Statistics released by the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators shows that 3,042 Chinese visited the Antarctic between 2014 and 2015 while between 2005 to 2006 only 99 did so, making China now the fourth largest source for visitors after the U.S., Australia, and the UK, news site thepaper.cn reported on Thursday.
A Jiangsu-based online travel agency announced Wednesday plans to organize a total of 800 visitors to cruise to the Antarctic in the next two years, amid greater Chinese interest in polar tourism as well as environmental concerns in the area, thepaper.cn reported.
It will cooperate with the Norway-based Hurtigruten Cruises to organize 500 people to visit the Antarctic in December 2016 and 300 in 2017.
The company said the voyage may take 15 to 20 days, with no mention of prices.
An anonymous insider was quoted by thepaper.cn as saying that the trip may cost 80,000 yuan ($12,608) to 100,000 yuan, adding that the price was "tempting."
Voyages to the Antarctic have become trendy in recent years among a small number of the Chinese rich because of the increasing wealth of Chinese tourists, said the insider.
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