Chinese tourists in wedding garb have their pictures taken during their visit to Antarctica. (Photo : www.thenanfang.com)
Chinese tourists are now the fourth largest visitors to Antarctica, next to visitors from Australia, the U.S. and the U.K., news site thepaper.cn reported on Thursday, Nov. 5.
According to statistics released by the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators, some 3,042 Chinese visited the Antarctic between 2014 and 2015, compared to only 99 visitors between 2005 and 2006.
On Nov.4, an online travel agency based in Jiangsu announced plans to organize a cruise to the Antarctic for 800 visitors in the next two years, amid greater interest in polar tourism in China as well as environmental concerns in the area.
The company said that it will organize 500 people to visit the Antarctic in Dec. 2016 and 300 in 2017, in cooperation with the Norway-based Hurtigruten Cruises.
The company added that the voyage may take 15 to 20 days, but did not mention the cost of the trip.
An anonymous insider, however, said that the trip may cost 80,000 yuan ($12,608) to 100,000 yuan, saying that the price was "tempting," as quoted by thepaper.cn.
In recent years, voyages to the Antarctic have become a trend for a small number of wealthy Chinese and also due to the increasing wealth of Chinese tourists, the insider said.
Qu Tanzhou, director of the Office of Polar Expedition of China's State Oceanic Administration, said that the number of visitors to Antarctica has increased significantly in recent years.
The Want China Times reported that until last year, the Chinese government has not included Antarctica as an official tourist destination for its citizens, nor has it introduced guidelines.
Qu said that their main concern is if elderly visitors get injured during their visits, since medical resources at the station are limited.
Chinese Academy of Social Sciences researcher Liu Simin raised the concern of potential environmental impact, suggesting that the government must apply strict restrictions to prevent incidents of littering or spitting.
