Trade between the Americas and Europe drove transportation technology which drove more trade et cetera, but people had to be there first to get things going. Space has to pay to be a major target for people to live and work in, but it doesn't have to start that way.

Space is too expensive to drive much of anything right now and we need a focus that will help drive launch costs down or provide other potential spinoffs for commercialization. Mars will certainly drive life support work of importance to space tourism. Mars is certainly the most likely place to establish a permanent self supporting presence. Antarctica is not in part because it is easier to ship in resources than it is to produce them locally. It's surface composition is also an issue in many places. The same will not be true on Mars. Magnum and other shuttle derived options needed for manned flight beyond LEO are far cheaper than the shuttle, but by no means CATS. CATS is a stand alone need that facilitates everything else.

Regards,
Mark