Under the Influence with Terry O'Reilly - Last Chance Tourism

Episode Date: January 18, 2025

This week, we take a look at Last Chance Tourism.Tourism companies around the world have started to advertise specific destinations to travelers, because those locations have a very unique offering.Namely, they are vanishing.From glaciers, to polar bears, to the Amazon Rainforest. Marketers are using a strategy called “Loss Aversion” – where the emotional impact of a loss is felt more intensely than a gain.So people are rushing to these locations, afraid they might miss their last chance to see them. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hi, it's Terry O'Reilly. As you may know, we've been producing a lot of bonus episodes while under the influences on hiatus. They're called the Beetleology Interviews, where I talk to people who knew the beetles, worked with them, loved them, and the authors who write about them. Well, the Beetleology Interviews have become a hit, so we are spinning it out to be a standalone podcast series. You've already heard conversations with people like actress Mark Hamill, Malcolm McDowell

and Beatles confidant Astrid Kerscher. But coming up, I talked to Mae Pang who dated John Lennon in the mid 70s. I talked to double fantasy guitarist Earl Slick, Apple Records creative director John Kosh. I'll be talking to Jan Hayworth, who designed the Sgt. Pepper album cover. Very cool. And I'll talk to singer Dionne, who is one of only five people still alive who were on the Sgt. Pepper cover. And two of those people were Beatles. The stories they tell are amazing.

So thank you for making this series such a success. And please do me a favor. Follow the Beatleology interviews on your podcast app. a success and please do me a favor follow the Beetleology interviews on your podcast app. You don't even have to be a huge Beatles fan, you just have to love storytelling. Subscribe now and don't miss a single beat. A new year means a new start. And if you really want to start the new year off right, treat yourself to a better sleep. A new year, a new mattress, a new you. The quality of your sleep affects everything.

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We're going to show you our big news to the baker. What love doesn't conquer, Alka sells her will. What a relief! You're under the influence of Terry O'Reilly. Many years ago, I worked on a commercial with actor Alan Arkin. I mentioned that his film The In-Laws was one of my favorite comedies of all time. I mentioned I had read that it was also one of Marlon Brando's favorite comedies of all time. Arkin said, that's true. He told me he had dinner at Brando's house one evening, where Brando went on and on about how much he loved the in-laws. But Arkin said he detected no sense of humor in Brando whatsoever. Now that's funny.

Now that's funny. When Brando first saw The In-Laws in 1979, he contacted screenwriter Andrew Bergman and said, if you ever write another movie that funny, I'll do it. So 11 years later Bergman sent Brando a script titled The Freshman. It was a dark comedy with an interesting plot. A mafia lord, Carmine Sabatini, played by Brando, runs something called the Fabulous Gourmet Club. It's an illicit establishment where shady rich people

pay $1 million each to feast on the last remaining animal from a soon to be extinct species. from a soon to be extinct species. While it doesn't sound like a comedy, it is. The freshman in the title is college student Clark Kellogg, played by Matthew Broderick. The funniest bit is that Marlon Brando spoofs his godfather character. Clark Kellogg is brought to meet Sabatini by Sabatini's nephew, played by actor Bruno Kirby, who was also Clemenza in The Godfather Part 2.

Kellogg can't believe how much Carmine Sabatini looks and sounds just like Vito Corleone. Kellogg is told that Vito Corleone was based on Carmine Sabatini, which is actually Marlon Brando playing Sabatini, who played Vito Corleone. At that first meeting, Sabatini makes Kellogg an offer he can't refuse. I want you to take this opportunity, totally legitimate work, for $1,000 a week, and I know that you're not going to disappoint me. I don't see how I can say no. It's a suspicious job.

Clark is hired to deliver mysterious packages from the airport. While we think it's drugs, it's not. It's actually the endangered animals that will be served up that night at the Fabulous Gourmet Club. Meanwhile, the FBI is watching everybody. I won't give away what happens, but it's not what you think. It's an interesting plot. While Sabatini's place is called the Fabulous Gourmet Club, it could also be called the Last Chance Club

because it's the last chance to see a vanishing species. ["The Last Chance Club"] Almost every season, we do an episode on tourism because it's one of the largest and most interesting marketing categories in the world. This season our topic is last chance tourism. Tourism companies around the world have started to advertise specific destinations to travelers because those locations have a very unique offering, namely, they are vanishing. And this may be your last chance to visit them. Churchill, Manitoba is 1,000 kilometers north of Winnipeg, and it has gone through some rough times. In 1997, the Liberal government sold the rail port in Churchill to an American company.

