A tourist takes a penguin snapshot in Antarctica. Photo: IC

Ice cold Antarctica is becoming a hot tourist destination.

Despite sub-zero temperatures, the "white continent" is witnessing a tourist boom of adventurous travelers wishing to explore the picturesque icebergs and see large numbers of penguins, seals and albatross.

Unfortunately, the large number of tourists sailing icebreakers to this faraway, mysterious continent poses a threat to the Antarctic environment, according to the newly concluded Antarctic Treaty Meeting of Experts held between December 9-11 in Wellington, New Zealand.

Over the past decade, The International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators (IAATO) reports that the number of tourists visiting Antarctica has risen from 6,700 during the 1992-93 travel seasons to 46,265 during 2007-08. Despite the international economic crisis, the number of visitors held steady at 37,858 over the past two years.

The Antarctica tourism industry is generally considered to have begun in the late 1950s when Chile and Argentina took more than 500 fare-paying passengers to the South Shetland Islands aboard a naval transportation ship.

The concept of "expedition cruises," focused on wilderness education, began when Lars-Eric Lindblad, the father of expedition cruises to Antarctica, led the first traveler's expedition to the South Pole in 1966.

The modern expedition cruise industry was born in 1969 when Lindblad built the world's first expedition ship, the "Linblad Explorer" for tourist trips to Antarctica. Before 1969, human activity in Antarctica had been limited to exploration, commercial fishing and scientific research.

Ever since, Lindblad's model of expedition cruising is followed by the majority of companies operating cruises to the icy "bottom of the world."

Global warming is melting the Antarctic ice sheet, and more and more people want to witness for themselves the greatest threat to the Antarctic environment.

Nowadays an Antarctic tour is not a far-away dream. Visitors can pay as little as $3,000 for a two-week trip, although the cost can soar to $24,000 for a first-class expedition.

A small number of over-flights aboard ski planes have been offered in recent years, offering inland skiing and trekking expeditions.

According to IAATO's data, the majority of tourists are from the USA, followed by Germany, Britain and Australia.

Argentina released government data this year revealing that tourist vessels have increased six-fold over the past 16 years. The increasing number of vessels using Antarctic waters inevitably results in increased discharge of sewage, sewage sludge, grey water and ground food wastes. Only part of the waste water is treated. Left-over pollutants are very harmful to marine ecosystems in Antarctica, and pose the threat of introducing non-native species into the harsh environment.

The increasing number of visitors has led the Antarctic Treaty countries to establish guidelines and regulations to minimize the impact of tourism in Antarctica.

At the 32nd Antarctic Treaty Consulting Meeting in April, the parties agreed by consensus to binding rules related to tourism. The regulations are expected to limit the impact of human activity in the glacial environment.

Vessels carrying more than 500 passengers are not permitted to make landings; vessels that come ashore are restricted to no more than 100 passengers disembarking at the same time.

A maximum of 20 tourists must be accompanied by one tour guide. The rules became legally binding after their ratification by all 28 consultative parties.

With restrictions on heavy fuel in Antarctic waters, scheduled to take effect in 2011, there may be fewer cruise ship tours.

At the newly-concluded Antarctic Treaty Meeting of Experts, the experts looked at ways to limit oil spills, ship groundings and maritime accidents that threaten the Antarctic environment.

Some analysts maintained that by limiting tour groups, enforcing a ban on building hotels in Antarctica, and persuading tourists to travel on foot, human activity will be a minimal threat to the icy environment.

In the long run, the main threat lies in global warming and mineral exploration, according to Tucker Scully, chairman of the 32nd ATCM, noting that, "Antarctica and the polar regions are victims of what's going on elsewhere in the world."

Lindblad once said, "You can't protect what you don't know." He believed that provid-ing first-hand experience to tourists would educate them to the ecological sensitivity of the Antarctic environment and promote a greater understanding of the earth's resources.