Tagged: tourism

The sun is setting on unsustainable long-haul, short-stay tourism — regional travel bubbles are the future - COVID-19

Guest Author • Jul 03, 2020 •

• Climate,
• COVID-19,
• emissions,
• flying,
• tourism,
• Travel

James Higham, University of Otago Unprecedented border closures and the domestic lockdown have paralysed New Zealand’s $40.9 billion a year tourism industry. In the process, the vulnerability of the sector to external shocks and the tenuous nature of tourism employment have been exposed. While New Zealand’s handling of the pandemic has been hailed as a global masterclass, and the … Read More

Re-opening the trans-Tasman border - COVID-19

Guest Author • May 07, 2020 •

• Australia,
• coronavirus,
• COVID-19,
• Economy,
• Pandemic,
• tourism

Dave Heatley “Shut the borders” is a natural first reaction to an external threat. It makes a lot of sense in the early stages of a pandemic, when those arriving at the border are more likely to be infected than those within the country. But what if that’s no longer the situation? After a country lifts its internal restrictions … Read More

Tourism and the ETS - The Dismal Science

Eric Crampton • Dec 20, 2019 •

• carbon emissions,
• climate change,
• emissions trading scheme,
• ETS,
• tourism

Eloise Gibson covers the carbon costs of tourism over at Newsroom: But in reality: “value-led tourism growth may actually worsen those pressures that are linked with consumption. Higher-value visitors, by definition, consume more goods and services, all of which have an associated greenhouse gas and solid waste footprint. To the extent that these goods and services are relatively energy … Read More

Call for clearer risk information for tourists following Whakaari/White Island tragedy - Guest Work

Guest Author • Dec 17, 2019 •

• adventure tourism,
• eruption,
• Risk,
• tourism,
• volcano,
• Whakaari,
• White Island

Freya Higgins-Desbiolles, University of South Australia and James Higham, University of Otago In the aftermath of the tragedy at Whakaari/White Island on December 9, many are analysing the risks of adventure tourism, particularly volcano tourism, and asking pointed questions. It is a sensitive time, with 15 people now confirmed dead, many hospitalised in critical condition, and two bodies yet … Read More

Take it from me: I’m not signing up to become a space tourist just yet… - Guest Work

Guest Author • Apr 11, 2018 •

• altittude,
• Astronaut,
• centrifuge,
• children,
• Earth,
• gravity,
• International Space Training,
• NASA,
• outer space,
• planets,
• space,
• stars,
• tourism,
• Travel,
• weightlessness

Rowena Christiansen, University of Melbourne This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article. Take it from me is a new series in Science and Technology, where we find an expert to provide a personal but informed perspective on a topical issue. Elon Musk’s SpaceX reportedly has two people signed up for a … Read More

Rarotonga’s little plants facing big problems - Field Work

Guest Author • Feb 01, 2018 •

• bryophytes,
• Cook Islands,
• Moss,
• plant conservation,
• Rarotonga,
• tourism

By Peter de Lange A recent survey of Rarotonga’s little plants – the liverworts and mosses – has established that all is not well in the volcanic island’s forests. The plants, often dubbed the ‘canaries in the cage’ of the plant world because of their sensitivity to ecosystem change, are drowning under an onslaught of weeds that have spread from … Read More

Rethinking tourism and its contribution to conservation in New Zealand - Guest Work

Guest Author • Oct 24, 2017 •

• carrying capacity,
• conservation,
• national parks,
• tourism

By Valentina Dinica, Victoria University of Wellington.  New Zealand is one of 36 global hotspots for biodiversity. Its unique wildlife is a major draw card for tourists. About three million international visitors arrive in New Zealand each year, adding NZ$15 billion to the economy. At least half explore a national park or protected area (PA), … Read More

Supreme Court ruling on NZ’s largest irrigation dam proposal respects conservation law and protected land - Guest Work

Guest Author • Jul 28, 2017 •

• 100% Pure New Zealand,
• anticipatory governance,
• conservation,
• dam proposal,
• Irrigation,
• Makaroro river,
• native birds,
• New Zealand,
• Ruahine Forest Park,
• Ruataniwha irrigation scheme,
• supreme court,
• tourism

Christine Cheyne, Massey University Earlier this month, New Zealand’s Supreme Court rejected a proposed land swap that would have flooded conservation land for the construction of the country’s largest irrigation dam. The court was considering whether the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council’s investment arm could build a dam on 22 hectares of the protected Ruahine Forest Park in … Read More

Great walks, water meters and NZ Super – Solvable problems - The Dismal Science

Eric Crampton • Dec 13, 2016 •

• Great Walks,
• retirement,
• super annuation,
• tourism,
• water conservation,
• water meters

The world has plenty of hard unsolveable problems. It’s irritating when easy to solve problems fail to be solved, although they too may point to a broader difficult problem. Great walks Swing bridge on the Great Walk Lake Waikaremoana, New Zealand. Wikimedia / Michal Klajban. Item the first: New Zealand’s great walks are, well, great, and very popular with … Read More

Great Barrier Reef bleaching stats are bad enough without media misreporting - Guest Work

Guest Author • Apr 28, 2016 •

• bleaching,
• Great Barrier Reef,
• misreporting,
• tourism

By Jon C. Day, James Cook University The widespread bleaching event occurring across the Great Barrier Reef is unprecedented in scale and severity. It has rightly gained global media attention. Sadly, however, some of the headlines it has generated are factually incorrect or misleading: Half of Great Barrier Reef “dead or dying” (ITV News) Coral are … Read More