Due to the effects of global warming, some of the world’s most beautiful and unique destinations are in danger. Chief among those destinations is the Great Barrier Reef. The world’s largest living organism has been suffering more and more damage every year. The reef is suffering immense coral bleaching, and it’s expected that this year will be even worse than last year. To put things bluntly, it is unlikely that the Great Barrier Reef will be around much longer. And that predicament has led to a spike in tourism.
It’s called last-chance tourism – people get a passport and visit destinations because they believe that it won’t be there for long. Whether the location is sinking like Venice, getting covered in water, or simply eroding, last-chance tourists are prioritizing destinations like the Great Barrier Reef not necessarily because they are amazing places to visit but because they may no longer be there in another five to ten years.
Other popular last-chance destinations include the Arctic and Antarctica. Tourists want to see polar bears in the north before they can no longer be found in the wild, and they want to see massive glaciers in the south before they melt away.
It’s easy to understand the appeal of last-chance tourism, but if you’re planning a trip like this, you should be careful. There is a good chance that elements of your trip could cause more harm to the endangered areas you wish to see, making it so that even fewer people will be able to enjoy them in the future. As you plan your trip and get your passports in order, make sure to do your research to ensure that the activities you have planned won’t cause any undue harm to the places you want to see most.
You might even consider an ecotourism option. Ecotourism is focused on letting people enjoy the world’s most amazing sights while actively protecting them. Ecotours usually have the added benefit of being preplanned and part of a group. If you like meeting new people when you travel, such a group might be a perfect scenario for you.
Another option you can consider is buying carbon offsets to help mitigate the effect that your travels have on the environment. Every little thing that you can do to help the environment is worth it. You can help protect some of our world’s most precious resources so that last-chance tourism itself becomes extinct.
