Environmental
Appetite for adventure
With many large cruise liners dry docked for the foreseeable future, and towns and cities along more populated routes still in lockdown, the expedition cruise sector looks well placed to capitalise on its growing appeal as an intrepid form of travel. Will Moffitt speaks to Monique Ponfoort, CEO of Aurora Expeditions, about how the traditional company model is being adapted to suit the current climate – and whether the expedition sector could thrive in a post-pandemic world.
F
rom a satellite view the islands of Franz Josef Land look like fine grains of salt floating in a swathe of icy blue water. Located midway between the Barents and the Kara Sea, around 900km from the North Pole and some 3,000km from Moscow, these tundra-covered islands make up the world’s northernmost archipelago. The territory was first discovered by Austria-Hungarian explorers Julius von Payer and Karl Weyprecht, who named it after the Austrian emperor Franz Joseph I. It is a place of rising glaciers, polar bears, butting walrus colonies and beluga and bowhead whales. The landmass forms a significant part – often a jaw- dropping finale – to cruise excursions in the Russian Far East, where travellers can glimpse the Russian base at Novaya Zemlya, the site of the most powerful nuclear detonation ever recorded, as well as visit working meteorological huts and inspect 10,000-year- old mammoth tusks. With temperatures slumping to −40°C and visitors cut off from most advanced forms of civilisation, this remote part of the Russian archipelago is an unusual holiday destination. For expeditionary cruisers, however, it is a popular one. At Aurora Expeditions, crowned the world’s leading polar expedition operator in 2020, these
cold excursions are selling exceptionally well. “We’re very optimistic in the demand that we’re seeing for Antarctica or the Arctic moving forward,” says Monique Ponfoort, CEO of the Australian expeditionary company. “It’s picking up now and that’s not just out of the UK. I’m seeing it out of the USA. And I’m seeing it out of Australia and in other parts of south-east Asia.”
Previously at Ponant, the French expeditionary outfit, Ponfoort took over as CEO of Aurora in October 2020. At the time Covid-19 had put itineraries on hold, leaving ships dry docked and immobile. Despite the chaos, she felt compelled to make the move. Her convictions were based on a deeply felt respect for Aurora’s “ethos” as a company and a desire for more personal autonomy. Stepping in as CEO, however, the task of anticipating what new problem the virus might inflict and assembling a roadmap for recovery was far from straightforward. “[It was] about sitting down and looking at what the future could be like, and planning to adjust your course,” Ponfoort says, smiling at the seafaring metaphor. “And then [it was about] focusing on finding the right pathway strategically to take this outstanding brand forward.”
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World Cruise Industry Review /
www.worldcruiseindustryreview.com
Aurora ExpeditionsAurora Expeditions
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