Indicator: AAT-18 Annual tourist ship visits and tourist numbers
Data
| Atlas Cove (Heard Island) | Macquarie Island | Commonwealth Bay (Mawson's Huts) | Antarctic Peninsula * | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tourist Numbers | Tourist ship visits | Tourist Numbers | Tourist ship visits | Tourist Numbers | Tourist ship visits | Tourist Numbers | Tourist ship visits | |
| 1987/88 | 18 | 1 | ||||||
| 1988/89 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| 1989/90 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| 1990/91 | 559 | 4 | ||||||
| 1991/92 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| 1992/93 | 1 | 416 | 4 | |||||
| 1993/94 | 128 | 3 | ||||||
| 1994/95 | 342 | 5 | ||||||
| 1995/96 | 4 | 1 | 351 | 8 | ||||
| 1996/97 | 20 | 1 | 490 | 6 | ||||
| 1997/98 | 313 | 6 | ||||||
| 1998/99 | 120 | 2 | 374 | 6 | ||||
| 1999/2000 | 42 | 3 | 329 | 4 | ||||
| 2000/01 | 0 | 0 | 556 | 7 | 1145 | 23 | ||
| 2001/02 | 0 | 0 | 371 | 7 | 1378 | 19 | ||
| 2002/03 | 40 | 1 | 202 | 4 | 22 | 1 | 1299 | 20 |
| 2003/04 | 0 | 0 | 433 | 5 | 51 | 2 | 433 | 5 |
| 2004/05 | 0 | 0 | 298 | 5 | 27 | 1 | 1835 | 26 |
| * Australian tour operators to Antarctic Peninsula | ||||||||
Source: Department of the Environment and Heritage 2006, Indicator 46 - Annual tourist ship visits and tourist numbers, viewed 12 Jul 2006, http://aadc-maps.aad.gov.au/aadc
/soe/display_indicator.cfm?soe_id=46
What the data mean
Tourist visits to Australian sub-Antarctic islands and the Australian Antarctic Territory account for a small proportion (less than 1%) of the world total of Antarctic-bound shipborne tourists. The data suggest no increase in tourist visits to Australian sites, in contrast with a clear trend of increasing numbers visitors to Antarctica as a whole.
Since 2002-03, 100 tourists on 4 vessels have visited Commonwealth Bay which is the site of Mawson’s Huts.
Visits to Heard Island are infrequent, with only 202 tourists on 6 vessels between 1995 and 2004. The low level of visitation is probably best explained by the substantial travel time and costs arising from the Island’s remoteness.
Tourists have visited Macquarie Island at a relatively constant rate over the past ten years.
Data Limitations
Nil known
Issues for which this is an indicator and why
Australian Antarctic Territory — Environment - Human Pressures on the environment
Increased tourism in Antarctica gives rise to various concerns, including the potential for direct and cumulative environmental impacts resulting from wildlife disturbance, pollution from increased shipping, and the possible introduction of exotic species or diseases. The indicator is a way of measuring the extent of the pressure.
Other indicators for this issue:
- AAT-17 Types and concentrations of long range pollutants from outside Antarctica reaching Antarctica
- AAT-19 Annual catch in tonnes of marine species harvested in Australian Antarctic and sub-Antarctic waters - legal and illegal
- AAT-20 Fishing by-catch numbers and/or weight taken as bycatch
- AAT-21 Station and ship person days
- AAT-22 Wastewater - biological oxygen demand of wastewater discharged
- AAT-23 Annual fuel usage of generator sets and boilers
- AAT-24 Annual incinerator fuel usage
- AAT-25 Annual total of fuel used by vehicles
- AAT-26 Annual total potable water consumption
- AAT-27 Volume of runoffs and pollutants/emissions from stations
- CO-16 Status of Australian fisheries
- CO-17 Change in species and trophic structure of fish species caught
- CO-19 Estimated tonnage taken by illegal fishing; estimated number of illegal boats, estimated number of individuals of threatened species taken
- CO-21 Non-target effects: Number and/or weight taken as bycatch, and change since introduction of exclusion devices
Further Information
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