Greenland has taken drastic measures to prepare for a huge influx of American tourists, as the number of American travelers heading to the island could 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, nature and breathtaking landscapes has stepped up efforts to maintain its hotspot status.
“It’s the rumbling before the herd comes,” Mads Mitchell, general manager of Hotel Nordbo in Nuuk, told the Wall Street Journal.
This month, United Airlines announced a direct flight from Newark Liberty Airport in New Jersey to Nuuk.
Greenland has captured the attention of American travelers and is ramping up efforts to meet future tourism demand
In the photo: the colorful city of Tasiilaq in Greenland. In response to a greater influx of tourists, some parts of Greenland could adopt stricter tourism rules than others, as discussed in a May proposal
The four-hour seasonal flight will be a convenient alternative to stopovers and connecting flights.
The intention is that aircraft will start flying on the new route in June 2025. A United Airlines 787 MAX 8, which can accommodate 166 passengers, will depart 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 popular destinations and destinations, and most importantly, we can make money from it.”
Meanwhile, Air Greenland has not offered a direct flight from the US because the country does not have enough hotel space to accommodate all tourists at once.
People on a raft next to icebergs (photo). The island is known for its rich culture and breathtaking landscapes
Tourists swarm through London (photo). Greenland is expected to become a tourist hotspot as Americans flock to the island
Greenland tourism officials told the Wall Street Journal that no U.S. airline has ever offered anything like this.
Now, controlling the travel boom is the small country’s biggest concern.
In 2018, the country invested more than $700 million in the construction of three new airports. The first is expected to open in Nuuk next month, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Nuuk Airport will become the hub for the national airline Air Greenland.
The others open the line in Ilulissat and Qaqortoq. In addition, a new hotel is being built in Ilulissat to accommodate more people.
In the photo: Kolonihavn, a city in Nuuk, which will receive a direct flight from the United States for the first time
Greenlandic officials have also been working on new laws to regulate tourism during the 2025 season. These rules allow communities to restrict traveler visits when they deem it necessary.
The law proposed in May, according to the Polar magazinewould allow the government to divide the country into red, yellow and green zones.
Green zones would indicate that tour operators can use them freely, while yellow zones require a company to meet certain standards before entering the area.
Tourism would be completely excluded from the red zones.
From April to August, flights with a total of 55,000 seats arrived in Greenland, just 1,000 fewer than the population.
Jens Lauridsen, CEO of Greenland Airports, told the newspaper that this number could double to 105,000 in the same period next year.
This doubled figure is a big change compared to previous years.
Mitchell said he is open to the tourists, but is rightly concerned that too many tourists will come at once.
He told the Wall Street Journal: ‘Just like in Barcelona, you get tired of the tourists, because it’s too much, and it’s crowding out the locals.
“So it’s finding a balance between showing the love for Greenland and showing the amazing possibilities, but not becoming too much too quickly.”
Although the largest island in the world is three times the size of Texas, there are hardly any roads connecting the different Greenland regions, so tourists must use a small plane or boat to travel from place to place.
Three new airports are planned, allowing more visitors to spot the polar bears that call Greenland home (archive photo)
‘Of course there are discussions about avoiding mass tourism. But right now I think there is a natural limit in terms of reception capacity,” Jacob Nitter Sørensen, CEO of Air Greenland Group, told the Wall Street Journal.
According to a government-owned tourism agency, foreign tourists brought in more than $270 million to Greenland’s economy in 2023. Visit Greenland.
A government report revealed that there was a nine percent spike in the number of tourists flying from other countries in 2023. Cruise tourism was also at a record high, with 76,477 passengers arriving in the country.
About 43.6 percent of those passengers came from the US, according to the report. Americans accounted for the largest share of cruise ship visitors.
Greenland is an autonomous region belonging to Denmark. The International Trade Commission reported that about 20 percent of Greenland’s gross domestic product and half of its government budget come from Denmark.
In the photo: an Air Greenland plane at Nuuk airport. Air Greenland does not offer direct flights from America to Greenland
Denmark provides the island with a block grant of $511 million annually.
Greenland has invested in airports and the tourism sector as a whole to strengthen its role in the economy.
Based on a survey by Visit Greenland, citizens have a “very positive view of tourism in the country.”
However, respondents also expressed “concern and dissatisfaction about the increasing number of cruise guests coming to the country,” according to a report.
In a statement to DailyMail.com, Visit Greenland wrote: ‘The ease of traveling from New York to Nuuk and vice versa will strengthen relations between the two countries and allow tourism and business to inherently develop.
‘At Visit Greenland, this growth does not come without responsibility. We are focused on attracting the right guests to come to Greenland and preparing tourists for the fact that Greenland is in the Arctic and everything that entails.
“We are focused on developing a tourism sector that balances what guests want, what the destination needs and what the industry can provide.”
