Words, more words, and ... no action? Addressing Antarctic tourism issues within the Antarctic Treaty System

Scholarly work on Antarctic tourism has hitherto offered little in terms of an in-depth exploration of the evolution of geopolitical discourse and processes around tourism. In this presentation, we will discuss political decision-making related to Antarctic tourism, with a particular emphasis on the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Parties’ (ATCP) engagement with tourism at Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meetings (ATCMs). We will briefly explore the origins of the political debate around Antarctic tourism and the pathways it followed over the last 50 years and will identify distinct stages in the evolution of Antarctic tourism politics. Purposefully drawing on hard evidence in the form of ATCM reports, as well as tourism-related Working Papers and Information Papers, we will outline the aspects of Antarctic tourism that have received significant political attention, along with regulatory agreements forged, but will also examine the tourism matters that were raised at ATCMs and the related regulatory options proposed that have not been taken further by the ATCPs. We will discuss these regulatory proposals that have not come to fruition with a focus on (a) exploring the motivations of the proponents at the time, and (b) analysing why the proposals failed. An Antarctic Tourism Working Group was formed, with a dedicated portion of ATCM agendas earmarked for tourism discussions, resulting in recommendations, i.e. non-binding regulatory mechanisms, or “words of advice” to operators, tourists, or governments. A couple of pertinent action items were turned into binding measures (in 2004 and 2009), but neither of these measures has entered into force yet. Our analysis of words in the political discourse on Antarctic tourism and actions taken by policy makers will culminate in an assessment of the merit of actioning history words, i.e. latent regulatory proposals made in the past, within the current regulatory and operation climate