Greenland invests in direct flights to attract tourists – 09/06/2023 – Tourism

“Time makes the call” could be Greenland’s slogan. People who go to this island in the North Atlantic, attracted by its blue glaciers, fjords (valleys flooded by the sea) heaped with icebergs and amazing and bare landscapes, learn very quickly to respect the weather conditions. Sometimes time rewards them.

On a cold December day, I was at Kangerlussuaq, a former US military base just north of the Arctic Circle, waiting for a delayed flight. A friendly Air Greenland pilot named Stale invited me to accompany him to the harbor to fetch musk oxen heads. How to decline an invitation that seemed so typically Greenlandic?

It was early afternoon, but it was already getting dark. We got into a pickup truck and drove down a long, icy road. Reaching the water’s edge, Stale picked up a musk ox skull. The skulls of this animal are kept as trophies, and the horns can be used for carving and crafting tools.

Then, still in the truck, we climbed a snowy mountain. A full moon illuminated the fjord below. Next to the fjord, the city looked like a moon base: a tiny pocket of human activity planted in a seemingly infinite void.

I had arrived in Kangerlussuaq that same day aboard the first Air Greenland aircraft, an A330neo fresh from the Airbus factory in Toulouse, France.

The airport at Kangerlussuaq is one of the few in Greenland with runways long enough to handle large planes. From there, the traveler has to board a smaller turboprop to continue his journey, even to reach the capital, Nuuk —where I was going— or Ilulissat, a city whose frozen fjord is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

When the aircraft landed, also carrying the island’s Prime Minister, we were greeted by hundreds of people waving the red and white Greenland flags.

The new plane is part of a plan to boost the local tourism industry. Despite belonging to Denmark, Greenland has autonomy over most internal affairs, and is investing hundreds of millions of dollars in transport, building new airstrips and terminals in Nuuk and Ilulissat.

If all goes according to the government’s plan, by 2024 large aircraft could take international visitors directly to these cities.

Prime Minister Múte Bourup Egede, 35, advocates eventual Greenlandic independence from Denmark and sees tourism as a path to economic self-sufficiency.

The government has banned all oil exploration and takes a cautious stance on mining expansion, despite the lucrative potential. Furthermore, it blocked the development of a rare earth extraction project due to fear of uranium contamination.

“We need more growth,” said Egede, before our flight departed. “At the moment, most of our resources come from fishing. We need other possible sources of income, and tourism is one of our biggest potential sources of growth.”

At about three times the size of Texas, Greenland is the largest island in the world, yet has only 57,000 people.

In the first three quarters of 2022, it attracted just under 55,000 tourists. Of that amount, almost 37,000 came from Denmark, according to tourism promotion agency Visit Greenland. Only 2,430 Americans visited Greenland in the period.

The creation of direct flights from the United States could result in a large flow of tourists.

Air Greenland CEO Jacob Nitter Sorensen said last year that the airline has its eyes on the United States and that New York would be its most popular destination.

That would leave Nuuk just four hours away from the US east coast, and Americans would no longer have to take a long route past Copenhagen first. By the way, almost all flights to Greenland pass through the Danish capital.

But a sudden wave of tourists could overwhelm the island’s limited infrastructure and jeopardize what makes it special.

People go to Greenland to experience the isolation and distance firsthand. As you fly over the west coast of the island, you pass over countless fjords and glaciers teeming only with birds and reindeer. You are more likely to see humpback whales, narwhals, polar bears and musk oxen than a tour bus.

Some locals worry that the island could become the next Iceland, which faces tourist crowds and rising prices due to its booming popularity over the past 10 years.

For now, at least, those fears seem distant. Tourists are rare, and the rules are still dictated by weather conditions.

When I finally arrived in Nuuk, I had planned to go snowshoeing to see the mountains outside the city and take a boat trip to see the fjords. He had booked a special dinner of traditional Greenlandic cuisine, which might include reindeer, whale and musk ox meat, Arctic herbs and berries.

But the lack of snow made the trip in the mountains impossible, strong winds canceled the boat trip and dinner was canceled because there were not enough diners.

But at least one of my plans was realized. I had booked a night in a so-called “glass igloo” on the outskirts of town and really wanted to enjoy the private hot tub and sauna on the deck overlooking the bay and surrounding mountains.

With the panoramic view of the inhospitable landscape, the feeling I had was a bit like camping, only with a highly efficient heating system.

The island’s tourist infrastructure is still somewhat limited, but officials hope that will change when the new terminals and airstrips open in 2024.

“There’s a lot of pressure to have more destinations ready in terms of hotels, restaurants and experiences,” said Visit Greenland’s CEO, Anne Nivíka Grodem. “Everything needs to be done based on our values, to ensure sustainable development.”

Given that air travel is a major contributor to global warming, a destination famous for its ice and snow will have to find a delicate balance.

The New York Times, translated by Clara Allain