While the list of places telling tourists to head elsewhere on holiday is only growing, one of the most remote and beautiful destinations on the planet is taking steps to welcome more tourists to its shores.
Greenland, the expansive, mysterious island in the North Atlantic Ocean, is set to open a brand-new international airport just outside its capital city of Nuuk, and routes from Copenhagen have already been scheduled.
Five weekly flights throughout the winter will run, increasing to six per week over the holiday season and eight during the summer. US operator United Airlines also announced plans for direct flights from New York throughout the summer months.
Construction on the airport began back in 2020, with an original launch date of 2023, but the project was delayed due to (you guessed it) the pandemic. It’ll now officially begin operations on November 28, 2024.
Two more airports in southern Greenland (in Ilulissat and Qaqortoq) are set to open by 2026, meaning visitors will be able to journey from either side of the island in just an hour and a half.
So, why is all this happening? Well, representatives from Greenland Airports and Visit Greenland say that the new hubs, plus a team effort to showcase Greenland’s volcanic scenery, fjords, valleys and basalt mountains, will attract more visitors.
In 2019, Greenland welcomed 100,000 visitors (46,000 of which were via cruises), and even though representatives are keen to host more people, there’s a balance to strike.
‘Greenland had 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,’ said Hjörtur Smárason, the director of Visit Greenland, to the Independent, ‘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.’
But it’s not all about us international travellers, is it? This new airport means travelling abroad is about to become a whole lot easier for residents of Greenland. One of them told BBC News: ‘We have been shut from the whole world, and now we’re going to open to the world. It’s so exciting that we’re going to have the opportunity to travel from here to another country.’
While we’re on the subject of majestic wintery landscapes, here are the best places in the world to see the Northern Lights.
Did you see that these are officially the world’s best ski resorts?
Plus: Lonely Planet has revealed its hotlist of travel destinations to visit in 2025.
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