For its 57,000 people, scattered along a 44,000-kilometer coastline with no roads linking its towns, the transformation is profound.<\/p>\n
This new infrastructure is expected to boost one of Greenland\u2019s fastest-growing industries. Fisheries still account for around 90 percent of its exports, and for decades, mining and oil have been promoted as ways to diversify the economy. Now, tourism is joining the mix<\/a>.<\/p>\n But Greenland\u2019s newfound accessibility also raises difficult questions. How many visitors can it realistically absorb? Who should benefit from tourism, and how can a destination whose appeal lies in its vast landscapes and living culture avoid following the path of other countries that have been overwhelmed by their own popularity<\/a>?<\/p>\n \u201cWe do not measure success only by the number of visitors,\u201d says Linda Kleist, CEO of Visit Greenland, the national organization responsible for developing and promoting tourism across Greenland. \u201cOur strategy is that tourism must develop on Greenland\u2019s terms, with respect for local communities and the realities of our infrastructure.\u201d<\/p>\n Visit Greenland measures success by whether tourism creates local jobs, earns the support of residents and remains compatible with protecting the natural environment. It also works to spread visitors beyond Nuuk and Ilulissat \u2013 Greenland\u2019s two most popular destinations \u2013 and throughout the year so more communities can benefit from the tourism boom.<\/p>\n \u201cThe biggest challenge is that access can increase faster than local capacity,\u201d Kleist says. \u201cNew airports create important opportunities for Greenland, but tourism does not only depend on air access. It also depends on accommodation, local transport, workforce, guides, emergency preparedness, waste management systems and the everyday capacity of communities.\u201d<\/p>\n Greenland Airports, the publicly owned company that develops and operates the territory\u2019s airport network, echoes that message: \u201cAirports are only one part of the tourism ecosystem.\u201d<\/p>\n Its goal, it emphasizes, is to improve connectivity for residents, businesses and visitors alike, while supporting economic opportunities across Greenland, rather than concentrating them in a handful of destinations.<\/p>\n How can tourism benefit Greenland?<\/p>\n For Greenland, tourism has become part of a much broader conversation about the country\u2019s future. Despite governing most of its domestic affairs, it remains a constituent territory of the Kingdom of Denmark and receives an annual block grant from Copenhagen.<\/p>\n Developing tourism is therefore seen by many as a way to boost the economy and support Greenland\u2019s broader aspirations for greater self-determination.<\/p>\n To avoid mistakes seen elsewhere, Greenland has introduced cruise passenger taxes<\/a>, accommodation taxes<\/a> and ownership requirements designed to keep more tourism revenue in local hands while giving communities a stronger voice in how the sector develops.<\/p>\n Yet these policies alone cannot guarantee fair outcomes. Building a tourism business requires capital, language skills, marketing expertise and professional networks \u2013 resources that are often more accessible to international operators than to Inuit entrepreneurs from smaller and more remote communities.<\/p>\n A 2024 study<\/a> found that some Greenlanders fear tourism could reproduce patterns of exclusion rooted in the colonial past \u2013 a risk a tourism entrepreneur in western Greenland described as \u2018tourism colonialism\u2019.<\/p>\n \u201cTourism creates inspiring stories of entrepreneurship and empowerment,\u201d says Carina Ren, a professor of tourism and cultural studies at Aalborg University who co-authored the study and has been researching tourism development, governance and Indigenous communities in Greenland for more than a decade.<\/p>\n \u201cHowever, it also creates tensions around ownership, belonging and who should benefit. If tourism is to contribute to Greenland\u2019s future, it also has to be just for Greenland and Indigenous Peoples.\u201d<\/p>\n A window of opportunity<\/p>\n After spending years in Denmark and Belgium, Casper M\u00f8ller returned to Greenland to co-found Raw Arctic, a Nuuk-based tourism company offering tailor-made adventure experiences. For him, the measure of success is not simply whether visitor numbers grow but whether tourism creates opportunities across Greenland.<\/p>\n \u201cIf only five or six businesses benefit from tourism, then we\u2019ve failed,\u201dhe says. \u201cI think it comes down to one simple aspect: everybody in Greenland should be able to take part in this journey.\u201d<\/p>\n That, he argues, requires investing not only in airports but also in people. Tourism and hospitality should become a much stronger part of university and vocational education so that more Greenlanders have the skills to build careers and businesses in the sector.<\/p>\n M\u00f8ller believes Greenland still has a rare window of opportunity to choose a different path from Iceland, which is still grappling with how to manage its more than 2 million annual foreign visitors<\/a>.<\/p>\n Unlike its neighbor, he says, tourism growth in Greenland is still at a stage where its people can shape it deliberately rather than react to it.<\/p>\n That doesn\u2019t mean every corner of Greenland should have permanent tourist infrastructure. For M\u00f8ller, the country\u2019s greatest attraction is not what has been built but what has endured: vast Arctic landscapes, abundant wildlife and communities whose lives remain closely connected to the sea, the ice and the land.<\/p>\n \u201cEverybody deserves to experience that sense of awe and silence at least once,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s a reminder of how life can also be lived.\u201d<\/p>\n Keeping Greenland authentic<\/p>\n The responsibility for getting tourism right doesn\u2019t rest with governments and businesses alone. Visitors also shape the industry they participate in. <\/p>\n![\"Air](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Nuuk-Airport.jpg\"\/)
![\"Air](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Nuuk-Airport.jpg\")
An Air Greenland Airbus A330 at its new base, the recently expanded Nuuk Airport. Photo: Susi Quinn, Flickr<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Dog](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Dog-sledding.jpg\"\/)
![\"Dog](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Dog-sledding.jpg\")
Tourists travel with Inuit hunters by dog sled near Kulusuk, Greenland. Photo: Markus Trienke, Flickr<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Ilulissat](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Ilulissat-Icefjord.jpg\"\/)
![\"Ilulissat](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Ilulissat-Icefjord.jpg\")
The Ilulissat Icefjord, one of Greenland\u2019s top tourist attractions. Photo: Tina Rolf, Unsplash<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Inuit](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Inuit-fisher.jpg\"\/)
![\"Inuit](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Inuit-fisher.jpg\")
An Inuit fisher walks on sea ice in Uummannaq, Greenland. Photo: GRID-Arendal, Flickr<\/a><\/p>\n