Page 38 - Volcano and Geothermal Tourism

Introduction 15

• hot streams and waterfalls (New Zealand, 2009a; The Best of Ecuador.com, 2009). After
Central America, Japan, Iceland, USA); Baños had been evacuated for a considerable time
• boiling and bubbling mud pools (New Zealand, in 1999, the community leaders organized the
Japan, Iceland, USA); return of the residents despite a still-standing
• hydrothermal mud ponds (Japan, Iceland, New evacuation order and started to promote tourism
Zealand, USA); again to revive the economy, although public
• sinter terraces (China, Turkey, New Zealand, safety for both residents and for tourists was
USA); compromised (Lane et al, 2003).
• steam vents and fumaroles (USA, New Zealand, In 2006 in the Philippines extremely heavy
Italy, Alaska, Hawai‘i, South and Central America, rainfall remobilized volcanic debris on the slopes
Iceland, France); and of Mt Mayon causing major lahars which caught
• hot springs for spas and pools (worldwide). most people unawares, taking over 1200 lives and
destroying property in communities and urbanized
Although geothermal areas may not include the areas downstream. The massive lahar flows arrived
same potential risk as active volcanoes, visitors to suddenly, carrying large boulders, and buried
these environments should also be considered in houses and left fields barren (Paguican et al, 2009).
risk management strategies. These two examples show the contrasting sides of
volcanic hazards; the danger a community is
Risk management: How great prepared to live with and the sudden and rather
is the risk factor? unexpected event that does not leave any choice.
In both cases temporary visitors can get caught up
Demographic changes and urbanization have led in catastrophic situations, but in cases like this not
to increased exposure of people to volcanic being a local resident also has the added
hazards, with many large cities around the world disadvantage that important information in case of
located close to volcanoes classed as active. In fact volcanic activity is generally not available for
9 per cent of the global population (between 450 visitors. Language barriers often exacerbate any
and 500 million people) live within 100km of problems, as well as the possible exclusion from
active volcanoes (Chester et al, 2001; Small and local emergency, rescue and evacuation systems
Naumann 2001; Mayell, 2002; Grattan, 2006; that do not account for tourists, as their numbers
Hansell et al, 2006; Horwell and Baxter, 2006) and fluctuate. The following list provides some
are presently considered to be at risk from volcanic examples (in alphabetical order, not in order of
hazards. While the preference of residents for the potential danger) of small and large cities close to
quality of life in a certain area often outweighs the active volcanoes:
volcanic risk (Gregg et al, 2004), temporary
visitors or tourists are not always aware of any • Auckland, New Zealand (Auckland Volcanic
potential dangers from volcanic activity. While Fields)
much is done to educate the local public about • Anchorage, Alaska (Redoubt)
any potential volcanic hazards in the vicinity of • Baños, Ecuador (Tungurahua)
their cities or villages, some thought should be • Goma, DR Congo (Nyiragongo)
directed at the millions of annual visitors to • Jogjakarta, Indonesia (Merapi)
volcanic regions. With volcano viewing often on • Kagoshima, Japan (Sakurajima)
the sightseeing agenda, visitors to these destinations • Kumamoto, Japan (Aso and Unzen)
may not all be going close to active volcanic areas, • Managua, Nicaragua (Masaya)
but they certainly are in the vicinity of possible • Manila, Philippines (Pinatobu)
volcanic hazards. The hot spring town of Baños in • Mexico City, Mexico (Popocatepetl)
Ecuador, for example, lies in a high danger zone in • Nagasaki and Shimabara, Japan (Unzen)
the case of a major eruption of the nearby volcano • Naples, Italy (Vesuvius)
Tungurahua, which has been constantly active • Oita and Beppu, Japan (Tsurumi)
since 1999 (Ecuador-Travel.Net, 2009; Seach, • Pasto, Colombia (Galeras)

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