Given the availability of ships and the interest for more "extreme" vacations, tourism in Antarctica has grown quite substantially in the past decade. During the tourism boom, a group of tour operators organized to ensure that tourism could continue well into the future without substantial impacts on the environment. The International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators (IAATO) is "a member organization founded in 1991 to advocate, promote and practice safe and environmentally responsible private-sector travel to the Antarctic."

Each ship must plan well in advance what landing sites they wish to visit, and check with other operators to ensure that the quota for visitors for that site is not exceeded. There are also guidelines set concerning boot hygiene to prevent the spread of seeds and disease between islands and a minimum distance from wildlife. Between 6,000-15,000 visitors have traveled to the Antarctic each year throughout the 1990s. Those numbers are expected to grow in the next decade.

Please visit www.IAATO.org for more information.