Greenland’s Changing Cruise Industry: Key Takeaways from Cruise Workshop, May 2020

On the 19th and 20th of May 2020, Visit Greenland and AECO held a workshop for the Greenlandic cruise industry. The purpose of the workshop was to bring the industry together to discuss current challenges and to develop some common and concrete next steps on how to deal with the current crisis and take Greenland’s cruise industry into the future. The workshop welcomed over 50 participants from the cruise industry and from across the country.

Published on June 22, 2020

As of the 16 June 2020, it is still not clarified whether there will be a cruise season this summer due to the challenges of COVID-19. Therefore, the first day of the workshop focused on the current pandemic situation and its effect on Greenland’s cruise industry, featuring presentations from the government, operators, port agents and AECO. The second day focused on the future of Greenland’s cruise industry, featuring presentations about new infrastructure and new tourism opportunities and initiatives across Greenland. There was also an interesting discussion on this day about community engagement, which brought together local Greenlandic operators and international cruise operators.

Along a similar line, there was a dialogue session on day 1. The aim of the session was to bring together local Greenlandic operators and international cruise operators and get them working together to find innovative but safe ways to restart the cruise tourism industry in Greenland. The session was very productive, with both groups of stakeholders offering creative solutions and discovering that there is great potential to work collaboratively in the future towards our common goal.

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You can read the key takeaways from this dialogue session below.

On contactless activities:

Much of the discussion focused on the potential of contactless activities. These would be newly developed activities that tourists could experience from on board the ship, or in uninhabited parts of Greenland, at a safe distance from local guides.
Both cruise operators and local operators expressed enthusiasm for these ideas, with cruise operators explaining that they are used to carrying out nature landings and working with small groups.
It was suggested that cruise operators could financially compensate local communities even if the ships can’t visit the towns themselves.
Cruise operators emphasised that they always aim to create value for local communities, and that their passengers are also interested in this.
Whisper systems could be used for contactless guiding – so that guides can talk to guests without being close to them.
It is important to engage the senses, if experiences are to be contactless: allow customers to make a live transaction, allow them to hear it, smell it, feel it somehow. Make it as live as possible.
It is important to preserve sites when developing new nature landings – site-specific guidelines can help with this.
Taxes or fees for communities/operators could be an idea to secure an income when carrying out nature landings or non-infrastructure landings.

On logistics:

Logistics are very important for cruise operators – refuelling opportunities, safe and distanced passenger exchange, etc.
Testing, quick diagnosis, PPE equipment and clear legislation will be needed – and clear communication about these just as much so.
Guidelines will be required on how many guests are allowed in a certain area.
Should ships stay longer in each place?
It is important to be flexible with nature landings, as weather and natural events can mean plans have to change.

On the concrete next steps:

Local communities/destinations could get together amongst themselves and talk about what they specifically need and desire for their destination. What are they comfortable with? What kind of cruise tourism do they want? And how can the ships fit into this? The international cruise operators are flexible and ready to meet communities’ requirements – they just need to know what each community needs. Can communities get together and come up with some guidelines for their own destination, which they can then share with the cruise lines?
Many cruise tourists still want to go on their booked cruise this year, even though they know already that it will be very different. We just need to inform them about how it’s going to be different, so they are prepared. Many cruise lines think that their customers will be happy with this.
Identify key sites that could be used for contactless activities. Local operators should prepare these areas for landings and activities.

On collaboration:

Clear and transparent communication is the most important! Dialogue, knowledge exchange, and learning between operators, agents, port agents, local operators and authorities is essential.
Can we create a forum where we meet again, regularly?
Believing in tourism and in what we can achieve through a collaborative approach is imperative.

If you are interested in receiving more material from the workshop, including copies of the presentations that were held, please write to Stine Selmer on stine@visitgreenland.com

By Liz Cooper

Liz has previously worked for Visit Greenland as part of the content, online, B2B and press teams. She is currently an industrial PhD candidate at Visit Greenland and Copenhagen Business School, researching sustainable cruise tourism.

http://visitgreenland.com