Financial crisis hits Arctic tourism
Only one nuclear ice breaker will be conducting trips with tourists to the North Pole this summer.
As a consequence of reduced booking operator of the Russian nuclear ice breaker fleet Atomflot plans to make only trips to the North Pole this summer. Both trips will be made by the world’s largest nuclear powered ice breaker “50 Let Pobedy” (50 Years Since Victory), news agency Interfax reports.
Atomflot had plans for 5-6 tourist trips to the North Pole this summer, but the company’s associated travel agencies on Cyprus and in USA have reported about lessened interest from foreign tourists.
Atomflot has been arranging tourist trips to the North Pole since 1990. Russians make up 20 percent of the clients, the rest come from Western Europe, USA and Asia. A 15 days trip costs from 21,900 USD.
