AECO’s guidelines as animated film

November 22nd, 2013

AECO’s guidelines as animated film

AECO has received NOK 650.000 – the equivalent of USD 106.000/80.000 EURO – from Svalbard Environmental Fund, to develop an animated film of “Guidelines for visitors to the Arctic”.

AECO’s printed “Guidelines for visitors to the Arctic” has since they were first published in 2007, been an important tool for educating cruise guests about how to conduct considerate, environmentally friendly and safe visits to the Arctic.

‘Airline-like’ animation video with Arctic visitor guidelines

The new animated film will include all the main messages regarding safe, environmentally friendly and considerate behavior, as presented in the printed edition of AECO’s guidelines. The new animated guidelines will have similarities to the animated safety-demonstrations used by some airline companies. The guideline film will have duration of a few minutes and will be shown to cruise passengers at the beginning of an Arctic cruise.

Almost 70.000 printed copies of the visitors guidelines

The printed version of AECO’s visitors guidelines has throughout the years proven a great success. But according to Frigg Jørgensen, AECO’s Executive Director, is the animated guidelines an important new environment protection tool for the tourism industry:”With almost 70.000 printed copies of the “Guidelines for visitors to the Arctic” so far, we are seeking ways to reduce the number of prints in the future. We will not completely stop printing, but we are picturing a much smaller stock, which in itself is good for the environment”, she explains.

Relevant visitor information in mother tongues  

Until now AECO’s visitor guidelines have been made available in three languages: English, German and Norwegian. With the new animated visitor guidelines AECO aim at increasing the number to somewhere between 4 and 8 different soundtrack-languages, so that a higher number of visitors can receive this important information about safety, environmental precautions and interaction with cultures, in their native tongues.

Association of Arctic Expedition Cruise operators (AECO)

AECO is an international association for expedition cruise operators, which is dedicated to promote responsible, environmentally friendly and safe expedition cruise operations in the Arctic. The organization has more than 30 international members, which operate approximately 27 vessels in the Arctic. AECO has developed a number of guidelines, which regulate the members’ operations and visitors’ behavior.