Exploring the Growing Tourism Landscape in Greenland

Supported by Visit Greenland and Icelandair, adventurous travelers exploring Greenland soon discover the challenges of movement across the country. Greenland lacks roads between towns, requiring visitors to travel by boat or plane. Weather conditions often dictate travel plans more than itineraries. However, Greenland has become more accessible. In April 2026, Qaqortoq, the largest town in South Greenland, inaugurated its first airport. This provides daily flights to Nuuk and four weekly Icelandair flights to Keflavik, Iceland, during the summer.

Tourism in Greenland has rapidly expanded since 2019. In 2024, the industry contributed 4.9 percent to Greenland’s GDP, creating approximately 1,800 jobs. The central question is about the beneficiaries of this growth. In 2024, the national government enacted a tourism law to keep the industry local and ensure Greenlanders play a significant role in narrating their own stories. The law mandates that tourism operators meet local ownership and control requirements. A minimum of two-thirds of the capital and voting rights must be held by residents of Greenland who are fully tax-liable there. Operators have until January 1, 2027, to comply with these changes, targeting a sector previously dominated by foreign owners.

Arctic Patagonia refers to Tasermiut Fjord in South Greenland, a dramatic landscape resembling Yosemite with granite cliffs and fog-wrapped peaks. Standing within it feels like inhabiting a vast bowl of blue, green, and gray hues.

Henrik Hansen from NTS Boat Charter navigates the waves towards the fjord’s glacier, barely referencing his GPS. He identifies a family-built summer house where Arctic char flourish in summer and a sheep farm in the nearby Tasiusaq valley. He recalls the families residing and the friends who have moved on. You cannot own land in Greenland, Henrik explains. Properties, farms, and potential mines rest on collectively owned land. This practice reflects Greenlanders’ deep connection to their land, impacting daily life and tourism.

At Café Thorhildur, Naasunnguaq Karen Lund, co-owner of Riding Greenland Hostel in Qassiarsuk, discusses the hospitality approach. Instead of luxury, experiences revolve around daily life and farm stays. We are down-to-earth, ordinary people striving for guests to experience South Greenland in our best way.

Guests reside on working farms, participating in communal meals primarily featuring lamb and freshly caught fish. Hostels in Qassiarsuk collaborate, guiding guests forward in their journeys. Alongside weeklong horseback treks, Riding Greenland now offers e-bike day tours.

Naasunnguaq’s husband Piitaq leads an e-bike excursion up a 7-kilometer dirt road to Tasiusaq, offering views of the inner ice cap. The red stone gravel shifts under the tires as the long evening sun bathes the landscape. Icebergs float idly in the bay.

The next morning, Salik Parbst Frederiksen, co-owner of Local Greenland, navigates along Tunulliarfik Fjord to Qinngua, where generations of his family have raised sheep. Disembarking on a grassy knoll, a small forest grows among the scene. These are some of the only trees in all of Greenland, Salik mentions, attributing Erik the Red’s christening of Greenland to this landscape centuries ago.

In a small red cabin amidst greenery, Salik prepares a lunch featuring locally sourced ingredients: potatoes, dried seal, whale blubber, prawns, cod liver with crowberries, and pickled angelica. Local Greenland emphasizes local captains, chefs, and guides, placing Indigenous knowledge and ingredients at the heart of the guest experience.

Increasing access to South Greenland may bring more tourists to its stunning landscapes and solitude. However, the people who inhabit this land ensure the journey is genuinely rewarding.