Sustainable Arctic Cruise Communities: Nuuk Case Report

Cruise tourism is an important part of tourism in Greenland, representing perhaps a third of all foreign visitors. In 2016, Visit Greenland set a growth target for cruise passenger numbers at 3.5% per year (Visit Greenland, 2016: 28). The development of cruise tourism in Greenland began in the 1990s (Cartwright and Baird, 1999) and passenger numbers grew from just under 10,000 in 2003 to 46,633 in 2019 (Statistics Greenland, 2022).  

Greenland is ideally suited to cruise tourism as all towns and settlements and many attractions are adjacent to water, either on the coast or on the shores of fjords. The most popular destinations are Ilulissat, Sisimiut, Kangerlussuaq (turnover port), Nuuk and Qaqortoq.   

According to Hall (2021), pre-COVID cruise tourism to Greenland was developing mass tourism characteristics in terms of larger ships, a greater proportion of passengers arriving in the largest ships and a spatial concentration whereby just five ports (among them Nuuk) hosted ships with more than two-thirds of all cruise passengers. Also, the characteristic of temporal concentration, whereby in 2019, 78% of vessels (including 11 of the largest 13 ships) visited in August and September, was actively confounding the objective set by Visit Greenland of extending the tourism season.  

The very optimistic feeling around tourism in 2019 was severely challenged by COVID-19. Although Greenland avoided almost all contagion until late 2021, international tourism numbers were heavily impacted by hard lock-down (all airplanes and ships) enforced from 20^th of March 2020 and later, quarantine regulations for people entering the country. However, a swift turn to domestic marketing (through the campaign Nunarput Nuan) and product and package development oriented directly towards a home market – in combination with domestic travel subsidies – saved the summer for many hotels and operators, especially in destinations such as Ilulissat and South Greenland. To help tourism operators target this new market, Sermersooq Municipality organised a range of seminars and webinars about staycation marketing and product development, e.g. link.  

Seeing tourism numbers in 2022 already exceeding the levels of 2019, much hope and high expectations are connected to the development of tourism, including cruise tourism, in and around Nuuk, primarily connected to the new international airport planned to open in 2024. The opening of the airport is significant to Nuuk as it allows for bigger planes to land. Currently, there are only direct flights to Iceland, with other passengers required to change in Kangerlussuaq. Therefore, the airport will allow not only for more direct international flights to arrive and depart from Nuuk but also enable turn-around in Nuuk, which will make cruise tourism in the capital more profitable, but also put new pressures on the town beyond harbour facilities with the expected increase in passenger numbers.  

Nuuk is a special case compared to other cruise destinations and harbours of Greenland, because it has more of everything: more space, more attractions, more buses, more berth meters etc. Maybe this is also why heated discussions and conflict, that have been voiced both in Ilulissat and Qaqortoq, are so far relatively absent in Nuuk. The presence of space and resources and (relative) absence of conflict means that Nuuk is not necessarily representative for the state of operations of cruise tourism in Greenland, or more broadly in Arctic communities that are included in this larger study.   

Regardless of this, the Nuuk case still highlights some of the issues that are of concern also in other places in Greenland including questions of who holds the power or the responsibility for limiting the number of cruise ships or calls and of the related uncertainty of who (should) governs cruise. Although cruise is generally perceived as less problematic by destination residents and businesses, deliberations still take place about the meaning and value(s) of cruise for the community and how cruise tourism should be developed and regulated in the years to come. It is this context, which forms the base for our exploration in this case study report on current cruise-related practices, conflicts and improvements towards the development of more sustainable cruise tourism.  

To explore these issues and related practices at destination level in further depth, we made use of a range of methods. In early 2021, we conducted a thorough desk study, gathering all available information (strategies, policies, statistics) on cruise tourism in Nuuk. This was supplemented with an interview with the Head of Sustainability at Visit Greenland. As a next step we held a cruise seminar in Nuuk in conjunction with the Greenland Science Week in November 2021. Attending (cruise) tourism stakeholders and citizens were also invited to join the following future scenario workshop on desirable cruise futures.

The aim was to get a preliminary understanding of how various stakeholders perceive the current cruise tourism situation in Nuuk as well as its future. In the summer of 2022, fieldwork and observations were conducted in Nuuk together with stakeholder interviews. In total, 21 interviews were conducted as part of the research. Five of these were carried out as part of master thesis research on cruise tourism in Greenland (Eskildsen, 2022), and others to follow up on various topics after returning from fieldwork. Pictures and informal conversations with stakeholders have also been included as part of the material, which forms the basis of this report.  

This case report has been developed as a part of the research project Sustainable Arctic Cruise Communities, which has researched sustainable cruise tourism development initiatives across five Nordic Arctic cruise ports. The Greenlandic port case selected for the project is Nuuk, Greenland’s capital and its largest town. Nuuk is situated on the southwest coast of Greenland, at the mouth of the Nuup Kangerlua (Nuuk fjord), about 240 km south of the Arctic Circle. It is also the administrative seat of Sermersooq Municipality, also comprising the inhabited areas of East Greenland. The town reached a population of 19,000 in September 2021, which is a third of the entire population of Greenland. 