In 2012, the Conservative government ended the wheat board, so farmers began to ship their wheat out of Thunder Bay or Vancouver instead. Soon, the ships stopped coming to Churchill. The naval base left town in 1968. The radar installation was abandoned in the 70s, and the rocket range was boarded up in 1985. That meant 4,000 Canadian Forces personnel left town. So Churchill, population 900, had to reinvent itself. It turned to tourism. Polar bears were plentiful, as Churchill is situated on the migratory path of the bears

as they wait for the winter ice to form on Hudson's Bay. So, a local mechanic built a souped-up, elevated recreational vehicle with big, fat tires that could traverse the snow and take tourists to see the polar bears. The town positioned itself as the polar bear capital of the world. Photos, documentaries, and marketing campaigns attracted thousands of tourists who spend from $3,000 to $8,000 each to have a close encounter with the magnificent white bears. Today there are many different kinds of polar bear tours you can choose from.

The most exclusive includes staying in the heart of polar bear country in tundra vehicles with sleeping cars. Another option is to stay in wilderness lodges, where you are taken on walking tours along with armed guards, in case the polar bears get a little too curious. along with armed guards in case the polar bears get a little too curious. European tourism companies package tours to Canada offering Arctic safaris. Prices can be as high as $25,000 per person. Polar bear tourism is said to generate around $7 million in economic activity for the inhabitants of Churchill, Manitoba. But a lot has changed in that area over the years.

University of Manitoba scientists published a paper saying the polar bear population near Churchill is in trouble. The sea ice in Hudson's Bay is receding due to climate change. The bears use it to hunt for seals, but as ice diminishes year by year, they go hungrier. And as the oil and gas industry continues to eye the Arctic, there is the risk of habitat destruction. Many bears don't eat enough to maintain normal pregnancies. The polar bear population has dropped by more than 27% between 2016 and 2021 and is half of what it was in the 1980s. By 2050, some conservation scientists say the expanding length of time with no ice could mean a dire time for polar bears. This is fueling the demand for tourism, because polar bear watching is being marketed

as last chance tourism. The Athabasca Glacier divides southern Jasper and northern Banff. It is part of the massive Columbia Icefield, the largest icefield in the Rockies. Sitting at the top of the continental divide, the icefield runoff flows into the Pacific, Atlantic, and Arctic oceans. The Athabasca Glacier is over 10,000 years old. Its 5.96 square kilometers are 2.3 square miles in size and is as thick as the Eiffel Tower is tall. But it's melting.

Satellite imagery shows the glacier is retreating about 5 to 10 centimeters a day. Since the 1960s, it has retreated over 600 meters or almost 2,000 feet. Like Hudson's Bay sea ice, warm temperatures are the main culprit. But wildfires have also posed a problem. Glaciers deflect roughly 30 percent of solar radiation. But wildfire smoke and ash is darkening the glaciers, which can increase the melt rate by up to 10%. Glaciers also cool the climate around them, but as they shrink, parts of Canada

will experience greater warming, which could lead to more wildfires, which would lead to more wildfires, which would lead to more shrinking. The Athabasca Glacier is the most visited glacier in North America. Specially designed snow coaches transport people over the steep snow and ice to the glacier edge. Hundreds of tourists step onto the glacier each day. While the tours only last two or three hours, they are marketed as the adventure of a lifetime.

Scientists estimate the Athabasca glacier will be gone by the end of the century. And that makes it one of the top destinations for last chance tourism. Don't go away. destinations for last chance tourism. Don't go away. We'll be right back after a word from our sponsors who make this podcast possible. A new year means a new start. And if you really want to start the new year off right, treat yourself to a better sleep. A new year, a new mattress, a new you. The quality of your sleep affects everything and if you order a Douglas mattress today you can

claim your free comfort sleep bundle. It includes two memory foam pillows, a waterproof mattress protector and an entire cotton sheet set and on top of all that you get 50% off a premium accessory. Still not convinced? Take advantage of the risk-free, 365 night in-home trial. Douglas will ship you the mattress for free, try it for a year,

and if you don't love it, Douglas will pick the mattress up, send you a refund, and donate it for free. Canadian Living named it Canada's best mattress, and I couldn't agree more. We love our Douglas mattress. So do over 250,000 satisfied owners,

made by Canadians for Canadians. Visit douglas.ca slash under the influence to take advantage of this offer, exclusive to Canadian listeners only. Douglas Mattress, Canada's best mattress. The Mer du Glace, or Sea of Ice, is the largest glacier in France. Seven kilometres long and 200 metres deep, it has been one of the biggest attractions in the French Alps for over three centuries.

