‘Ship-based travel can be one of the more benign forms of tourism, as well as adding to increased knowledge and appreciation of a destination’s nature and culture’- Miriam Geitz (WWF, 2018, 22)

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Detrimental to its own existence? The environmental impact of cruise tourism continues to alarm both activist charities as well as the general public and the directly impacted smaller populations around the arctic circle. However Miriam Geitz of the WWF is of the opinion that, when under the supervision of a conservation minded tour operator there is a chance that Cruises could be made an opportunity to raise awareness of the risks and impact tourism can bring to the environment, therefore using the Arctic to educate, rather than it merely being seen a spectacle to be enjoyed by those who can afford it.

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Despite the obvious physical attraction of the Arctic landscape, many tourists who choose to embark on a cruise tourism expedition are ignorant to the true effects, it is undoubtedly easy to allow yourself to be carried away in the surrounding natural beauty. Regardless it is this very element which entices the hoards of tourists yearly. As I will later specify, the main pioneers for the protection of the Arctic from mass tourist ventures is the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), who work with both the locals and large tourism companies to advise on how to promote sustainable tourism. I hope to establish and explain a few of the more general environmental concerns which come hand in hand with the cruise tourist trade, including the cultural and economic impact on the Svalbard islands as well as the physical environmental degradation caused, both of which can be found as sub headings of this page.

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