About us | Leaders

WHO WE ARE...

Arcturus Expeditions, based in Herefordshire, is a small travel company specialising in polar tours. Now owned by Arcturus Limited, the company began life in 1979 as Erskine Expeditions - one of the pioneers of wildlife tours in the Arctic. In 1991 it was taken over by Robert Burton, Kathleen Cartwright and Neville Cartwright and under their ownership the company’s scope was increased to include destinations in Norway and Russia. Now in its third incarnation, Arcturus Expeditions will continue to provide an individual service based on the Directors’ experience of the polar regions; as a small company, we give individual attention to clients and can offer a very wide variety of tours.

We arrange our own expeditions, mostly camping, walking, dog-sledging and skiing, with an emphasis on enjoying wildlife and scenery in remote places. We also act as agents for selected operators for adventure cruises in the Antarctic and Arctic.

Arcturus Expeditions is run by three directors:

Dr Lorraine Craig PhD: Senior Tutor, Royal School of Mines, Imperial College London. Previously Head of Research & Higher Education, Royal Geographical Society, London and Director Cambridge Arctic Shelf Programme, Cambridge University. Lorraine will lead tours and develop new destinations.

Liz Symonds MB ChB FRCS FCEM: Consultant in A&E, Hereford County Hospital. A surgeon with 20 years' experience in emergency work, Liz instructs in life support in Sweden and the UK. She has acted as medical adviser and rear link to polar expeditions since 1984 and will provide medical advice while researching the less strenuous destinations.

Bill Hankinson: Former RAF officer who flew Vulcans & Hercules and led scientific expeditions to Ellesmere Island and the Antarctic Peninsula. Bill will run the company's office and usually be your first point of contact.

The Lonely Planet Guide to Greenland and the Arctic (2^nd Edition 2005) says of Arcturus Expeditions: "One of Britain's most inventive operators….This company will take you beyond even the unbeaten track" and "a highly regarded company".

Our predecessor company was awarded one of the "Heidi Andersson Pilot Project Awards", presented by the World Wide Fund for Nature for "Excellent work and dedicated participation in linking tourism and conservation in the Arctic". We look forward to working to the same high standards.

TOTAL PAYMENT PROTECTION (topp) Policy cover:

In compliance with the UK Package Travel, Package Holidays and Package Tours Regulations 1992 and the Civil Aviation (Air Travel Organisers Licensing) Regulations 1995 an insurance policy has been arranged with Travel & General Insurance Company plc to protect customers prepayments paid in respect of

1. flight inclusive packages commencing and returning to the UK
2. non-flight inclusive packages commencing and returning to the UK
3. the ground handling aspects of packages where the customer is responsible for arranging travel to the destination.

offered in this brochure/literature/document/on this website (subject to the terms of the insurance policy), for:

1. a refund of such prepayments if customers have not yet travelled
2. making arrangements to enable the holiday to continue if customers have already travelled or
3. repatriation of customers to the UK

in the unlikely event of our financial failure.