Volcano and Geothermal Tourism: Sustainable Geo-Resources for Leisure and Recreation

With a chapter on the Philippines.

"There are over 1300 active volcanoes worldwide and many more dormant or extinct. Some are developed as tourist destinations; others are not, but have great potential. Mount Fuji in Japan attracts over 100 million visitors per year and has immense cultural and spiritual significance, while a number of volcanic areas in national parks, for example Teide in Spain, Yellowstone in the US, Vesuvius in Italy and Tongariro in New Zealand, attract between one to four million tourists each year. In the last decade the designation of nearly 50 geoparks around the world has highlighted their potential for tourism development. This book provides the first global review and assessment of the sustainable use of active and dormant volcanic and geothermal environments for geotourism. The volcano-based tourism sector is further augmented through a closely linked range of geothermal resources and attractions, such as geysers and hot springs, which are discussed in detail throughout individual chapters covering all key volcanic and geothermal regions around the world. It is shown that volcano and geothermal tourism is a subsection of nature-based geotourism and incorporates a variety of other tourism categories such as adventure tourism, extreme tourism, ecotourism, green tourism, educational tourism, and hot spring tourism. This comprehensive book covers the most important issues of this growing tourism sector whilst incorporating relevant global research, making it an essential resource for all in the field. Includes colour plates."

http://www.amazon.com/Volcano-Geothermal-Tourism-Sustainable-Geo-Resources/dp/1844078701

Re: Volcano and Geothermal Tourism: Sustainable Geo-Resources for Leisure and Recreat

Volcano Geotourism on the Rise

"More than 100 million people visit volcanic sites around the world every year. In the United States, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, where Kilauea has been erupting almost continuously since 1983, attracts 2 million visitors; the geothermal features at Yellowstone National Park attract roughly 3 million visitors a year. More than 1 million people visit dormant Mount Rainier in Washington, which is one of 16 “Decade Volcanoes” identified by volcanologists as part of the UN International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction as being worthy of study due to their histories of large, destructive eruptions and their proximity to large population centers.

Decade Volcanoes also happen to be some of the most popular tourist destinations, Erfurt-Cooper says, part of the trend of volcano tourism, a subtype of geotourism, which is an offshoot of the ecotourism that has become popular over the last few decades. Many governments are promoting volcano tourism to bring in money, and many volcanoes are being designated as World Heritage Sites and Geoparks, which makes them more attractive destinations for tourists, says Erfurt-Cooper, whose next book, “Volcanic Tourist Destinations: Geoparks of the World,” is due to be published this year."

http://www.earthmagazine.org/article/danger-paradise-hidden-hazards-volcano-geotourism