The development of Antarctic tourism

Abstract

The Antarctic continent and its off-lying islands are probably the part of the world least disturbed by man. If all human activity beyond latitude 60°S ceased, all that would remain would be the remnants of scientific stations and a few dilapidated structures associated with Antarctic whaling when it was a land-based industry. Many hold the view that efforts should be made to retain this near-pristine condition and there is therefore widespread opposition to all forms of commercial enterprise in the Antarctic, including tourism. While there may be grounds for opposing the harvesting of living resources because of the possibility of over-exploitation, and for opposing the extraction of Antarctic minerals because of the danger of irreversible environmental damage, opposition to tourism, especially as there are no facilities in the Antarctic specifically designed for their benefit, seems more difficult to justify.