How Is Tourism Affecting Antarctica

Another role the iaato plays is monitoring whether visitors to the region are negatively affecting the environment.

Tru adventure tourism. Tourism in antarctica started by the sea in the 1960s. There has been a steady increase in the numbers of tourists to antarctica over the last 20 years. History of tourism in antarctica.

Tourism in antarctica is at present self regulated by the international association of antarctic tour operators iaato founded in 1991 and currently with 113 members. Antarctica was the last of the seven continents to be discovered and it wasnt until the late 1950s that commercial tourism began there. Air overflights of antarctica started in the 1970s with sightseeing flights by airliners from australia and new zealand and were resumed in the 1990sthe summer tour season lasts from november to march.

Most tourists come to the antarctic peninsula. The organization enforces strict guidelines to its tour operators and ships limiting the size of the ships and the number of travelers that can land on antarctica at a given time. But it wasnt until the 1970s that bona fide cruise liners.

But now antarctica has become a popular travel. Most of the estimated 14762 visitors to antarctica from 19992000 were on sea cruises. The first expedition to antarctica with travelers was in 1966 led by swedish explorer lars eric lindblad.

Antarcticas clean air water and ice of are of importance to science for understanding how the earths environment is changing both naturally and as a result of human activity. Lindblad wanted to give tourists a first hand experience on the ecological sensitivity of the antarctic environment in order to educate them and promote a greater understanding of the continents role in the world. Tour operators are tapping a huge and ever increasing demand to visit the earths last great wilderness.

The first tourists to visit antarctica are believed to have been taken here aboard the ss fleurus a mail ship which used to ply the route between the falklands and south shetland islands in the 1920s. Such guidelines limit the size of the ships that can cruise antarctic waters and. Antarctica was the last of the seven continents to be discovered and it wasnt until the late 1950s that commercial tourism began there.

Expedition cruise to antarctica. This is an organization that applies strict guidelines to its member tour operators and ships.