Program
Arctic Cruise Conference
Date
October 23, 2024
Venue Stortingsgata Kurs & Konferense, Stortingsgata 20, Oslo, Norway
08:30-09:00 Registration
09:00-09:10
09:10-09:40
09:40-10:25
OPENING
Opening Remarks
Frigg Jørgensen, AECO
Key-note: The future of Arctic expedition cruise tourism
Hervé Gastinel, Ponant
Panel: Facing the challenges of expedition cruise tourism in the Arctic
Hervé Gastinel, Ponant
Alana Bradley-Swan, Adventure Canada
Gebhard Rainer, Hurtigruten Expeditions
Adam Turner, Oceanwide
Marie Lannborn, PolarQuest
Moderator: Gyda Gudmundsdottir, AECO
10:25-10:45 COFFEE BREAK
GEOGRAPHICAL OVERVIEW
10:45-11:05 Svalbard: Season update and perspectives of the Governor
Lars Fause, Governor of Svalbard
11:05-11:25
Iceland: 2030 Iceland Tourism Strategy and Action Plan
Sunna Þórðardóttir, Government of Iceland
11:25-11:45 Greenland: New tourism regulations in Greenland
Salik Hard, Government of Greenland
11:45-12:05
Canada: Nunavut tourism strategy
Christopher Gerlach, Government of Nunavut
12:05-13:00 LUNCH
13:00-13:10 AECO Area statistics
Anders La Cour Vahl, AECO
13:10-13:40
13:40-14:00
ENVIRONMENT
AECO’s Environment Pillar and Underwater noise
Aga Nowak, AECO & Joshua Jones, University of California SAFETY
AECO’s Safety Pillar and the Emergency Towing Project
Melissa Nacke, AECO & Ørjan Selvik, SINTEF Ocean
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
14:00-14:25 AECO’s Community Engagement Pillar and lessons from the field from Lindblad National Geographic Gyda Gudmundsdottir, AECO & Laura Macfarlane, Lindblad ExpeditionsNational Geographic
14:25-14:50 COFFEE BREAK KNOWLEDGE
14:50-15:00
Introduction to AECO’s Knowledge Pillar Frigg Jørgensen, AECO
15:00-15:15 AECO’s new Cruise Database Troels Jacobsen, AECO
15:15-15:35 Balancing Act
Dr. Grete K. Hovelsrud, Nordland Research Institute
15:35-15:45 AECO’s new website
Anne Øien, AECO
15:45-16:00 Closing Remarks
Karin Strand, EC Chair, AECO
18:30 Pre-dinner drinks - sponsored by Tirso
19:00 Dinner
Klosteret Restaurant Fredensborgveien 13, 0177 Oslo
Meet the speakers
Frigg Jørgensen Executive Director AECO
Frigg Jørgensen has been AECO’s executive director since 2006 and is responsible for the day-to-day operation of AECO. She also manages the Secretariat and is responsible for implementing AECO’s action plans and ensuring that activities are aligned with the organization’s objectives and strategies.
Hervé Gastinel, Chief Executive Officer Ponant
Since 2021, Hervé Gastinel has focused on making Ponant a world leader in luxury exploration travel, while putting sustainable development at the heart of its strategy through initiatives like the Swap2Zero project, biofuel trials, and the Ponant Science program.
Lars
Fause Governor of Svalbard
Foto: Trygve Olsen, Justis- og beredskapsdepartementet
Salik Hard
Senior Advisor, Greenlandic Ministry of Business, Trade, Mineral Resources, Justice and Gender Equality
Lars Fause has served as the Governor of Svalbard since June 2021. A lawyer by profession, Fause was previously a state prosecutor in Troms and Finnmark. He is the Norwegian government’s representative on the archipelago and has the role of both police chief and state administrator.
Sunna Thordardottir, Senior
Advisor,
Icelandic Ministry of Culture and Business Affairs
Salik Hard leads the Greenland Government tourism strategies, legislation, business development and concessions and has more than 30 years of senior-level experience in various tourism companies and institutions in Greenland.
Christopher Gerlach
Manager Tourism Development Government of Nunavut
Sunna Thordardottir holds a B.S. and M.Sc. in Tourism Studies and over a decade of experience in tourism management and destination marketing. She is currently a Senior Adviser at the Ministry of Culture and Business Affairs, involved in tourism policy, legislation and environmental projects.
