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>>can cause erosion and damage ecosystems >Oh please. This is so far from an actual concern that I struggle to summon the energy to even shrug about it. It is

>>can cause erosion and damage ecosystems >Oh please. This is so far from an actual concern that I struggle to summon the energy to even shrug about it. It is causing noticeable impact though. I recently went to Iceland which has had rapid tourism growth since about 2008. There is a place along Ring Road (the road around the whole island) where long ago, a rock was placed on a stack for good luck in their travels. [1] There's essentially one place where it's "tolerated" on the island for a reason that goes back hundreds of years. Even driving 20+ miles beyond the location, there were stacks of rocks off ~100 feet off the road. It really ruined the natural look. Iceland has moss covering large chunks of the island. It takes something like 30 years for the moss to grow back. Simply stepping on moss can kill it, justifying the MANY messages about staying on the paths. Someone walked over 100+ feet of mossy rocks to stack rocks. The rocks slow down the water flow rate and prevent the dirt from getting scooped up. I don't know how else to say it, but it is a big deal. [1] https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/laufskalavarda https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/laufskalavarda

downer59 8y ago
Like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives.
iratewizard 8y ago
Iceland has a population of 300k and brought in more than 2m visitors last year. 10% of its GDP and 30% of export revenue. The vast majority of tourists in Iceland are very respectful, but Iceland's hasty decision to bootstrap its economy after 2008 with tourism despite a lack of infrastructure has its costs. The way I see it, Iceland is lucky to have attracted so many higher quality guests.
- gwright 8y ago
  I was in Iceland this past June and the mismatch between the number of tourists and the infrastructure at the national parks and scenic overlooks/stops was enormous. I have no idea what the right number of tourists for Iceland is but at several locations the facilities (restrooms, food services, shop) were small and completely overwhelmed by the number of busses that were stopping in quick succession. I was on a cruise and unfortunately the logistics of port calls tends to create very bursty traffic patterns with large number of tour busses disgorging visitors in quick succession at these under-sized locations. For example the facilities at Goðafoss were undersized: https://www.google.com/maps/@65.6860127,-17.5395264,3a,37.5y,150.84h,89.92t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sSls2fKKZeRsDJi5I6Qs4mw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656 https://www.google.com/maps/@65.6860127,-17.5395264,3a,37.5y... On the other hand the facilities at Geysir were much better: https://www.google.com/maps/@64.3100169,-20.3013397,3a,75y,186.95h,89.53t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sXCe6dEQcwyt7nVsO9i2Yjw!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo1.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DXCe6dEQcwyt7nVsO9i2Yjw%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D120.409164%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656 https://www.google.com/maps/@64.3100169,-20.3013397,3a,75y,1...

downer59 8y ago

Like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives.

iratewizard 8y ago

Iceland has a population of 300k and brought in more than 2m visitors last year. 10% of its GDP and 30% of export revenue. The vast majority of tourists in Iceland are very respectful, but Iceland's hasty decision to bootstrap its economy after 2008 with tourism despite a lack of infrastructure has its costs. The way I see it, Iceland is lucky to have attracted so many higher quality guests.

gwright 8y ago
I was in Iceland this past June and the mismatch between the number of tourists and the infrastructure at the national parks and scenic overlooks/stops was enormous. I have no idea what the right number of tourists for Iceland is but at several locations the facilities (restrooms, food services, shop) were small and completely overwhelmed by the number of busses that were stopping in quick succession. I was on a cruise and unfortunately the logistics of port calls tends to create very bursty traffic patterns with large number of tour busses disgorging visitors in quick succession at these under-sized locations. For example the facilities at Goðafoss were undersized: https://www.google.com/maps/@65.6860127,-17.5395264,3a,37.5y,150.84h,89.92t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sSls2fKKZeRsDJi5I6Qs4mw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656 https://www.google.com/maps/@65.6860127,-17.5395264,3a,37.5y... On the other hand the facilities at Geysir were much better: https://www.google.com/maps/@64.3100169,-20.3013397,3a,75y,186.95h,89.53t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sXCe6dEQcwyt7nVsO9i2Yjw!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo1.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DXCe6dEQcwyt7nVsO9i2Yjw%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D120.409164%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656 https://www.google.com/maps/@64.3100169,-20.3013397,3a,75y,1...