• Although Antarctica is not usually thought of as a holiday destination, 26,000 tourists now visit the continent during each austral summer. Tourists first visited Antarctica in 1958, but only since the mid-1980s have their number increased.
• Tourists now outnumber scientists and support staff working on the continent.
• There have been two major exceptions to the safe record of Antarctic tourism. In November 1979, an Air New Zealand sightseeing aeroplane tragically crashed into Mount Erebus (East Antarctica), killing everyone on board. In January 1989, a supply ship from Argentina carrying tourists sank off the Antarctic coast. No one was killed, but more than 600,000 litres of petroleum spilled killing hundreds of birds and other wildlife.
• There are strict rules which regulate where tourists can go and what they can do in Antarctica.
• IAATO is dedicated to appropriate, safe and environmentally sound private-sector travel in Antarctica and one of its objectives is to advocate, promote and practice safe and environmentally responsible travel to the Antarctic.
• Any human presence in Antarctica is going to have some sort of impact depending on the activity and there are cases where the impact can be justified and there are cases where it cannot.
• The future of Antarctica's unique environment is the responsibility of everyone - not just those who work there. As worldwide interest in the continent grows so will the debate on how it is protected and valued by scientists, politicians and people like you because as the `coolest' place in the world, we can’t afford to loose it.

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