Routes: Kalaallit Airports and Visit Greenland chase Greenland’s flying future

Both Visit Greenland and Kalaallit Airports were present when representatives of the world's airlines, airports and route developers gathered recently for the conference called Routes in Milan, Italy.

Press release

Published on 18th October 2021

For the Greenlandic participants, the first and foremost priority was about drawing attention to the fact that new airports in Greenland are coming soon and that the country is an adventure tourist destination.

“The work of promoting the new opportunities the upcoming airports offer, and Greenland as a destination, is in full swing. In addition to building the airports, it is an important task for us to attract new customers, so we have tourists ready to visit when they are completed. It is a process that takes time, because we first need the world to know that we have a new product to offer”, says CEO of Kalaallit Airports Jens Lauridsen.

It is no surprise that Visit Greenland participated with the primary focus on promoting Greenland as a tourist destination.

“Greenland has so many unique experiences to offer tourists, and if we want more of them, then the message and knowledge must be spread even more than it is today. At the same time, we want to grow responsibly and with the right tourists, so we must also find the partners who can help with just that,” says director of Visit Greenland Hjörtur Smárason.

Airports are not enough

New airports and Greenland as a tourist destination are inextricably linked. For it is not the airports themselves that attract tourists. They are just a tool that makes access easier. It is the special experiences in Greenland that should attract people.

“Nobody comes to see an airport. People come to experience Greenland. If we are to have more customers at the airports, then Greenland must be promoted as a tourist destination. That is why Visit Greenland and Kalaallit Airports also work closely together in this process,” says Jens Lauridsen.

“It is a collaboration that strengthens both of us and Greenland as a whole. We have the opportunity to create the sustainable future we want, and here it is crucial that we work towards the same goals and help each other,” adds Hjörtur Smárason.

For both Kalaallit Airports and Visit Greenland, it is central that development takes place at a pace where our country, nature and culture can keep up.

Facts

Greenland had over 100,000 tourists in 2019. Of these, 58,150 were land-based tourists 46,600 guests were cruise-based.
The largest markets right now are Denmark, then Germany, North America, the UK and France.
The runways in Nuuk and Ilulissat will be 2,200m long and 45m wide.
The lengths allow direct flights to and from North America and Europe.
Greenland will host Vestnorden in 2022, which will be the final trade show in Greenland before the airports open.

Fruitful conference

Although the conference as such has not yet resulted in concrete agreements, the participation has been extremely fruitful, both directors believe.

“There has been a lot of interest in Greenland as a tourist destination. Really great. So on that parameter alone, it has been an extremely rewarding trip. There is a lot of attention”, says Hjörtur Smárason. Jens Lauridsen agrees:

“It has been very interesting. There has also been great interest in our project, and in the future opportunities it provides. Some relationships and some attention have been created, so it has been very positive”.

Shortly before the conference in Milan, both Visit Greenland and Kalaallit Airports also participated in Vestnorden 2021, which took place in Reykjavik, Iceland. Vestnorden is Greenland’s largest travel fair, and here too there was great interest in Greenland.

“We are riding a wave of attention right now, and we must of course take advantage of that”, says Hjörtur Smárason.