Greenland has taken drastic measures to prepare for an an enormous influx of American tourists – as the amount of U.S. travelers heading to the island may double by 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 breathtaking scenery has ramped up its efforts to support its hot spot status.
‘It’s the rumbling before the herd is coming,’ Mads Mitchell, general manager of Hotel Nordbo in Nuuk, told the 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 ramping up efforts to meet future tourist demands
Pictured: The colorful town Tasiilaq in Greenland. In response to a greater influx of tourists, some areas of Greenland may have stricter tourism rules than others, as discussed in a May proposal
The four-hour seasonal flight will be a convenient alternative to layovers and connecting flights.
Planes are planned to start flying the new route in June, 2025. A United Airlines 787 MAX 8, which can hold 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 hot destinations and destinations, most importantly, we can make money in.’
Meanwhile, Air Greenland, has not offered a nonstop flight from the US because the country does not have enough hotel space to hold all the tourists coming in at once.
People on a raft next to icebergs (pictured). The island is known for its rich culture and breathtaking scenery
Tourists swarm London (pictured). Greenland is anticipated to become a tourist hot spot as Americans flock to the island
Greenland tourism officials told the Wall Street Journal that no American airline has ever offered anything like this before.
Now, managing the travel surge is the small country’s largest 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.
The Nuuk airport will be the hub for the national carrier, Air Greenland.
The others will open down the line in Ilulissat and Qaqortoq. Additionally, a new hotel is being built in Ilulissat to accommodate more people.
Pictured: Kolonihavn, a town in Nuuk, which is set to 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 travelers visiting when they see fit.
The law proposed in May, according to the Polar Journal, 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 certain standards be met by a company before going into the area.
Tourism would be completely barred from red zones.
From April to August, flights with a totaled 55,000 seats arrived in Greenland, just 1,000 shy of its population.
Jens Lauridsen, chief executive officer of Greenland Airports, told the outlet that this number may double to 105,000 during the same period next year.
This doubled figure is a stark change from previous years.
Mitchell said he is open to the tourists but is rightfully concerned too many will come at once.
He told the Wall Street Journal: ‘Like in Barcelona, you get tired of tourists, because it’s too much, and it pushes out the locals.
‘So it’s finding this balance of like showing the love for Greenland and showing the amazing possibilities, but not getting too much too fast.’
While the world’s largest island is three-times Texas’ size, there are hardly any roads to connect different Greenlandic 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 Greenland’s resident polar bears (file photo)
‘Of course, there are discussions about avoiding mass tourism. But right now, I think there is a natural limit in terms of the receiving capacity,’ Air Greenland Group CEO Jacob Nitter Sørensen told the Wall Street Journal.
In 2023, foreign tourists brought in more than $270 million to Greenland’s economy, according to a government-owned tourism agency Visit Greenland.
A government report revealed that in 2023, there was a nine percent spike in tourists flying in from other countries. Cruise ship tourism was also at an all-time high, with 76,477 passengers arriving to the country.
Roughly 43.6 percent of those passengers were from the US, according to the report. Americans were responsible for the largest portion of cruise ship visitors.
Greenland is a self-governing region belonging to Denmark. The International Trade Commission reported that about 20 percent of Greenland’s Gross Domestic Product and half of its public budget comes from Denmark.
Pictured: An Air Greenland plane at a Nuuk airport. Air Greenland has not offered nonstop flights from America to Greenland
Denmark provides the island with an annual $511 million block grant.
Greenland has invested in airports and the overall tourism industry to strengthen its role in the economy.
Based on a Visit Greenland survey, citizens have had a ‘very positive view of tourism in the country’.
However, those surveyed also expressed ‘concern and dissatisfaction with 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 getting 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 get to Greenland and preparing tourists that Greenland is in the Arctic, and everything that comes with that.
‘We are focused on developing a tourism industry that balances what guests want, what the destination needs and what the industry can provide.’
