Hayley Collings joined IAATO in 2017 after a career in journalism and UK policing, two fields that trained her to communicate under scrutiny. She now directs communications for the Antarctic tour operator association, and she describes the job as explaining an organisation whose mission is often misunderstood.
The association advocates practices that are safe and environmentally responsible within Antarctic tourism. IAATO neither encourages tourism nor permits it, and it sets no visitor caps. It works to manage tourism within the Antarctic Treaty System. Collings said that distinction is one of her defining communications challenges, because an association representing tour operators can look, at first glance, like it is at odds with environmental protection.
Scrutiny is essential, not an obstacle
The continent is remote, fragile, scientifically important and symbolically powerful. Few people experience it first-hand, so public understanding is shaped by what people see, read and assume. Questions about how many people visit, how impacts accumulate, how wildlife is disturbed, and how ships and emissions are managed have become prominent, Collings said.
Her position is that communicators cannot and should not wish that scrutiny away. That scrutiny holds the industry accountable, she said, because it forces organisations to prove their claims and to act on what they say. For IAATO, the answer is better communication, not more communication, and it means resisting the temptation to reduce complicated issues to convenient soundbites.
Tourism that is responsible does not stand still, Collings said. Today's best practice can become tomorrow's outdated practice. The continent's tourism sits inside larger forces: global travel, climate change, geopolitics, and Antarctica's role in the global climate system.
The Treaty framework changes the question
The Antarctic Treaty System is developing a Comprehensive and Consistent Framework for Tourism and Other Non-Governmental Activities. Collings called the framework an important part of the evolving tourism landscape, and said its significance goes beyond policy. It reflects the need for a coherent, strategic and forward-looking approach.
The question, she said, is no longer only how tourism is managed, but what kind of tourism is appropriate for Antarctica, and how tourism remains compatible with the values and objectives of the Antarctic Treaty System. Those questions require collaboration between governments, scientists, industry, NGOs and other stakeholders. IAATO has a role in that conversation, but communication matters too: a framework means little if people do not understand its purpose and implications.
Reputation is built before a crisis, not during one, Collings said. Trust has to be built before scrutiny arrives; it cannot be manufactured at the last moment. A large share of IAATO's communications work is invisible: strengthening ties with stakeholders, helping staff handle sensitive questions, keeping information accurate and accessible, and creating room for dialogue before problems turn into crises.
Ambassadors are measured after the voyage
IAATO has worked to strengthen its strategic communications and reputation management, with a focus on transparent, ethical messaging aligned with the organisation's mission. Communication is not a standalone function, Collings said. Strong communication begins with solid substance. Messages cannot make up for poor practice, and solid work can still fail if nobody hears about it clearly or credibly.
One project she highlighted is the Antarctic Ambassador Expedition Program, developed with IAATO's Antarctic Ambassadorship Committee. It redirects attention from the visit to what happens afterward, and is built on the idea that every visitor can share why Antarctica matters.
A useful test for a buyer is to ask an operator how its Antarctic Ambassador Expedition Program works after the voyage, and how its public claims about responsibility are backed by operating practice.