio-cultural aspects of tourism development, and a suitable balance must be established between these three dimensions to guarantee its long-term sustainability.” According to the concept it can be suggested that sustainable management can also be implemented in last-chance tourism. For instance, Lemelina et al (2010) work includes explanation of  how destinations may try to minimise visitor numbers by continually rising entry fees or additional taxes, introducing a holiday’s lottery, where you have to ‘win’ or ‘earn’ the opportunity to visit last-chance destination. In addition, the social contributions that travellers put back into communities they visit might be considered, before being granted visitation rights to a particular destination (Burns & Bibbins, 2009; Meletis & Campbell, 2007, cited in Lemelina et al, 2010).  According to Lemelina et al (2010) last-chance tourism, from this prospective, provides a unique opportunity to nurture environmental awareness.

From discussion above it can be concluded that last-chance tourism might be sustainable, depending on destination, its management, tourist type etc. In the future, the development of last-chance tourism trend is more likely to continue, due to at least one reason – climate change, which may increase the number of disappearing attractions. It is also likely that if no regulatory measures applied, tour operators may over-crowd the limited capacity of last-chance destinations and contribute to damage. Therefore, there might be a need to identify more last-chance destinations that meet interests of wider visitor market, spreading tourists according to their interests.

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By

Alena Bobyleva

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