Tourism in the Galápagos Islands: The Dilemma of Conservation

Abstract

The Galapágos Archipelago is an area of very special significance to ecologists. Its unique flora and fauna, rugged scenery, and historical connections with Charles Darwin, make it a place of environmental pilgrimage. Between 1970 and 1985, visiting tourist numbers, comprised largely of foreign naturalists, grew from negligible levels to about 15,000 per annum. In 1987, visitor arrivals to the Galápagos grew to 32,500 following the opening of a second airport in 1986.Management of tourism has involved a policy which requires most visitors to be accommodated on boats, places strict controls on the sites which can be visited, and requires tourists to be accompanied by highly-trained Naturalist Guides. The policy precludes development of any substantial island-based tourist infrastructure. Recently this approach has become increasingly inadequate in the face of rapid small-scale, little coordinated, tourist development.