White Desert has revealed it is looking into fam trips for its UK trade partners as part of a long-term strategy to tap into the country’s “underutilised market.” 

The Antarctica tour operator says the UK and Europe is a “huge focus” for 2026, having already achieved success in the US and Southeast Asia. 

“Europe has always been consistent for us, but it’s underrepresented,” Andrew Tait, manager for UK and Europe sales at White Desert, told TTG Luxury. 

Tait, who joined White Desert in September after two years at Aurora Expeditions, is determined to correct this. 

“We see so much potential for us in the UK,” he said. “It has a really strong reputation globally in luxury travel, with so many concierge companies and tour operators based there while serving an international client base.” 

The majority of UK travellers are currently visiting Antarctica on a coastal expedition, usually operated by a specialist cruise line such as Silversea, Seabourn or Hurtigruten. 

They will typically depart from Ushuaia in Argentina, from where they will make a two-day-long voyage across the Drake Passage. The experience revolves around the Peninsula, with the opportunity to step on the ice via zodiac boats. 

White Desert, on the other hand, flies clients directly from Cape Town to Antarctica, landing on its private ice runway at Wolf's Fang. Travellers stay in deluxe camps, where they’ll sleep in luxurious pods and eat gourmet meals between deep-field explorations of the continent. The experience is also far more intimate than that of expedition cruises, with group sizes limited to 12 passengers on each tour. 

With White Desert only running trips over a 11-week-long period, opportunities for fam trips are limited. 

Unlike coastal expedition operators, the Antarctic interior specialists do not have a ‘down season’ for hosting trade partners – and its current occupancy rate stands at 98%. 

Tait is keen to emphasise, however, that educational trips for agents remain a priority for White Desert. 

“We’re developing opportunities for fams, but they will be given more on a reward basis for partnerships that have worked well.” 

Tait is also open to hosting agents on shorter White Desert experiences like The Greatest Day on Earth, an all-inclusive offer that takes clients to Antarctica and back in less than 24 hours. The trip includes air travel on a private jet or an A340 flight, a chef-prepared picnic with Champagne, and a guided hike to a nearby nunatak peak. 

As for White Desert’s ‘ideal’ type of agent, Tait believes the product would appeal to travel planners who’d already specialised in adventure touring like ultra-luxury safaris. 

He added that agents with experience of such bespoke expedition-style trips will likely also have clients who’d be interested in such a product: “It’s a great switch-sell for us.”

Tait thinks that White Desert would especially appeal to clients who’d already visited Antarctica on a cruise, and are now looking to experience the continent from a different perspective. 

“We’re seeing that people are not going to Antarctica just once. They're getting the bug and they want to rotate it,” he said. Tait added that clients who travel with White Desert would also be part of the privileged 5% of Antarctica tourists who get to see its interior. 

“Only 800 passengers, (including our staff, go to White Desert’s ice runway at Wolf Fang every year,” he said. “It’s very special.”