IAATO in collaboration with AECO will organize a Field Staff Conference in Toronto at the Marriott Courtyard Downtown Hotel from Saturday 26th September to Tuesday 29th September, 2015. When AECO organized the first Field Staff Conference in 2008 the venue was in Longyearbyen and it had a Svalbard-agenda. When the second Field Staff conference took place in Copenhagen […]

An important step in the direction of opening the possibility for sailing directly between Svalbard and Franz Josef Land was taken last week.  Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, Mr. Medvedev, signed a Decree that includes Franz Josef Land in the Arkhangelsk Port Area, http://government.ru/dep_news/16592/. This is a step in direction of ship clearance possibility […]

AECO regrets to announce that our application for financial support from Svalbard Environmental Protection Fund to carry out the Clean Up Svalbard project with two “Clean Up cruise voyages” did not succeed. We are very disappointed as we b…elieve this effort from AECO and our members could have had a very positive effect on beaches […]

AECO’s Puffin Award 2014 goes to Oceanwide Expeditions. Oceanwide Expeditions has since 2013 collected 13 Puffins, and is a very worthy winner of AECO’s Puffin Award. AECO’s Puffin Award was established in 2013 to encourage members of AECO to contribute to the association and membership. The contribution can be sharing information, helping other members, helping […]

AECO’s 11th Arctic Cruise Conference gathered more than 60 delegates in Oslo last week. Representatives from Norwegian, Greenlandic, Danish, Canadian and British governments and authorities, researchers, tourist offices and others, as well as a majority of AECO’s members had found their way to Oslo. The agenda included updates from different Arctic tourism authorities and regulatory […]

The Association of Arctic Expedition Cruise Operators (AECO) and the International Association for Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO), in cooperation with Lindblad Expeditions, have found a way for cruise operators to share years of depth soundings from the Arctic and Antarctica. AECO and IAATO have long been working on finding a useful hydrographic crowdsourcing system, where […]

A small red-letter day in the IAATO-AECO history when administrations in both associations met today. The meeting had only one, but a very important agenda item; the potential for a joint Antarctica-Arctic Expedition Leader conference in 2015. Dates, venue, organization, finances and program where discussed in a efficient and inexpensive Skype-meeting. This was the first […]

AECO has today had the honor of meeting with UK’s House of Lord’s Arctic Committee. The committee has spent the week in Northern Norway and Svalbard education themselves in Arctic issue. An AECO presentation on Arctic cruise tourism was followed by a number of questions and issues to discuss.

AECO has in co-operation with Oceanwide Expeditions and G-Adventures, and with contribution from the Governor of Svalbard, conducted a Clean Up Svalbard cruise feasibility study. The conclusion for the feasibility study is that AECO in continuous cooperation with the two cruise operators and with contribution from the Governor of Svalbard, would like to conduct a […]

The International Association for Antarctica Tour operators is seeking a full time Environmental Manager. This is an exiting opportunity, to play a key-role within the organization, and to support safe and environmentally responsible tourism to Antarctica. Application closing date, Oct 8th See attachment for full announcement. IAATO Environmental Manager