Sustainable Arctic Cruise Communities: Nuuk Case Report

The report displays how Nuuk is an unusual cruise tourism destination and case since cruise tourism is by the vast majority of the respondents and in the public opinion perceived as relatively uncontroversial at this point. Also, our study showed that the development trajectory is highly uncertain and that stakeholders have very different visions of what cruise tourism activities in Nuuk should look like in the future. Summarizing the study, we see that:  

• There is no ‘red button’ that one single authority or stakeholder can push to stop cruise. Responsibility is highly delegated and regulation cruise is much more complicated and necessitates dialogue and cooperation.  
• Cruise tourism stakeholders attach different values and meanings to various types of cruise tourism, which means that there is currently no consensus regarding the future development path of cruise tourism.  
• Most of the respondents do not want mass cruise tourism and very large ships, but there is no clear consensus regarding a preferred cruise segment beyond a wish to target high-spending tourists. 
• Cruise tourism entails a common use of resources and shares spaces that create negative as well as positive impacts for the environment and local community. Generally, the disperses lay-out of the town ensures less clashes than in other Greenlandic towns
• Issues of timing and pace are key to ensure economic and social sustainability. This includes issues related to seasonality, long-term planning combined with unpredictability due to weather conditions, and the dynamics of short, intense cruise calls that last only a few hours.