| Summary: | Tourism in the Arctic and Antarctic is increasing rapidly. In both Polar Regions, the cruise tourism is predominant. Several of the tour operators arrange trips under the banner of ecotourism, meaning that the trips should be ecologically sustainable. To ensure ecotourism standards there are different types of certifications; for cruise travels in the Arctic there is AECO (the Association of Arctic Expedition Cruise Operators) certification, and for travels to the Antarctic IAATO (the International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators). Promoters of ecotourism argue that these trips are important because they create support for conservation work among tourists making them “polar ambassadors”. But no journey, however “sustainably” operated, is without environmental consequences. In this project, the objective was to investigate whether ecotourism is worth its price for nature, by seeking answers to the following questions. 1) Do the certifications fill their purpose or are they used as a form of “greenwashing”? 2) Do the tourists become polar ambassadors? 3) What are the environmental and natural effects of tourism in the Arctic? 4) Is the ecotourism as operated today sustainable or are further developments necessary? The project was partly carried out by participation in an “expedition” to the Arctic organized by a tour operator certified by AECO, during which my fellow travellers were asked to answer a couple of questionnaires. The results show that the industry is confident that it promotes conservation work, that the tourists become polar ambassadors, and that there are no visible negative ecological impacts. My observations and the questionnaires do not show that the participants automatically become polar ambassadors. However, the trip seems to affect the perceptions of first-time traveller to the Arctic, and the visitors learned new facts about the region and its wildlife. My observations during the trip also show that ecotourism-certifications do not seem to affect the travel agents work on site to any ...
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