This season around 37,000 tourists are expected to visit Antarctica - home to about 20 million pairs of breeding penguins. But is it ethically acceptable to go on holiday to such a pristine environment?
Boris Wise of One Ocean Expeditions argues, carefully controlled tourism is not just OK but useful.
Without a native population of its own, Antarctica needs advocates and tourism creates a global constituency of people ready to support - and indeed fund - its preservation.
Not everyone is convinced the benefits outweigh the risks but most are pragmatic.
'It is better to have a certain level of responsible tourism than for it to go under the radar,' says Jane Rumble, Head of Polar Regions at the British Foreign Office.
This season 37,000 tourists are expected in Antarctica, although 10,000 will never go ashore.
About half the tourist ships are flagged to Antarctic Treaty countries making them legally bound by the treaty's environmental standards.
The other half are worryingly outside this regulation but most are part of the International Maritime Organisation which is just introducing a stricter polar code, and at present all the companies regularly bringing tourists are members of the International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators (IAATO) which works closely with the Antarctic Treaty System.
Does tourism do harm? In fact, research suggest that scientific programmes may have much more environmental impact than tourism.
Scientists, of course, argue that they also bring more benefit, including increasing understanding of how crucially changes in the Antarctic link to changes in the global environment.
There have been several studies comparing regularly visited colonies with those rarely in touch with humankind.
The results are strikingly inconclusive showing more-visited colonies variously doing worse, the same and even better.
There are concerns for the future however. Tourist numbers look set to rise and membership of IAATO is voluntary.
Tourist ships are starting to offer activities like kayaking, mountaineering and diving which are potentially more invasive than simply looking.
The impact isn't clear and more monitoring is certainly needed. Read the article in full here: http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-30709924
Should be be trying to preserve these less developed areas of our planet, or is it through allowing visitors to travel here do they go home with an increased awareness of the environmental issues facing these polar regions?
A cool holday destination? What do you think?
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