Spitzbergen Article

Thanks to Danny O' C for pointing out this ARTICLE in The Observer looking at something called 'champagne tourism'.
And some reminders of why people go there. Pictures courtesy of Steve Johnston.


Extract from article:

Ten years ago there were 35,000 visitors a year to Spitsbergen. Last year there were more than 70,000 - with the number of British visitors growing most sharply, up threefold since 1997, from 815 to 2,065 in 2004.

'The average tourist to Spitsbergen is a 55-year-old male, with a high income and good level of education,' said Jan Sverre Sivertsen, managing director of Spitsbergen Travel, which handles 80 per cent of visitors to the area.

'Many of those who come here are very interested in the environment and feel strongly about preserving it. But there are others who, even if they have environmental sensitivities at home, feel that, after making the effort to get all the way here, they have the right to push all the envelopes of experience as far as they can go, regardless of the local consequences.'

Half way through this book at the moment, and it doesn't make for cheery reading when we consider the evidence. A book that everyone should read !