Navigating the Galápagos Paradox: Regenerative Pathways for Managing Tourism Growth in Protected Areas

The Galápagos Islands in Ecuador, declared as one of the first UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1979, are seen as the birthplace of ecotourism. Early alliances between conservation and tourism operators shaped the development of the industry as cruise-based and nature-focused. The past two decades have seen a 350% increase in tourism arrivals, with most growth coming from the land-based sector. This growth has resulted in declarations of “Galápagos at risk” and “Galápagos in crisis”, with UNESCO urging the Galápagos to recommit to its promise of “zero growth” tourism following its removal from the World Heritage in Danger List in 2011. Managing tourism growth is thus a central question to the future of prosperity for humans and nature in the islands. This article employs Systems Thinking through 3D mapping workshops with various tourism stakeholders to explore how tourism growth and its relation to prosperity is constructed and contested by diverse stakeholders. Complimented by 50 semi-structured interviews and 18 months of participatory action research methods, the findings demonstrate both the importance and practical “how-to” of thinking in systems for achieving a regenerative paradigm shift in tourism.