Comparing motives of glacier tourists to Westland Tai Poutini National Park, New Zealand and Vatnajokull National Park, Iceland

Abstract

Glaciers are key features of the alpine environment and have had an enduring appeal for nature-based tourists. However, glaciers are highly sensitive to climate change and in many locations are under-going rapid recession. Drawing on two aligned, but independent, research projects, this paper compares the motives of visitors to the Fox and Franz Josef glaciers in New Zealand (n=500) and visitors to the glaciers of the Vatnajokull National Park in Iceland (n=435). Findings reveal that the trips people make to the New Zealand glacier region are fundamentally underpinned by the opportunity to view the glaciers before they might disappear, whereas in Iceland this finding is less apparent, and instead motives more strongly relate to being close to nature more generally. This finding is reflective of the geographic context of the glacier settings; whereby in New Zealand the glaciers are the single major draw for visitors whereas in Iceland glaciers are part of the wider alpine experience.