Melissa Nacke, AECO’s Head of Operations, manages the Climate Change project that just received NOK 600 000 from Svalbard Environmental Protection Fund. Photo: AECO AECO’s Climate Change project received over half a million Norwegian crowns when Svalbard Environmental Protection Fund distributed their grants for this year. The money will be used to support efforts to […]
A milestone for cruise tourism in Svalbard – all cruise operators met with local community and authorities
April 25th, 2023Photo: Visit Svalbard There was an overwhelming interest in the digital pre-season meeting, arranged by Svalbard Cruise Forum, on Tuesday April 18. Representatives from all cruise operators, planning to operate in Svalbard in 2023, were among the 200 participants. Making sure that the upcoming season becomes a positive experience for both community and guests; that […]
Changing the perspective – from problem to resource
March 27th, 2023“We want to ensure the safest possible cruise operations in the Arctic, and the best possible response if there is an incident.” This was the opening statement of the Joint Arctic Search and Rescue (SAR) event in Reykjanesbær this week. The topic was turning findings, from exercises and experiences, into action. Working together – industry, […]
Guidelines for a dynamic community
March 22nd, 2023Photo: Ozzo What is OK and what should you avoid? AECO’s new Community Specific Guidelines gives the answers to tourists who visit Reykjanesbær. It’s the ninth community guideline for Iceland based on local involvement. – We are very happy about the collaboration with the local community. It is the foundation for successful visits for both […]
Can you leave a destination cleaner than when you came?
March 21st, 2023Photo: Anne Øien/AECO Yes – without a doubt, is the unanimous reply following the Kickoff for the Clean Up Iceland project, a collaboration between AECO, The Blue Army, Gára and the Icelandic Coast Guard. – AECO’s members have done cleanups on Svalbard for over 20 years with great success. Starting with this kickoff, AECO expands the […]
Farþegar leiðangursskipa hreinsa strendur Íslands
March 9th, 2023Photo: Violette Vauchelle Eftir áralanga reynslu af standhreinsunum á Svalbarða munu AECO, samtök leiðangursskipa á Norðurslóðum, nú hefja verkefnið Clean Up Iceland. Ásamt samstarfsaðilum verkefnisins; Gáru, Bláa Hernum og Landhelgisgæslu Íslands, verður farþegum frá leiðangursskipum gefinn kostur á að fara í land á tilteknum strandsvæðum og tína rusl. Drifkraftur verkefnisins er löngunin til að skilja […]
Positive attitudes to tourism
March 3rd, 2023Visit Greenland’s new survey, shows positive attitudes among the Greenlandic population towards cruise tourism. After a couple of summers with COVID19 the season 2021 meant a lot of tourists, combined with routines that needed to be revised. This caused some mistakes and sometimes misunderstandings that AECO has been working hard on to minimize. The result […]
New Head of Operations
March 3rd, 2023AECO has recruited a new Head of Operations. Melissa Nacke has worked at AECO since August 2019 as Environmental Specialist. In her new role she will focus on planning, distributing, and carrying out tasks related to field operations, environment, and maritime issues. This includes AECO’s databases and tools, the Clean Seas and Climate Change projects […]
The Nalunaiqsijiit Cruise Training Initiative restarts
March 3rd, 2023The first twelve trainees had their training in 2019. The aim is twelve new ones this spring. Photo: The Government of Nunavut After a pause due to COVID19 the Nalunaiqsijiit: Inuit Cruise Training Initiative starts again this spring. Nalunaiqsijiit means connectors, facilitators, or informers. The training program increases Inuit employment on board expedition cruise vessels […]
AECO’s respons to Svalbardpostens article “Swarms of high-speed Zodiacs”
March 1st, 2023The use of words such as “swarms”, “hordes” and “cattle” to describe visitors to Svalbard is starting to look like a deliberate strategy to undermine the cruise industry, and to create and reinforce a negative attitude towards this group of tourists. Under the headline “Fearing swarms of high-speed Zodiacs”, Governor Lars Fause talks about emergency […]
