It is universally recognised that Africa's conservation tourism provides employment, generates wealth and educates future generations while saving endangered species. So we should champion tourism for the sake of conservation. Tourism in the Arctic is thus to be welcomed. As the Arctic ice melts, new shipping routes are opening up. It is unfair to characterise the presence of a large cruise ship in the Northwest Passage as 'extinction tourism' that merely indulges people who want to view endangered animals before it is too late. The tourists will return home better informed about the Arctic's fragile ecosystem.