The benefits of cruising to Antarctica
<p>More travellers are choosing Antarctica as a holiday destination, which may provide benefits to Southland.</p>
<p>Heritage Expeditions will be launching five trips from Bluff to the Antarctic and subantarctic islands.</p>
<p>Heritage Expeditions' flagship, The Spirit of Enderby, leaves to visit The Snares, Auckland Island and Campbell Island during the course of a week.</p>
<p>Heritage Expeditions operations manager Nathan Russ said the subantarctic islands were a completely hidden gem as a tourist destination.</p>
<p>Uninhabited and undisturbed by traffic from shipping lanes, the islands are home to several rare wildlife species.</p>
<p>"I've been travelling down there since I was 9 years old. You go down to these places and you see people's lives change.</p>
<p>"They are unique – most people don't know what we've got down there."</p>
<p>Russ said while Heritage Expeditions was the only ones operating in the subantarctic islands, Antarctica itself received several different travellers.</p>
<p>The main bulk of tourist operations are based out of South America, while the rest travel around the Ross Sea, Russ said.</p>
<p>About four vessels were operating in the Ross Sea annually, taking about 500 tourists a year on average.</p>
<p>Russ said most of the clientele on the tours were from overseas, with about "12 to 13 different nationalities" present on the upcoming trip.</p>
<p>WIth Bluff being one of the main points of departure for tourists, it also holds the potential to attract new visitors to Southland as well.</p>
<p>While Antarctica as a tourist destination has been around for a while, Venture Southland tourism team leader Warrick Low said it was still very much an area of growth. </p>
<p>"Antarctica is one of those final bastions of travel for the adventurous.</p>
<p>"Fifteen to 20 years ago it was out of reach of the consumer but, with new technology, these places have become much more accessible.</p>
<p>"In the past, these kinds of holidays were considered a once-in-a-lifetime event, but now a lot of people are having major holidays all the time."</p>
<p>Low said one of the aims for groups such as Venture Southland was to make Southland a bigger part of those tourists' travel itinerary.</p>
<p>"We want to get the tourists who are coming here to spend more time in Invercargill both before and after their trip.</p>
<p>"If we can work together across the different sectors to tell a good story about what people can do in Southland, then you will get the economic benefits."</p>
<p>Low said it was important to incorporate attractions such as the subantarctic islands into the "Southland story".</p>
<p>"We have a unique access to these places in this part of the world – so it's about celebrating it and adding it to Southland's portfolio."</p>
<p>Would you ever cruise to Antartica?</p>
<p><em>Written by Tim Newman. First appeared on <a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Stuff.co.nz</span></strong></a>.</em></p>
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