BRUSSELS – With concerns mounting over the potential irreversible melting of Antarctica’s icy terrains due to climate change, tourism to this remote region is experiencing a significant upswing. However, specialists caution that the surge in visitors could heighten the risk of contamination, disease outbreaks, and other detrimental impacts on this pristine environment.
Despite the relatively modest number of tourists, largely due to the considerable expense and time involved, the rapid increase in visitors has prompted warnings from scientists and environmental advocates.
The recent spotlight on the burgeoning trend of Antarctic tourism was intensified by a fatal hantavirus incident on a Dutch vessel engaged in a prolonged polar journey.
Most tours converge on the Antarctic Peninsula, one of the globe’s most rapidly warming regions. According to NASA, the continent lost an average of 149 billion metric tons (164 billion tons) of ice annually from 2002 to 2020.
A popular itinerary involves traveling south from Argentina to Antarctica and then proceeding north along Africa’s coast, mirroring the path taken by the MV Hondius cruise ship.
“The sights in Antarctica are truly unparalleled and cannot be found anywhere else on Earth — from the majestic whales and seals to the charming penguins and breathtaking icebergs, they leave an indelible mark on visitors,” remarked Claire Christian, executive director of the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition.
Explosive growth of trips to the southern continent
In 2024, more than 80,000 tourists touched down on the vast ice-cloaked continent and 36,000 viewed from the safety of ships, according to data collected by the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators.
The International Union of Concerned Scientists estimates that tourism to Antarctica has grown tenfold in the past 30 years.
That number could rise further in the next decade as costs fall with more ice-capable hulls hitting the water and technological advances, said Hanne Nielsen, a senior lecturer of Antarctic law at the University of Tasmania. Her colleagues at the university estimate the annual figure could triple or quadruple to over 400,000 visits in that time.
Some tourists come to Antarctica for “last chance tourism,” knowing the melting landscape is rapidly changing, Nielsen said.
Risks of contamination
Officials have not indicated any evidence of contamination from the MV Hondius.
However, flocks of migratory birds brought avian flu from South America to Antarctica in recent years, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
That outbreak prompted the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators and others to harden rules for tourists’ conduct and hygiene to protect visitors from being contaminated. To protect the fragile ecosystem from invasive species large and microscopic, visitors are told to stay away from animals and to avoid touching the ground with anything but their feet.
“There are rules that people are bound by when they’re heading south,” Nielsen said, describing her five voyages as a former guide. Crews and passengers use vacuums, disinfectants and brushes to scrub shoes and equipment clear of bugs, feathers, seeds and microbe-carrying dirt.
“Between the tongues and the laces of the boots you can find a lot of things,” she said.
Cruise ships have been struck by outbreaks of diseases like norovirus, which can spread quickly in a ship’s close quarters. In 2020, a COVID-19 outbreak on the Diamond Princess turned the cruise ship into an incubator for the then-mysterious virus.
Hantavirus usually spreads by inhaling contaminated rodent droppings.
The Hondius’ island hopping cruise
The World Health Organization said Tuesday that MV Hondius left Ushuaia, Argentina, on April 1 and visited Antarctica and several isolated islands.
WHO is investigating possible human-to-human transmission on the cruise ship, said Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO’s director of epidemic and pandemic preparedness. Officials suspect the first infected person likely contracted the virus before boarding, she said, and officials have been told there are no rats on board.
Antarctica is governed by the Antarctic Treaty, which in 1959 enshrined the territory as a scientific preserve used only for peaceful purposes. A series of rules that followed “aim to ensure that all visits, regardless of location, do not adversely impact the Antarctic environment or its scientific and aesthetic values,” according to the treaty’s secretariat.
Companies and scientific ventures voluntarily comply with biosecurity guidelines and submit environmental impact assessments for Antarctic operations.
The treaty was written when tourism numbers were much lower, Christian said.
“Activity needs to be regulated appropriately, as you would with any of the world’s sensitive and precious ecological sites,” Christian said from Hiroshima, Japan, where she was preparing for an Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting. There she’ll join calls to strengthen protections for Antarctica’s penguins, whales, seabirds, seals and krill — tiny creatures at the base of the food chain.
For now, the lure of the frozen frontier continues to draw visitors.
“You can put a footprint in Antarctica and it’s still there 50 years later,” Christian said.
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Associated Press writer Mike Corder contributed from The Hague, Netherlands.
