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E<\/span>xcitement among Cook Islands tourism operators and officials at the\u00a0opening of quarantine-free travel\u00a0with Aotearoa New Zealand was understandable. The impact of the pandemic on the island nation\u2019s economy has been massive and will be felt for a long time.<\/p>\r\n But it wasn\u2019t long before a local environmental organisation\u00a0sounded a warning\u00a0about the risks of a return to high-volume tourism.<\/p>\r\n The popular Muri lagoon area has already suffered from pollution. There is also pressure on sacred sites such as Avana harbour, legendary departure place of the seven canoes that sailed to Aotearoa around 700 years ago.<\/p>\r\n On the other side of the world, there is a renewed movement to\u00a0save Venice\u00a0from pre-pandemic threats of over-tourism and cruise ships damaging its ancient canals.<\/p>\r\n In Aotearoa New Zealand, too, people have been given pause to think about whether a return to tourism as usual is viable.<\/p>\r\n One iwi, T\u016bhourangi Ng\u0101ti Wahio at\u00a0Whakarewarewa\u00a0in Rotorua, has seriously considered whether to allow tourism to resume in their village. Virtually synonymous with the birth of tourism in Aotearoa, the iwi now questions just what benefits its people are receiving from tourist activity.<\/p>\r\n Everywhere, it seems, there are debates about what tourism will look like in the post-COVID era.<\/p>\r\n No return to mass tourism<\/strong><\/p>\r\n As regular flights between Aotearoa and Australia resume, the issue of\u00a0high-volume tourism and its environmental impact\u00a0is now front and centre.<\/p>\r\n Significantly, the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment has\u00a0advocated\u00a0for using the disruption caused by COVID-19 to transform the local tourism industry.<\/p>\r\n This would be based on the industry being accountable for its environmental costs, and involving local communities and mana whenua in decision-making \u2014 echoing other calls to recalibrate tourism within \u201csustainable bounds\u201d.<\/p>\r\n Few people would argue for a return to unsustainable practices, but what does this really mean? And who might we turn to for solutions?<\/p>\r\n