Today, Arctic tourism has been growing in the region, with people looking to experience the wonders of the high Arctic and possibly catch a glimpse of some of the world’s most elusive species. However, by 1890, tourism started to reach the islands with daring explorers making their way to the North Pole. Over the following centuries, settlements and populations on the archipelago fluxed and waned, depending on the stability of mainland Europe. They kept alive from hunting polar bears and Arctic foxes. Over the years, settlements popped up on the islands and they were mainly inhabited during the summer months although, Russian settlers were hardy enough to overwinter on the islands. Competing countries used force to insert their dominance over the hunting grounds. The first documented discovery of the shores led to a turbulent time when seafaring Europeans headed north to hunt whales and walruses with a lack of laws in the area. The first confirmed reports of the islands are from Dutch explorers who settled at the end of the 16th-century while searching for northern shipping routes. Svalbard was believed to have been discovered by Norsemen in the 12th-century but they are unable to confirm whether this references Jan Mayen or another landmass in the far north. Today, numbers are starting to rise in some species and then climate change is killing others. For centuries, animals were disregarded in the region. While I don’t usually give a lot of background on tour guides I write, I felt it was important to detail a bit more about Svalbard below to show why organized tours with sustainability in mind are extremely important. Today, Svalbard tourism has started to take over as one of the main industries on the islands (research and mining being the other two) and tour companies are beginning to pop up to help you see as much as possible and explore the area with expert guides. Eventually, European whalers arrived chasing the whales north. For millennia, the rugged and bleak landscape was only home to polar bears and ocean-dwelling animals. Svalbard is an Arctic archipelago made up of nine islands and one of them happens to be Spitsbergen (many people confuse Svalbard and Spitsbergen thinking they are the same thing… they aren’t). But, while it feels unexplored, that is part of its charm and mystery and parts of the archipelago should stay that way. There are few places left on this planet that really feel unexplored and Svalbard is one of those places. Why Should You Take a Tour of Svalbard?.
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