Economic downturn puts freeze on Antarctic tourism
The economic downturn has frozen tourists’ enthusiasm to travel to
one of Australia’s most remote and inhospitable Antarctic outposts with
tourism operators reporting a sharp downturn in bookings.
In January 2009 the Australian Antarctic Division reported a record
five cruise ships carrying over 400 visitors visited the site of the
Mawson’s Huts in Cape Denison, base of one of the most significant
expeditions in Antarctic history.
However, only one cruise company, Australia-based Orion Expedition
Cruises, was expected to visit the remote outpost in January this year,
carrying about 96 visitors.
Antartic tourism. Source:Google |
“We’ve had a slower year based on the recession. That means
Antarctica hasn’t been in the front of people’s minds,” Chris Perkins,
sales and marketing manager for Orion Expedition Cruises, told Reuters
on board the polar cruiser The Orion.
Commercial Antarctic tourism dates back to the late 1960s but
interest surged in the late 1980s, leading to a wide range of tourist
and adventure activities — and prompting a list of regulations to
protect the pristine Antarctic environment.
Orion Expedition Cruises runs an 18-day trip that visits the historic
wooden Mawson’s Huts, set up by geologist Douglas Mawson who led an
Australasian Antartic expedition from 1911 to 1914, as well as Port
Martin, the site of 100 grounded icebergs. But if the tag price of
between $19,000 to $40,500 is not a deterrent then the idea of spending
seven days crossing the gruelling Southern Ocean to visit one of the
world’s most inhospitable regions can be off-putting to many travellers.
Some, however, are determined to make the trip to Cape Denison in
east Antarctica, with the voyage best undertaken in the southern
hemisphere summer between late December and March.
“As far as the economic climate goes, that goes up and down, but I’m
getting older and that means I’ve only got a limited time to do all the
things I’ve want to do,” Fred Pernat, a tourist from Melbourne,
Australia, told Reuters on board The Orion.
“I suppose I’ve got a bucket list and coming to Antarctica is one of
the things I’ve always wanted to do.”
Rising tourist numbers have sparked a debate on the pros and cons of
commercial visitors to the remote wilderness of east Antarctica which is
far less accessible than the Antarctic Peninsula that is a two-day sea
trip from South America.
But while the risk of contamination to the environment is always a
possibility, tourism to the area is bound by strict guidelines set out
in the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO).
Professor Pat Quilty of the University of Tasmania says tourism is
not doing as much damage to Antarctica as research stations, which can
be occupied by up to 1,000 people in summer.
“It’s very clear that whatever humanity does is going to have some
effect. The question is whether it’s transitory,” said Quilty.
In order to minimise the impact of tourism in the area, Orion
Expeditions has designed its five star cruise ship to operate on low
fuel and carry a mini-decimalization plant which reduces the amount of
water used and carries all “grey water” or sewage back to port for
disposal.
REUTERS |