Christopher Gerlach has devoted nearly 20 years to the tourism industry. His journey began in 2005, gaining valuable experience in luxury hotels across South America and onboard cruise ships in the UK. In 2016, he transitioned to a role with the Government of Nunavut.
Anders La Cour Vahl Deputy
Director
AECO
Dr. Joshua Jones
University of California
Ørjan Selvik
Senior Adviser, SINTEF Ocean
Melissa Nacke
Head of Operations, AECO
Aga Nowak
Environmental Specialist, AECO
Gyda
Gudmundsdottir Head of Community Engagement AECO
Anders la Cour Vahl is involved in AECO’s strategic planning, overall portfolio, and specific thematic areas. Previously, Anders worked as Chief Analyst for Air Greenland and Deputy Director at Visit Greenland, where he managed cruise development initiatives, including collaborations with AECO. Anders is based in Nuuk, Greenland.
Dr. Joshua Jones is an expert in acoustic observation of the ocean and directs an Arctic research program for the impacts of underwater noise on marine wildlife. He has worked with local and regional Inuit organizations, non-governmental Oceans North, and AECO, to develop a regional program for measurements from ships in the Eastern Canadian Arctic.
Ørjan Selvik specializes in experimental verification of ships and ocean structures, and has managed experimental and numerical projects in collaboration with Norwegian Coastal Administration and Coast Guard on emergency towing. His expertise includes competence needs, drifting path estimation, and workshop facilitation.
Melissa Nacke oversees field operations, environment, and maritime issues. She joined AECO in 2019 as environmental specialist, leading the Clean Seas project. With a background in Arctic shipping and marine conservation at WWF, Melissa holds a BSc in Marine Biology and Oceanography, and an MSc in Arctic Oceanography.
Aga Nowak is an interdisciplinary scientist with 15 years of research experience in the Arctic and Antarctica. With an MSc in Marine Chemistry and a PhD in Terrestrial Hydrology, her work focuses on the effects of climate change and pollution on polar ecosystems. Aga joined AECO in 2023.
Gyda Gudmundsottir develops frameworks and tools in AECO’s community engagement program. She has been involved with different aspects of cruise operations, from destination marketing to port agency and logistics in Iceland, Greenland, Faroe Islands Denmark and the Baltic. Before joining AECO, in 2022, she was General Manager at North Atlantic Agency.
Laura Macfarlane
Expedition Development Manager
Lindblad Expeditions
Troels Jacobsen
Field Operations Manager
AECO
Dr Grete K. Hovelsrud
Senior Adviser
SINTEF Ocean
Anne Øien Head of Communications AECO
Karin Strand
VP of Expedition Development in Hurtigruten Expeditions & chair of AECO’s Executive Committee
Laura Macfarlane has been in the industry for over 15 years focused on creating guest experiences and designing expeditions in collaboration with the communities and locals visited throughout the Arctic and Northern Europe. She currently develops and manages all of the Lindblad-National Geographic itineraries from Svalbard to Alaska.
Troels Jacobsen has been a part of the Secretariat since 2020. He developes and maintaines AECO’s field operations tools, measures and procedures, and has recently lead the work with AECO’s new Cruise Database. He has more than 15 years’ of experience from the cruise industry, both as a guide and as expedition leader in the Arctic and Antarctic.
Grete is an Arctic anthropologist and as president of the Norwegian Scientific Academy for Polar Research and the International Arctic Social Sciences Association, she advocates for including social sciences and socio-economic perspectives in interdisciplinary research on Arctic climate change, society, and adaptive governance.
Anne Øien joined the Secretariat in 2022 and is responsible for AECO’s communications, including strategy, crisis communication, and day-to-day activities. She holds degrees in communications, International Emergency Preparedness, and Societal Security, focusing on Arctic cruise tourism.
Karin Strand has more than 20 years of experience in the expedition cruise industry in the Arctic and Antarctic, mostly as expedition leader and later operations manager. Fun facts about Karin: She is godmother for the vessel MS Roald Amundsen, and has visited Antarctica more than 140 times.
Meet the panelists
Panel: Operator panel: Facing the challenges of expedition cruise tourism in the Arctic Moderator: Gyda Gudmundsdottir, AECO
Alana Bradley-Swan CEO, Adventure Canada
Hervé Gastinel CEO, Ponant
Gebhard Rainer CEO, HX
Adam Turner CXO, Oceanwide
Marie Lannborn CEO, PolarQuest