ANTARCTIC NON-GOVERNMENT ACTIVITY NEWS

News in this edition:

56-01. Tour bookings reported stable but companies await world developments.
56-02. TANGO meets at COMNAP XIII.
56-03. Establishment of CEP tourism management group suggested.
56-04. Yacht scheduled for sub-Antarctic circumnavigation.
56-05. South Georgia visit proposed for '2041'.
56-06. Coming events relevant to non-government activities.

Most Antarctic tour companies say that they have not seen any significant impact on 2001-02 bookings in the two weeks since the horrific terrorist attacks in the United States. Many firms indicate that bookings have mostly held due to the travelling public's perception that Antarctica is a "safe region". However, they believe that international developments over the next few months will be critical in determining how their businesses will fare during the coming austral summer.

ANAN surveyed seventeen Antarctic tour companies, from the US, Europe and Australasia, to determine the impact of the current world situation on their activities. Of the eleven companies that responded, most said that it is still too early to know how their operations will be affected in the near future. A number of companies described clients who have already booked as experienced travellers who are less likely to make what one called "hasty decisions" regarding cancellations. Nevertheless, the companies admitted that they are, in the words of one, "working very hard" to reassure their booked customers, and to encourage others to commit to bookings. The rate of new bookings has generally slowed "a little" over the last two weeks.

The commercial tourist sector is particularly vulnerable to fallout from the terrorists' actions because US citizens dominate the Antarctic market. Almost half of all tourists during the last two austral summers were Americans, with German and UK nationals accounting for a further quarter of the total number (ANAN-53/03, 15 August 2001). Any crises of confidence in world security or the economic situation experienced in those nations could therefore have the potential to affect Antarctic tourism.

One tourism event has already been cancelled, although as a mark of respect rather than due to security fears or economic pressures. US-based Concord Spirit Tours (CST) and South African Airways (SAA) announced on 13 September that "as a result of the tragic events in New York", the planned around-the-world record attempt flight via both geographic poles scheduled for November has been cancelled "by mutual agreement".

The two-day flight, which was to have been undertaken using a SAA Boeing 747-400 aircraft from and back to New York, included a twelve-hour, 10,900 km non-stop flight from Rio Gallegos in southern Argentina to Perth, Australia, via the South Geographic Pole (ANAN-43/01, 14 March 2001). President of CST, Don Pevsner, told ANAN last week that it would be "in bad taste to try to stage a gala world-record flight from [New York] just two months after the worst terrorist attack [on the US] in history". After poor bookings earlier in the year (ANAN-52/04, 1 August 2001), Pevsner said that all but twenty-two seats had been sold for the flight and that it "could have flown on schedule". All passengers were to have been advised of the cancellation by last weekend, and CST expected the refund process would be completed sometime this week.

CST says that it "has already initiated plans to operate [the flight] on or about November 2002", although SAA would not be the carrier used. Pevsner does not expect to sign a firm contract for an aircraft until late this year.

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COMNAP's Tourism and Non-Government Operations (TANGO) sub-committee met in Amsterdam on 21 August during the Council of Managers of National Antarctic Programs' thirteenth meeting. TANGO considered current and future tourist activities, the potential cumulative impacts of such activities, and ways of improving national operators' responses to unexpected, tourism-related incidents. One paper, written by COMNAP's Executive Secretary Jack Sayers, also discussed some key management aspects (see ANAN-56/03 following).

One paper, submitted by the US delegation, discussed issues arising from the unexpected arrival of the Norwegian Antarctic Expedition pair, Rolf Bae and Eirik Sønneland, at Ross Island last February (ANAN-41/02 and 41/03, 14 February 2001). TANGO asked that this and similar papers be made accessible to other national program managers so that they may benefit from the "very useful" experience gained from such "case studies".

Although no attempt was made to develop a coordinated approach to the management of similar incidents in the future, TANGO did agree that data should be collated on the "interaction" between national operators and tourist activities. The data is to include statistics about station visits, joint transportation arrangements, search and rescue, and the repatriation of stranded tourists. TANGO is considering the provision of this information to ATCM XXV to assist with its deliberations on tourism.

TANGO also discussed matters related to the cumulative impacts of tourism, with last year's workshop on the issue, organised by the United States (ANAN-24/02, 21 June 2000), being noted. However, TANGO agreed that the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) is in a better position than COMNAP to identify current and future research in this area. It is not known whether the issue is to be referred to SCAR.

The International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO) reported on current tourist activity and provided an assessment of the prospects for future development of the industry (ANAN-52/03, 1 August 2001). It also briefed the sub-committee on changes made to open its membership to a wider range of non-government groups (ANAN-51/01, 18 July 2001).

Seventeen representatives from ten nations took part in last month's TANGO meeting.

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A submission to last month's meeting of COMNAP's Tourism and Non-Government Operations (TANGO) sub-committee suggested that a group be established to manage tourist and adventure activities over both the short and long-term.

Written by COMNAP Executive Secretary Jack Sayers, the submission explained that the proposed group, called the Antarctic Tourism Management Committee (ANTOUR), would essentially be a "wilderness park management authority" operating under the umbrella of the Committee for Environmental Protection (CEP) and the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting (ATCM) system. Although ANTOUR would be required to report annually to the ATCM/CEP, it would be seen as having "considerable authority", enabling it to address issues in a "reasonable timeframe".

Sayers told ANAN that while his "personal views" may be considered "radical", he believes that the existing environmental impact assessment process is ill equipped to cope with the upward trend in tourist numbers (ANAN-52/03, 1 August 2001). By contrast, Sayers envisages ANTOUR would be involved in the practical management of tourist activity, such as the setting of maximum visitor numbers at specific sites, and the closure of sites due to wildlife breeding; a role not dissimilar to that proposed for IAATO's recently established Site Guidelines Committee (ANAN-51/03, 18 July 2001). ANTOUR could also handle the development of infrastructure, such as boardwalks and viewing platforms to limit impacts on physical environments, as well as the publication of information materials.

ANTOUR could be established through a Measure of an ATCM and consist of six to eight people, two of whom would be "experts" in the management of major wilderness national parks and one a representative of IAATO. Sayers suggests that ANTOUR's activities could be funded via an amount paid directly by tourist operators, or by a per capita levy collected by IAATO. A levy of $US5 per tourist, a sum "infinitesimal compared with the cost that tourists pay for their cruise", would allow more than $US50,000 to be collected per annum at current tourism levels. Monies obtained would eventually be held in trust by the Secretariat that is to be established to service ATCMs. COMNAP, SCAR, or both organisations could administer finances in the interim.

While TANGO discussed Sayer's paper at its meeting last month (see ANAN-56/02 preceding), no decision was taken to consider the matter further at this time.

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