New research published in The Conversation highlights why some former Antarctic expedition guides left their roles, citing moral conflict over rising cruise tourism, climate change and pressure on fragile polar environments.
Antarctic expedition cruising is facing a difficult reputational and operational question: what happens when the people employed to interpret and protect the destination no longer believe the model is sustainable?
A new article in The Conversation, drawing on interviews with 25 former Antarctic tour guides, reports that some guides have left what many would consider dream jobs because of growing discomfort with the environmental impact of cruise tourism in the region.
The research comes as Antarctic tourism continues to expand. The authors report that the continent recorded more than 120,000 visits in the 2025-26 season, with projections cited in the article suggesting visits could rise to as many as 450,000 each summer within a decade.
For the expedition cruise sector, the findings are significant. Guides are central to the Antarctic product. They provide interpretation, manage shore landings, brief guests on wildlife protocols and often serve as the emotional bridge between visitor experience and environmental awareness. Yet the research suggests some guides found themselves increasingly conflicted by the gap between conservation messaging and the carbon-intensive nature of bringing growing numbers of tourists to Antarctica.
One former guide quoted in the article described watching glacier calving events while guests cheered. “You’d see massive glacier calvings, and you’d just want to cry,” the guide said. “But all the guests would be cheering. And you’d be like … ‘can you not put two and two together?’”
Another recalled being in Antarctica during the record heat of 2020: “I was down there on the hottest day ever recorded in 2020. Hiking up a glacier in my T-shirt, driving boats without gloves. It was really sad. The impacts of climate change absolutely hit you in the face.”
The article also raises questions about the industry’s long-standing argument that Antarctic travel can build environmental awareness among guests. Former guides interviewed by the researchers said they frequently encountered limited understanding among passengers about human impacts on the region. One guide said penguin colonies could experience only brief overnight pauses between groups of visitors.
The issue was not presented as a sudden decision for most guides. Instead, the authors describe a gradual process of moral stress, with guides balancing their love for Antarctica against concern that their work was helping expand an activity they considered harmful.
One former guide put it directly: “I can’t work in the farce of climate change cruise tourism anymore. It’s just, how can I go there, tell people about climate change and not do anything about it?”
For cruise operators, the findings point to emerging risks around staff retention, brand credibility and sustainability claims. Expedition guides are often highly educated, environmentally motivated and personally invested in the destinations they interpret. If those employees perceive a conflict between corporate messaging and operational growth, the industry may face deeper challenges than passenger demand alone suggests.
The research does not argue that guides stopped caring about Antarctica once they left. In fact, the opposite appears true. Several interviewees remained strongly attached to the region but concluded that leaving Antarctic tourism was the only way to align their work with their values.
As one former guide said: “Sometimes the best way to protect a place you love is to leave it alone.”
For the wider travel industry, the article highlights a growing tension in high-impact, high-value tourism: the demand for rare and remote experiences is rising at the same time as environmental scrutiny intensifies. Antarctica may be the sharpest example, but the same questions are increasingly relevant across expedition cruising, wildlife tourism and remote destination travel.
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Source credit: Based on reporting and research by Zdenka Sokolickova, Postdoctoral Researcher, Arctic Centre, University of Groningen; Christy Hehir, Senior Lecturer in Tourism and Events, University of Surrey; and Elizabeth Cooper, Postdoctoral Researcher, Arctic Centre, University of Groningen. Originally published in The Conversation on July 21, 2026, under the headline: “I can’t work in the farce of climate change cruise tourism anymore”: why Antarctic guides quit their dream jobs. The article refers to the authors’ new study in Annals of Tourism Research.
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