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The “off the beaten track”
destination
People who are visiting Greenland don’t see themselves as
tourists - they are travelers exploring the world. Since Greenland
is a relatively undiscovered place, Visit Greenland defines all of
the 80,000 annual tourists who visit the country as adventure
travelers. They go to Greenland to experience a combination of
nature, culture and some level of activity. Below are some ways
tourism in Greenland is developing.
Pioneering Nation
In order to go to Greenland one has to know about it - but also
understand it. Visibility is consequently an important aspect of
Visit Greenland’s work. For the past 7 years Visit Greenland has
been building on the brand and the story about “The Pioneering
People”. First and foremost this is communicated visually
through photos and film that captures the spirit of Greenland.
The keywords are Powerful Nature and Pioneering People. The
brand tries to create an inclusive and overarching narrative
about our country and the people who live in it. It is a story
that connects the subtle differences of the regions together and
represents all of Greenland’s residents regardless of ethnicity,
profession and place of residence.
The visibility and communication of the brand Pioneering
Nation has been recognized internationally and Visit Greenland
has received several prizes in 2017. These are a few awards we
have won:
• Libris by Photoshelter “Iconic Images Price” for a photo by
photographer Mads Pihl and the settlement Aapilattoq in South
Greenland.
• Flight Network (Canadian owned online travel agency with
more than 1 million visitors a month) was elected one of the 20
best tourist boards in the world.
• Deauville Film Festival “Green Award” First Prize for the
short film “Sheep Farmers” by Ulannaq Ingemann.
International media in Greenland
Together with primary partner Air Greenland, the national
tourist board helps both established and social media to explore
the destination and to understand the brand values. In the first
6 months of 2017 Visit Greenland had 300 ‘media requests’ of
which we supported 29 media. Most of these media covered
our main markets Western Europe, North America and
Scandinavia. They all help us tell the story about Greenland and
why they should come visit the destination.
New website
Visit Greenland is launching a new website in connection
with Vestnorden Travel Mart 2017 that is more user friendly
and commercially oriented. At the same time the domain
will change to the internationally known domain for national
tourist boards and will be: www.visitgreenland.com
Accessibility
Developing accessibility is also a major focus and the
infrastructure will be improved over the next couple of years
with the political decision to build new 2400 meter landing
strips in Nuuk and Ilulissat and shorter regional landing strips
in Qaqortoq and Tasiilaq. The new framework will change
accessibility to the regions and create more growth. It is
important to Visit Greenland that the growth is sustainable and
in dialogue with local operators and other stakeholders.
UNESCO world heritage
There are many unique places in Greenland, and some of these
have since been officially recognised as world heritage.
Over the past 1000 years, Inuit and Viking cultures have shaped the
people and land of South Greenland. Five core areas in the region
represent the most comprehensive and rich examples of Norse and
Greenlandic farming culture. This unique heritage is now officially
recognised and inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage List,
and it is all within reach from Narsarsuaq and Qaqortoq.
South Greenland is the second area to be recognized as a world
heritage site, but Ilulissat Icefjord and the Sermeq Kujalleq glacier
has been on the list since 2004 and is an important driver for
tourism to the region.
In Qeqqata work is in process and an application has been sent to
UNESCO January 2017 with the goal to be officially recognized
as World Heritage from Summer 2018. The project is called
“Aasivissut - Nipisat Inuit Hunting Ground between Ice and Sea”.
The area covers hunting grounds and prehistoric settlements and
memories that go back 4,500 years.
The UNESCO stamp will just be another reason to visit Greenland
in the years to come. There will be something to explore whether
you are an adrenaline junky seeing new adventures or if you are
interested in present or past culture.
Fjord life. This adventure offers you a combination of sailing,
fishing and hiking to get a sense of what the fjord life in Nuuk feels like.
Photo Mads Pihl – Visit Greenland
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