The town is currently witnessing expansion and the capital development strategy Nuuk – Arctic capital is projecting 30.000 inhabitants by 2030. This entails a physical expansion beyond the current physical boundaries of the town, with the new international airport set to open in 2024 as one of the main drivers. In other words, Nuuk is booming.   

Nuuk is the home of the Greenlandic Self-rule Government and main centre of the Greenlandic administration. It is also the home of Ilisimatusarfik/University of Greenland and other educational institutions, and many companies within engineering, mining, fisheries and shipping have their Greenlandic headquarters in Nuuk.   

Nuuk has two harbours, Sikuki/Port of Nuuk and the Colonial/Sissiugaq harbour. It is predominantly Sikuki, the largest harbour in Greenland, that is used for cruise ships. The Nuuk harbour opened in 2017 and plays a central role in the freight shipping to and from Greenland. It is one of two harbours in Greenland that offers services such as waste disposal and refueling. 22 cruise calls were planned for 2022, with a total of 8,132 passengers.   

There is currently no turn-around of cruise passengers in Nuuk. At present, turn-around only takes place in Kangerlussuaq and Narsarsuaq, which are also the places where tourists can fly directly in and out of Greenland. When the international airport opens in Nuuk in 2024, Nuuk may also become a turn-around destination as well. Several stakeholders foresee that many new cruise lines will also enter when Nuuk becomes a turn-around destination, as Kangerlussuaq was by many not seen as attractive, particularly for high-end clients. There is an expectation among some stakeholders that cruise tourism and income from cruise tourism to Nuuk will thereby increase, although others disagree.   

Turn-around may most likely not be effectuate already from 2024, as pointed to by this operator:

When it happens, most cruise tourists will be taking one or several overnight stays in Nuuk. This will put pressure on hotels but also challenge the capacity of urban structures and facilities roads, waste and sewage and hospitals as well as natural resources in the Nuuk fjord.   

Cruise arrivals   

Tourist arrivals     

Sikuki/Port of Nuuk operates 11 docks, piers and pontoons, several of which are used for cruise vessels. Ny Atlantkaj is primarily used for trawler operations but is also used by cruise vessels between June and September. Feederkaj, a wooden construction, is used for smaller cruise vessels and expedition vessels in the summer. Skonnertkaj is primarily used by Arctic Umiaq Lines coastal ship, Sarfaq Ittuk. Kutterkaj is primarily used by small vessels, including visitors staying for short periods, mainly in the summer. The Tidal Stairs and pontoon are used by boat tour operators. Sissiugaq, the old port of Nuuk, close to the city centre, also has a pontoon used by local tour operators.  

In relation to cruise tourism, an information and visitor centre has been set up in adapted shipping containers by the municipality to help greet and inform tourists about experiences and tours. The Culture and Events Department initiated a project in 2019 on pop-up events in the colonial harbour when the very large cruise ships call at Nuuk harbour. The events were set ‘to create an opportunity for tourists and locals to come down to Nuutoqaq (Nuuk local museum) in the colonial harbor, and see and experience the Greenlandic culture first hand’ (Link).   

A more permanent visitor centre for Kommuniqarfik Sermersooq (West) is planned as part of the national tourism strategy, stating that each tourism region should have a visitor centre (6 in total). The visitor centre will be a Nature and Geo centre and will be placed in the former headquarters of Royal Arctic Line on the harbour, specifically catering for cruise tourists. So far, 120 million have been allocated for the purpose (link, 2018).  In 2019, two million Danish kroner were invested by the municipality with the explicit goal to improve the visitor experiences for cruise and land-based tourists. Initiatives include the improvement of signage, better marking and development of hiking routes, etc.  

In Greenland, the local and regional development of tourism experiences is overseen and managed by mainly two organisations, the national tourist organisation Visit Greenland and the regional destination management organisation, in this case Visit Nuuk (previously Colourful Nuuk). Other national authorities and organisations, such as Innovation South Greenland and Nalik Ventures partake in specific initiatives.  

Ideally, development plans and strategies are coordinated with municipal development plans and strategies, in the case of Nuuk, with the Sermersooq Municipality and Sermersooq Business. This ensures strategic alignment and the efficient use of resources, for instance in offering support, fundings schemes, and seminars and courses for entrepreneurs. Much effort is put in developing skills and competencies within service, experiences, accounting and other tourism related issues.   

As tourism is increasingly perceived as a viable avenue for year-round, sustainable business, tourism operators and products continually emerge in Nuuk. Private initiative thrives in the area, ranging from offers to sail, hike, fish and hunt. Also kayak and stand-up paddle tours are on offer as are food, music and cultural events. A well-known classic is the ‘kaffemik’, a home visit that includes coffee, cakes and a meet and greet with a local host.