These days, about half a million people visit Mer de Glace every year, and over 80,000 ski down it annually. A cable car takes people up to the glacier where they can enter a man-made ice grotto. The grotto has to be redug every summer as the glacier shrinks up to 70 meters or 229 feet every year. Since 1988 the glacier has shrunk so much that 600 steps had to be installed between the bottom of the lift and the foot of the glacier. A new lift was built last year. It was located about a quarter mile up the valley from where the original lift was built in 1988 to anticipate the glacier's further retreat. It is anticipated that within 15 years, the end of the glacier will have reached the new lift.

That shrinking has led to growing tourism because people want to see the glacier before it goes. The Galapagos is one of the most important ecosystems in the world. Over 90% of the birds and animals there are found nowhere else on the planet. While 97% of the Galapagos is protected as a national park. 188 of the area's species are considered in danger of extinction due to invasive species, overfishing, urbanization, plastic pollution, and irresponsible tourism. Over 250,000 travelers visit each year. visit each year. The Galapagos Islands are a highly tourism-dependent economy, employing about 80% of the population. Tourists can take small-scale cruises around the archipelago, and yachts can be chartered.

The most expensive seven-day private charters can cost up to US$149,000 per person. Tour packages often include a guaranteed sighting of at least 11 of the island's 15 iconic species. With its unique wildlife teetering on extinction, together with its spectacular scenery, the Galapagos is one of the top last chance destinations on earth. The psychology behind last chance tourism is interesting. At its core, it's based on the concept of loss aversion. It's a powerful marketing tactic where the emotional impact of a loss is felt more intensely than the joy of an equivalent gain.

That's why retailers have so many limited time only sales and why infomercials always say products are only available in limited quantities. In the travel industry, it translates like this. People are twice as likely to book a trip to see a destination that is in danger of vanishing than they would be to go to another equal destination that offers nothing but ongoing positives. Scarcity increases perceived value. Loss aversion marketing contains one other powerful factor.

A sense of urgency. The go before it goes pitch nudges more and more people to increase travel to vulnerable destinations, and therein lies a paradox. Tourism revenue often funds conservation projects, research initiatives, and ecosystem management. However, the question is, can this tourism revenue offset the environmental damage caused by tourism, including the greenhouse gases caused by travel and the degradation of the vulnerable ecosystem

when millions of tourists tread on it every year. If you were awake in your high school history class, you may remember that Sir John Franklin and his crew of 129 men set out on a voyage in 1845 to try and find the fabled Northwest Passage through the Arctic, creating a shortcut from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Back then, ships often froze in place as the bitter Arctic temperatures created massive ice fields. Franklin's expedition never returned. expedition never returned. 170 years later the passage was mapped.

Today you can take small expedition cruises through the Northwest Passage. Rather than last chance tourism, it might be called first chance tourism because climate change has made travel viable. The thick ice that made passage absolutely impossible for over a century and a half has thawed, creating new navigable routes. It is now possible to do what Franklin never could. Smaller ships which hold fewer than 200 passengers can now navigate narrow Arctic waterways without need of an icebreaker. And because retreat of sea ice has been so dramatic, big cruise ships are now arriving. One ship called theabourn Venture takes her 264 guests to the most remote destinations of the Arctic.

The ship also carries two custom-built submarines, 24 zodiac boats, and a 24-person expedition team of specialists to explain the wonders of the ice scape and tundra. There are also off-ship excursions that include glacier hikes, kayaking, and visits to indigenous communities. From 2013 to 2019, melting ice has allowed the number of ships sailing in the Northwest Passage to increase by 44 percent, and the overall kilometers traveled in the region has doubled.

At Beachy Island, you can even find the grave sites of three members of Franklin's doomed expedition. But not all last chance tourism happens in cold locales. The Amazon rainforest is a huge tourist destination. While it's difficult to get exact figures, as the rainforest spans nine countries, it is estimated that several million people visit each year. The Amazon River is approximately 6,400 kilometers or 4,000 miles long. It is the world's largest river basin, and it runs through the rainforest. The Amazon rainforest is also one of the world's most important ecosystems as it regulates

the global climate. It has been called the lungs of the planet. The Amazon rainforest covers an enormous 6.7 million square kilometers, twice the size of India. It is a wellspring of biodiversity and is home to 10% of the known species on Earth, and incredibly, a new species of animal or plant is discovered there every other day on average. It is estimated there are over 400 billion trees standing in the Amazon. They influence rainfall cycles in South America and release 20 billion tons of water into

the air every day. The Amazon's forests and soil are the world's best climate change warriors as they store an estimated 200 billion tons of greenhouse gases, the equivalent of 10 years worth of global fossil fuel emissions. Yet, despite its vital role in earth survival, the equivalent of five football fields worth of trees are cut down every minute. The main causes of this deforestation are cattle ranching and agriculture, the building of roads and infrastructure, and illegal logging and mining. With a chunk the size of France

already gone from the rainforest, it remains a top destination for last-chance tourism. chance tourism. Estimates suggest that tourism numbers to the Amazon rainforest are on track to surpass pre-pandemic totals. More and more people want to see the rainforest before it vanishes. But here's an interesting twist. While travel to the endangered destinations is being discouraged in many areas, the rainforest may actually benefit from increased tourism. A recent study revealed that ecotourism in the Amazon, when handled in a sustainable way, is way more profitable than any other use of the rainforest land.

