Greenland courts mass tourism to fund independence from Denmark

Greenland welcomed nearly 180,000 visitors last year — a record, and more than three times the island's population of about 56,000 — and this year's total is on course to be higher still. The flights land at a string of new international airports, the latest opening in Ilulissat, the "city of icebergs" and Greenland's third-largest city, with direct routes from Denmark and Iceland.

The motivation is not hospitality. Greenland is striving for independence from Denmark, and Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen, commenting on Ilulissat's maiden flight, put the purpose plainly: "If Greenland wants to be independent, we need to have a strong foundation, economically and in terms of industry and business." Nuuk's international airport opened in 2024, Qaqortoq followed last year, Ilulissat is the third, and tourism — 4.9 per cent of GDP in 2024 — is the sector expected to carry much of the weight. The economy it must help offset is in retreat: melting polar ice, the same phenomenon that makes the island easier to reach, is an existential threat to the fishing industry that has sustained Greenland until now.

Geography sets the terms. There are no roads between Greenland's towns, so every visitor arrives by air or sea and stays within walking distance of a runway or a berth; almost 80 per cent of a landmass of 2.16 million square kilometres lies under ice. When Nuuk's airport opened, residents raised concerns about what an influx of tourists would mean for a historically isolated population and a pristine environment. Locals in Ilulissat have blocked a cruise ship from entering, saying they see little benefit from foreign tourist operations.

The comparison being drawn is with the protest-hit destinations of Spain, Portugal, Italy and France — the Guardian's label for the emerging model is "Ibiza on ice" — and Greenland is running a version of that experiment with a resident base smaller than many European suburbs. One difference is strategic: Donald Trump has threatened to acquire the island, a prospect that filled its inhabitants with anger and apprehension, and the runways built for holidaymakers are the same runways that matter in a contested North Atlantic.

Ilulissat received its international airport days ago. The town has already turned away a cruise ship.