Access has become the most valuable currency in the luxury travel industry. The ultra-wealthy are no longer chasing excess in its traditional form; instead, they are seeking entry into places defined by restriction—polar regions governed by international treaties, islands protected by strict visitor caps, remote rainforests reachable only by charter aircraft, and marine sanctuaries where human presence is deliberately limited.
For Kiran Bhandari, an expedition specialist based in India and a long-time curator of journeys into extreme environments, this shift is unmistakable. “The air temperatures are warming,” he says. “Compared to earlier expeditions, the change is unmistakable.” Antarctica, for Bhandari, is not a destination to be collected. It is a threshold: breathtaking, exposed, and increasingly finite.
That awareness now underpins a broader realignment in the ultra-luxury travel segment. Access is no longer driven by novelty or status; it is shaped by scarcity, climate vulnerability, and a growing recognition that some of these places may soon be fundamentally altered or entirely unreachable.
Urgency is the New Luxury
The shift, however, does not signal the abandonment of comfort. These experiences can still include bespoke itineraries, private chefs, medical-grade logistics, and refined design in extreme conditions. What has changed is intent.
According to UnWild Planet, a luxury experiential travel company operating from Mumbai and Dublin, this change is clearly visible among high-net-worth travellers. “Impeccable five-star service is now a baseline expectation, not the differentiator,” says founder Rohan Prakash. “Luxury, today, is defined by rarity, access, and experiences that are hard to replicate rather than purely indulgent.”
UnWild Planet’s “Deep Arctic” journeys include midnight kayaking among glaciers, helicopter flights offering aerial perspectives of fractured ice, stand-up paddleboarding amid drifting floes, and supervised polar plunges under expert guidance. The “Antarctic Immersion” programme brings small groups to remote penguin beaches and rarely accessed landing sites.
Antarctica is the most visible expression of this shift—a place where access is tightly controlled, logistically complex, and environmentally scrutinised. According to the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO), the 2024-25 season saw approximately 1,18,000 tourists travel to the region, with more than 80,000 setting foot on Antarctic soil and the remainder observing from ship decks.
Operators such as White Desert host only a handful of guests each season. “Antarctica is the most protected continent on Earth, and we intend to keep it that way,” says Patrick Woodhead, who established White Desert in 2005.
Antarctica is not an anomaly. It is part of a global system of managed access that now defines the highest tier of travel. In the Galapagos Islands, tourism has rebounded sharply from pandemic lows, with annual visitor numbers ranging between 2,70,000 and 3,30,000. In response, conservation authorities and the Ecuadorian government have doubled entry fees for international travellers to approximately USD 200, using pricing and regulation as levers to manage demand and fund protection efforts.
Within this framework, operators such as Quasar Expeditions curate safari-style journeys in which experiences include walking alongside giant tortoises, snorkelling with sea lions, penguins, and marine iguanas, and tracking pumas across Patagonian landscapes with expert guides.
“Our guests are seasoned travellers,” says Fernando Diez, Marketing Director at Quasar Expeditions. “They’re not chasing checklists or Instagram moments. They’re seeking connection to nature, to each other, and to places that still feel intact.”
In the Arctic, destinations such as Greenland and Svalbard are witnessing growing interest alongside tightening controls. Landing-site limits, seasonal closures, and vessel-size restrictions have become standard, with scientific oversight defining legitimacy in these regions.
Further inland, remote rainforests from the Amazon basin to parts of Papua and Central Africa are emerging as ultra-low-volume luxury markets. Operators such as Aqua Expeditions offer rare, tightly regulated access to fragile river systems and forest ecosystems. Journeys are intimate and take place aboard small expedition vessels.
Pricing mirrors this positioning. Arctic journeys begin at approximately USD 10,150 (double occupancy) for five nights, while Amazon sailings aboard Aqua Nera start at USD 5,130 (double occupancy) for shorter three-night itineraries.
How Luxury Operators Are Recalibrating
Certain ultra-luxury operators are responding by redesigning their models. White Desert, for example, positions its expeditions as carbon-neutral, operating through a foundation that supports scientific research. Its camps are dismantled each season, rely heavily on solar power and electric vehicles, and leave no permanent footprint on the ice.
UnWild Planet approaches responsibility through collaboration. Founder Rohan Prakash explains that scientists accompanying these journeys—marine biologists, glaciologists, and conservation specialists are collaborators rather than narrators. “Guests often participate in citizen-science initiatives,” he says, “contributing data rather than simply consuming the destination.”
Quasar Expeditions embeds sustainability through small-group operations, locally employed naturalist guides, and long-standing partnerships with organisations such as the Charles Darwin Foundation and Reforest Patagonia.
Aqua Expeditions similarly operates small ships, adheres to strict environmental regulations, and integrates sustainability through controlled guest numbers and community engagement.
India's Love For Remote Destinations
Data from specialist operators such as Swoop Antarctica indicate that in recent seasons, several hundred Indian travellers have participated in Antarctic journeys—a notable figure for such a remote destination. “We’re seeing a clear move among Indian HNWIs and UHNWIs toward destinations like Antarctica, the High Arctic, and remote parts of Africa,” says Prakash. “For many, these journeys represent personal milestones rather than transactions.”
“There’s a sense of urgency. People want to go sooner rather than later,” Bhandari observes. “These regions are hyper-sensitive to climate change, and access will only become more restricted.”
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