Non-use Measures in Antarctic Tourism Regulation

Abstract

Tourism into Antarctica has had a remarkable growth in the last few decades, with a record of over 120,000 tourists in the 2023-2024 season. Although Antarctic tourism is subject to a body of regulation, non-use measures have not been significantly applied to this activity. Rather, most measures that have been adopted can be characterized as conditions to engage in Antarctic tourist activities. Such measures do not impose hard limits on tourism, its growth and/or diversification. To the extent that some proposals have attempted to establish significant non-use measures for Antarctic tourism, such as restricting tourism to certain areas or limiting the development of tourism infrastructure, they have not been agreed upon by Antarctic Treaty Consultative Parties. Existing non-use measures relevant to tourism remain rare and often very specific in their scope of application, generally limited to a low number of small areas, such as protected areas that are off limits to visitors and to a series of activity and behavioural requirements. Polarization of views as to why and how to regulate tourism in Antarctica, the procedural requirement of consensus decision-making, and the double-edged sword of self-regulation by the Antarctic tourism industry association, among other factors, all contribute not only to the limited quantity – and scope of applicability – of non-use measures for the regulation of Antarctic tourism, but also, more generally, to the unsatisfactory performance of Antarctic Treaty Consultative Parties in governing this activity.