Traffic map
Article updated: 3/16/2013 4:51 PM

Antarctica concerns grow as tourism numbers rise

Buy this photo Buy this photo
next prev 1 of 3
   
Gallery Image

Associated Press/Dec. 1, 2009 An inflatable boat carries tourists past an iceberg along the Antarctic Peninsula.

Tourists scale Crater Hill toward Castle Rock on Ross Island, Antarctica.

Associated Press/Jan. 20

Sightseers board an over-snow vehicle on Hut Point Peninsula of Ross Island in Antarctica.

Associated Press/Jan. 20

About this Article

Antarctic tourism has grown from fewer than 2,000 visitors a year in the 1980s to more than 46,000 in 2007-08. Then the numbers plummeted, bottoming out at fewer than 27,000 in 2011-12.The Rhode Island-based International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators doesn't have its final 2012-13 figures yet but estimates close to 35,000 visitors this season.
prev next
    • Associated Press/Dec. 1, 2009 An inflatable boat carries tourists past an iceberg along the Antarctic Peninsula.
    • Tourists scale Crater Hill toward Castle Rock on Ross Island, Antarctica.
    • Sightseers board an over-snow vehicle on Hut Point Peninsula of Ross Island in Antarctica.
    Galleries by Category

    Latest Galleries

      next prev