Boise State history major Suzannah Hitchcock from Perth, Australia, will present her research, “Successful Sanctuary: The Relationship between the Environment and Tourism on Bermuda,” at the American Society for Environmental History annual conference in Eugene, Oregon, this March.
Hitchcock’s research investigates the relationship between the natural environment and the tourism industry on the islands of Bermuda. Through an examination of primary sources that are predominantly visual, her research argues that beginning in the early 1920s, the decision to promote Bermuda as an island paradise strengthened the tourism industry significantly. Still today, the Bermuda government works to make the relationship between the nation’s environment and its tourism industry mutually beneficial, through protecting the environment to ensure that tourists will always be greeted with healthy reefs and clean beaches.
The American Society for Environmental History is the premier academic organization for the field of environmental history.