More people want to visit Antarctica. Trips to this faraway place are easier to book now. Rich travelers also want unusual travel experiences. Travel companies have added ships, but some guides with many years of experience say the number of skilled workers has not grown fast enough.
About 8,000 tourists visited Antarctica in the early 1990s. In the 2023–24 travel season, about 122,000 people visited. These numbers come from the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators, a group of travel companies.
One prediction puts visitor numbers above 450,000 in the 2033–34 season. That is almost four times the 2023–24 number. But this prediction depends on visitor numbers continuing to grow at the same rate.
Lindblad Expeditions had two ships for trips to the world's coldest regions in 2019. It was building two more, and both now carry travelers. Viking has two ships for these kinds of trips. It has ordered another two.
