Visit Greenland among the World’s most Innovative tourism organisations

In celebration of World Tourism Day, the United Nations World Tourism Organisation has released a list of the world’s most innovative tourism organisations, including Visit Greenland, the national tourism board of Greenland.

Published on September 27, 2021

The list seeks to honour and celebrate organisations around the World that lead the way when it comes to the response to the pandemic and managing safe and responsible travel. A response that requires innovation, creativity and passion, according to the organisation’s statement.

“The organisations recognised on this list are public agencies or non-governmental organisations who use policy, programmes, and projects to build creative solutions to challenges. Often these agencies implement solutions that make it easier for governments to leverage private sector speed, technology, scale, and efficiency to accelerate outcomes.

Most importantly, these agencies demonstrate industry leadership, innovate new approaches, and utilise technology and digitisation to create more accessible and equitable tourism communities in one of three primary areas:

• Planning for industry recovery during and after the pandemic, including through public health efforts, testing, technology, and other initiatives.
• Driving long-term sustainable investment that helps maximise economic justice and financial inclusion for tourism communities.
• Improving destination management through implementation of best practices and governance models, particularly by integrating and respecting global cultures and minimising environmental impact.

The list was released by Apolitical in collaboration with MasterCard and UNWTO today, on World Tourism Day September 27th. In the description explaining the choice of Visit Greenland it said:

“Visit Greenland is the national tourist board of Greenland, promoting the island as an adventure hotspot through destination development, regional and national branding, innovation, and marketing. The agency creates responsible growth with its partners through shared knowledge and focused ideation and is one of the leading climate tourism agencies in the world. The agency is a member of the Nordic Tourism Working Group, represented by Destination Development Senior Manager Idrissia Thestrup. This working group helps the agency focus on its primary goals of sustainable development, nature conservation, and the protection of indigenous and traditional livelihoods.”

Quote from Hjörtur Smarason, CEO of Visit Greenland:

“This is yet another recognition of the great work that the team at Visit Greenland is delivering, and that it isn’t always about the size, but more the approach to what we do that matters. The small size forces us to think out of the box and be innovative in our approaches. We are now seeing that other destinations are starting to look towards Greenland in the way destinations are developed and managed.”

The full list can be viewed here: https://apolitical.co/list/en/tourism-75

For further information contact

Idrissia Thestrup

Head of Marketing, Visit Greenland
Tel: +45 4220 4279
Email: [email protected]