Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2013L01343:front:0:p38
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2013L01343
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Character Range: 96931–99758

'building, work or other component of a place should remain in its historical location', and relocation is 'generally unacceptable unless this is the sole practical means of ensuring its survival'. It is also consistent with Australia's international obligations, as Article 8 of Annex V of the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty states that listed historic sites and monuments 'shall not be damaged, removed or destroyed'. The philosophy of preserving the huts in their original context rather than removing them, in light of how important the context is to the significance of the huts, has continued to guide government policy, and has received widespread support from heritage professionals and historians.

Since the site is not in the vicinity of an operational Australian research station, conservation work has been achieved by special expeditions which in recent years have been launched by private foundations with the assistance of and approval from the AAD. The Mawson's Huts Foundation has mounted expeditions since 1996; undertaking conservation works programs approved by the AAD. A summary of key works to date can be found at Appendix III.

2.4.2 Tourism

From 1912 to 1998, two-thirds of the 650 people estimated to have visited the site were tourists. In the time since then, organised tours have been offered regularly as part of voyages to East Antarctica and the Ross Sea region, and more than 2500 tourists have visited the site. From season to season there is no definite pattern of growth in visits to the site, and its isolation and unreliable access have kept tourist visits to a very low level compared with other visited parts of the Antarctic.

According to the International Association of Antarctica Tourism Operators (IAATO), the total number of tourists making landings per season from seaborne and airborne vessels throughout Antarctica is around 26 100 per year over the last ten years. In 2010/11, 19 445 tourists landed in Antarctica; however, 96 % of passengers do not venture beyond the Antarctic Peninsula region, several thousand kilometres west of Cape Denison. In a typical season, there are more than sixty sites on the Antarctic Peninsula, and four sites on the Antarctic continent that receive more tourists than Cape Denison.

A typical tourist visit to Mawson's Huts involves thirty to one hundred people visiting for several hours, under the supervision of the ship's guides who brief their passengers on appropriate protocol.

Visitors may only enter the Main Hut with a permit. Entry for tourists is subject to the condition that they are accompanied by a suitably qualified guide, and only in accordance with other requirements specified in the ASPA management plan (Appendix I). The only interpretive material on-site is a small plaque near the