Abstract:
With the proliferation of market forces and the inevitable dependence on fossil fuels, the transport sector is now an essential part of the world economic system. As such, structural sustainability plays a pivotal role in determining the anthropogenic (human) impacts of longdistance travel especially with rising concerns on climate change and global warming. Accordingly, market expansion into the realm of environmental crisis has escalated with networks spreading into the domain of tourism and travel: „ecotourism‟ being one of the commercialised global solutions. Examining beyond current works based on the quantitative traditions of transport geography, this paper explores in greater detail the „political economy of transportation‟ that ultimately necessitates travel in contemporary society today. It is, therefore, of upmost importance these issues are examined within an increasingly mobile capitalist regime, the current global order as such. Accordingly, what this thesis contributes to the existing literature is the examination of „carrying capacities‟ and „ecological footprints‟ – whether it be products, services or even individual consumers themselves – that justify and neutralise commercialised movement. By inserting the concept of „mobility‟ back into this debate, the transfer of consumers and tourists to the interchange of commodities and capital will be examined in conjunction with individualised calculations of „carbon miles‟ – a market in its own right profiting from the production and consumption of the excess. Ultimately, the economy has risen, once again, as the final solution to issues surrounding the natural realm of the ecology. These contradictions of sustainable development will be critically analysed utilising the New Zealand case study as one of the remaining „eco‟ destinations of our generation. Whether entrance into the untouched pristine realm of Mother Nature – the final destination – can, indeed, be actualised would be the ultimate challenge to date.
