Greenland has taken drastic measures to prepare for a huge influx of American tourists, as the number of American travelers heading to the island may double next year.
The Arctic country has caught the attention of American travelers as popular destinations have become overcrowded.
Now, the island known for its rich culture, wildlife and stunning landscapes has stepped up its efforts to support its hot spot status.
“It’s the noise before the herd arrives,” Mads Mitchell, general manager of the Nordbo Hotel in Nuuk, told the newspaper. Wall Street Journal.
This month, United Airlines announced a nonstop flight from Newark Liberty Airport in New Jersey to Nuuk.
Greenland has caught the attention of American travelers and is stepping up efforts to meet future tourism demands.
In the photo: the colorful town of Tasiilaq in Greenland. In response to an increased influx of tourists, some areas of Greenland may have stricter tourism rules than others, as discussed in a May proposal.
The seasonal four-hour flight will be a convenient alternative to stopovers and connecting flights.
Planes are scheduled to begin flying the new route in June 2025. A United Airlines 787 MAX 8, seating 166 passengers, will head to Greenland twice a week.
Andrew Nocella, the airline’s chief commercial officer, told the Wall Street Journal: “We look for new destinations, we look for attractive destinations and destinations and, most importantly, where we can make money.”
Meanwhile, Air Greenland has not offered a nonstop flight from the United States because the country does not have enough hotel space to accommodate all the tourists arriving at once.
People on a raft next to icebergs (pictured). The island is known for its rich culture and stunning landscapes.
Tourists swarm London (pictured). Greenland is expected to become a hot tourist spot as Americans flock to the island.
Greenland tourism officials told the Wall Street Journal that no U.S. airline had offered anything like this before.
Now, managing the increase in travel is the small country’s biggest concern.
In 2018, the country invested more than $700 million to establish three new airports. The first is expected to open next month in Nuuk, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Nuuk airport will be the hub for the national airline Air Greenland.
The others will open the line in Ilulissat and Qaqortoq. Additionally, a new hotel is being built in Ilulissat to accommodate more people.
In the photo: Kolonihavn, a city in Nuuk that will receive a direct flight from the United States for the first time.
Greenland officials have also been working on new laws to regulate tourism during the 2025 season. These rules would allow communities to limit traveler visits when they see fit.
The law proposed in May, according to polar diaryIt would allow the government to divide the country into red, yellow and green zones.
Green zones would indicate that tour operators could use them freely, while yellow zones would require a business to meet certain standards before entering the area.
Tourism would be completely prohibited in red zones.
From April to August, flights with a total of 55,000 seats arrived in Greenland, just 1,000 less than its population.
Jens Lauridsen, CEO of Greenland Airports, told the outlet that this number could double to 105,000 during the same period next year.
This doubled figure represents a marked change compared to previous years.
Mitchell said he’s open to tourists, but he’s rightly concerned about too many coming at once.
He told the Wall Street Journal: ‘Like in Barcelona, you get tired of the tourists, because it’s too much, and you drive out the locals.
“So it’s about finding this balance between showing the love for Greenland and showing the incredible possibilities, but without coming too quickly.”
Although the world’s largest island is three times the size of Texas, there are hardly any roads connecting the different regions of Greenland, so tourists must use a small plane or boat to travel from one place to another.
Three new airports are planned, allowing more visitors to observe Greenland’s resident polar bears (file photo)
‘Of course, there are discussions about how to avoid mass tourism. But now I think there is a natural limit in terms of reception capacity,” Air Greenland group CEO Jacob Nitter Sørensen told the Wall Street Journal.
In 2023, foreign tourists contributed more than $270 million to Greenland’s economy, according to a state tourism agency. Visit Greenland.
a government report revealed that in 2023, there was a nine percent increase in tourists arriving from other countries. Cruise tourism also recorded historic highs, with 76,477 passengers arriving in the country.
According to the report, approximately 43.6 percent of those passengers were from the United States. Americans were responsible for the majority of cruise ship visitors.
Greenland is an autonomous region belonging to Denmark. He International Trade Commission reported that about 20 percent of Greenland’s Gross Domestic Product and half of its public budget come from Denmark.
Pictured: An Air Greenland plane at an airport in Nuuk. Air Greenland has not offered direct flights from America to Greenland
Denmark provides the island with an annual global grant of $511 million.
Greenland has invested in airports and the broader tourism industry to strengthen its role in the economy.
According to a Visit Greenland survey, citizens have a “very positive view of tourism in the country.”
However, respondents also expressed ‘concern and dissatisfaction over the growing number of cruise guests arriving in the country,’ according to a report.
