Antarctic tourism: Environmental concerns and the importance of Antarctica’s natural attractions for tourists

This article provides general background on the development of tourism in Antarctica and environmental concerns raised by it. However, the major part of it reports on and interprets the results from a survey of tourists visiting Antarctica on a cruise ship. Particular attention is given to the socioeconomic profiles of these tourists, their stated level of knowledge of Antarctica before and after their visit, the relative importance to these visitors of seeing different species of Antarctic wildlife and whether or not the opportunity of seeing Antarctic wildlife was of critical importance for their decision to visit Antarctica. The relative valuation by the sampled tourist of features of their Antarctic cruise is explored along with changes in their attitude to nature conservation following their visit to Antarctica. The opinions of respondents about environmental issues involving Antarctica are summarised and their attitudes towards increased tourism in Antarctica are outlined. The article concludes with a discussion of environmental policy issues raised by the development of tourism in Antarctica