The revenue potential is unlimited. In other words, the Amazon is more profitable if left intact. It already contributes $8.2 billion to the Brazil economy alone. Along with ecotourism, Brazil is trying to referee a long-standing battle between industries that exploit the rainforest's riches and the environmentalists who are trying to protect it. A middle way is emerging that links business interests to the Amazon's survival, making its 400 billion trees worth more alive than dead. The idea is to cultivate different sorts of profitable bio-economy industries.

For example, farmers there are starting to cultivate the local jabirandi shrub, which is used in glaucoma medication. The strategy is to lure people away from illegal logging and mining and steer them to sustainable industries that are even more profitable. Similar thinking is happening at the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. Australia's Great Barrier Reef is considered one of the seven wonders of the world. It is home to thousands of species of marine life, including over 1500 species of fish and 400 types of coral.

It is the world's largest coral reef system, roughly the size of Japan. While an increasing number of destinations fight back against mass tourism, the North Queensland Tourism Department is bucking the trend by encouraging more tourism. But they have a plan. They offer tourists a way to save money by becoming a guardian of the reef.

A partnership between Expedia a guardian of the reef. A partnership between Expedia and the Tourism Tropical North Queensland Foundation has led to what has been called a World First. While 2 million tourists visit each year, they want to encourage even more tourism to the reef. A website has been created where tourists are invited to quote, dive deep for more rewards. It's a three level incentive system. The first level asks you to watch a video about The Reef after which you can

unlock a 10% travel discount. The second level gives you facts about global climate change, after which you enjoy another 15% discount on travel to Australia. Participants who reach the Ocean Floor on the third level of the website can unlock exclusive experiences like staying at Australia's first underwater hotel and getting 20% off bookings with Expedia. Plus, you can enter a draw to win a trip to the Great Barrier Reef. Because only 7% of the Great Barrier Reef's 133,000 square miles is open to tourism, the Tourism Authority protects the area while still inviting more

travelers. And the revenue goes to reef preservation. The basic principle is this. The more people know, the more people will care. And the more people who care about the Great Barrier Reef, the greater the chance of saving it. It's a see-it, love-it, protect-it marketing strategy. Last chance tourism isn't confined to the natural wonders of the world. There are also a surprising number of man-made landmarks that are in danger of disappearing. The Statue of Liberty could be in danger due to changing sea levels, which are rising four times faster on the Atlantic coast than the rest of the US shoreline.

Air pollution is eating away at the Taj Mahal. Egypt's Minister of State for Antiquities Affairs has said the pyramids and the Sphinx might disappear by the end of the century due to rising sea levels and extreme weather. These threats trigger loss avoidance, persuading millions of people to travel to vulnerable destinations, urged on by a noticeable trend where tourism companies curate travel packages around the concept of, go before it's gone. It all leads to a fundamental paradox. Tourism dollars support conservation but it might also speed up the very destruction it seeks to prevent. While travel publications like Fodars issue an annual no list

trying to persuade tourists to stay away from vulnerable places, the list often has the opposite effect by placing a target on these locations, making them must-visit destinations. In the coming years, the success of the tourism industry will be determined by its ability to operate under greater and greater environmental stress. And all of us will have decisions to make. It might be our last chance to end last chance tourism when you're under the influence.

I'm Terry O'Reilly. This episode was recorded in the TearStream Airstream mobile recording studio. Producer, Debbie O'Reilly. Chief sound engineer, Jeff Devine. Research, Angus Mary. Under the influence theme by Casey Pick, Jeremiah Pick and James Atten-Gauden. Tunes provided by APM Music. Let's be social. Follow me at Terry O Influence. This podcast is powered by A-Cast. See you next week. Fun fact! Hi this is Danielle from CBS Newfoundland. Occasionally polar bears will mate with grizzly bears. These hybrids are called Groller Bears or Pizzly Bears. There you are, alone in your car, waiting at a red light.

Suddenly, there she is, pressed against your window, holding a homemade cardboard sign. Can you really tell what it says about her? Don't let homelessness assumptions get in the way of homelessness solutions. Go to canadacandoit.ca. Help the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness.