Mars tourism

The possibility of Mars tourism is technology dependent and will vary with time.

• A key economic driver is the cost, if it costs hundreds of thousands of dollars to visit Mars, the number of tourists will be very low. If it costs a few tens of thousands of dollars, then a significant number of people might choose to visit Mars.
• A second driver is time. Travel times to Mars are significant, and a round trip might take a few years, requiring significant commitment.
• An essential precondition is the existence of an interplanetary spaceship.
• Good radiation shielding on the spaceship to minimize the danger of DNA damage and cancer is required in the long term. The notions of risk and informed consent may come into play for early developments.

Early Mars tourism

Until transportation prices go down significantly, it will be an exotic challenge for rich extreme tourists from Earth. An all-inclusive tour to Mars might consist of an extended space travel (back and forth), a temporary integration in the Martian population, optionally with hard work experience and likely include a surface exploration tour. A very high class working holiday, in a sense.

Later Mars tourism

As travel cost go down, the number of tourists should increase. High velocity travel using fusion drives, as part of a large solar system wide society, might eventually allow for routine tourism that is not limited by the synodic period .

Analysis

• Tourism can be part of a business model for investors and can be part of the Earth-Mars Trade.
• Any enterprise can be profitable if there is demand and a possibility of profit. Tourism might cost millions of dollars per person but if there are takers, then a business plan is possible. Mass market tourism may not be particularly profitable even for a larger market. However, part of the profits from an early stage of tourism might be used to finance the development of lower cost transportation and housing systems.
• Tourism in 2022 is not possible as there is no vehicle capable of providing the service. However, the eventual availability of the SpaceX Starship will create an opportunity for tourism towards Mars.
• Tourism and exploration are similar activities for the initial development of Mars, as long as there is no military or commercial component to the venture. The use of public funds would support exploration, and as long as the scientific return are significant, exploration is probably a better description than tourism for the first travelers towards Mars, even if self funded.
• Renewable rocket technology changes the costs from hundreds of millions of dollars per trip to merely millions.