Page 108 - Volcano and Geothermal Tourism

6

On the Economics and Social

Typology of Volcano Tourism

with Special Reference to

Montserrat, West Indies

Nick Petford, John Fletcher and Yegani Morakabati and economic factors that drive this activity
(Sigurdsson and Lopez-Gautier, 2002). Anecdotal
Introduction evidence, including data from the top volcano
destinations (Table 6.1) provides some clues about
Type volcano tourism into Google and there are the nature of this type of tourist activity. Presently,
more than one million results, many of the early volcano tourism is niche market, high-end and
hits offering package tours or trips to volcanoes exclusive. The unique selling point of volcano
for sightseeing and exploration. Volcanic activity tourism may well be a mix of danger and thrill
can cause major losses to human life, together seeking, combined with scientific or educational
with considerable financial cost arising from curiosity, but this remains speculative. However,
destruction of property and infrastructure. On comparative analyses of this niche element of
other occasions volcanic activity happens in tourism imply it is growing faster than other
remote sparsely populated areas where there is forms of special interest tourism including visits to
little risk to humans or their properties. The sites of other Earth science-related natural disasters
economic damage of volcanic activity can range (tsunamis, hurricanes or earthquakes). For example,
from the temporary loss of output as production is Pompeii (Italy), the town destroyed famously in
halted through the activities of the volcano to the the AD79 eruption of Vesuvius, enjoys 2.5 million
destruction of airports, roads, houses and visitors per annum, but when the site was
agricultural land. The 18 May 1980 eruption of compromised tourism to the area as a whole fell
Mt St Helens is a good example – the economic by 20 per cent (Hooper, 2008). This fact alone
damage of the eruption is estimated at 1.1 billion elevates the study of volcano tourism above the
USD in direct costs, or approximately 3300 USD purely speculative and points to these sites of
for every second of peak eruptive activity. natural interest as regionally important economic
To date, in spite of much research into the role drivers.
of natural attractions in tourism development In this brief paper we explore the literature in
there has been little research into the scope and an attempt to discover those circumstances that
scale of volcano tourism, or the underlying social facilitate tourism development, and how successful

Ch06.indd 85 3/28/2010 1:27:39 PM