Tourism Statistics Report Greenland 2018

1. Tourism Statistics Report Greenland 2018

2. Table of Contents Executive Summary page 3 Introduction page 4 Flight Passenger Statistics Flight Passenger Statistics page 5 Accommodation Statistics Accommodation Statistics – Number of Overnight Stays 2018 vs 2017 page 6 Number of Tourist Overnight Stays in the Regions 2018 vs 2017 page 7 Number of Tourist Overnight Stays in the Years 2008-2018 page 8 • Number of Tourist Overnight Stays – Season Trends 2009-2018 page 9 Number of Guests 2018 vs 2017 page 10 Number of International Guests in the Regions 2018 vs 2017 page 11 Number of International Guests in the Years 2008-2018 page 12 • Number of International Guests – Season Trends 2009-2018 page 13 Statements on the 2018 Season By Tourism Operators in Greenland page 14 Passengers on Air Iceland Connect Routes page 15 Towards More Tourism page 16 5 Big Market Surveys in Key Markets page 17 Global Trends for Adventure Tourism page 18 • The New Strategy Period 2020-2023 page 19 Final Thoughts page 20

3. Executive Summary • After a two year period with a general tourism growth of approximately 10 % in the years 2015-2017, it must be noted that the growth in 2018 is less. • Incomplete data in terms of flight passengers, accommodation and cruise continue to pose a challenge and thus it is not possible to provide a solid overall growth figure. But by distributing the non-registered flight passengers and guests in the accommodations proportionally between the markets one reaches a growth of 3.3 % in terms of tourists travelling by airplane and 0.1 % in terms of the number of tourist overnight stays. In the light of the growth in the number of international passengers out of Greenland was 3.1 % – which, of course, is completely registered – it is plausible that the growth in 2018 is around 3 %. • The 4.7 % decline in the number of international guests in the accommodations also points to more people spending the night under the open sky, in private accommodation or in accommodations that do not submit registrations. However, on average the international guests in registered accommodations have purchased slightly more nights per accommodation (from an average of 2.5 in 2017 to 2.7 in 2018). The revenue generated by international guests has largely remained unchanged with a growth of 0.1 % in terms of tourist overnight stays. • At the Towards more Tourism conference in November 2018 the tourism industry came up with 11 recommendations for a responsible and sustainable development of the tourism (please, see vg.gl/11anb), out of which an effort to secure a more even season development – and thus a more economically viable business – was one of them. • The accommodation data on 2018 unfortunately shows a development that does not yet point toward a more even distribution of the seasons. It will most likely require a long running, strategic and combined effort to even out the steep summer season trend. • As regards to the wish for a responsible tourism development in terms of an economically, social and environmental sustainability it is important that Greenland, already distinctly an adventure tourism destination, henceforth continues to commit to adventure tourism which provides much better conditions for earnings in the local communities. It is no coincidence that this kind of tourism is the fastest growing type of tourism in the world, among other factors due to the global focus on sustainability manifested in the efforts of several countries to meet the 17 Global Goals of the UN (SDGs). Sustainable adventure tourism is addressed in its own section coupled with topics from TMT2018 conference. • After the airport package has been adopted and the objective is to establish the 3 new airports in 2023, it is important that the industry and the public join forces in the new strategy period 2020-2023 to determine which framework conditions and focus areas that are the most important to take care of in order to meet the expected groundbreaking development a significantly more accessible Greenland faces. Especially in regard to responsible and sustainable tourism as well as how we proceed to measure tourism growth and the value created by tourism for Greenland in the future. • This v1 of the 2018 tourism statistics report is without cruise statistics as cruise data as of the 29th of April 2019 was not yet released by Statistics Greenland. So far, there is no date on when they are published, but shortly after they are available, v2 including the cruise statistics will be published at tourismstat.gl/analyser.

4. Introduction • Statistics Greenland (SG) has faced challenges when it comes to obtaining complete statistics on cruises in 2018, and per the 23rd of May 2019 there is still no date for publication on bank.stat.gl. Thus Visit Greenland has decided to publish the 2018 report in this v1 without cruise statistics. When SG publishes the 2018 cruise data a v2 will be compiled for publication on tourismstat.gl/analyser soon thereafter. • The challenges in regard to obtaining cruise data illustrates the general challenges we face when it comes to obtaining valid tourism statistics. As for accommodation this has been an issue for several years as more than half of the overnight stays and guests in Sermersooq East are not registered by nationality. It does not show in the 2016 data, as SG that year distributed the number of unregistered from the regions proportionally between the countries based on the distribution of the registered overnight stays and guests in the region. Since 2017 the actual number of people that are not registered by nationality is listed under the category “Unknown”. • The registration of flight passengers that began in July 2014 has since the beginning been incomplete with a share on unregistered of 26.9 % in 2014, 19.7 % in 2015, 7.1 % in 2016, 12.3 % in 2017 and 7.6 % in 2018. VG and Mittarfeqarfiit have agreed on a joint goal that at least 95 % of the flight passengers are registered and they collaborate to reach this goal in 2019. In order to compare one year with the next VG follows the practice of distributing “Unknown” (in effect the unregistered passengers) proportionally between the different countries of residence in agreement with SG. • With the above in mind all growth percentages must be taken with reservations, because the samples of tourists used in Greenlandic context are small in a statistical context where a difference of only a few hundred tourists from year to year may cause a given segment to show large differences in growth percentage. • The Ministry of Industry, Energy and Research, SG and Mittarfeqarfiit have worked together on a number of initiatives designed to improve the tourism statistics are either in the planning stage or already initiated, but it is considered to be a process that will take a few years to be completed. • In the following sections each type of tourism related statistics on 2018 will be reviewed separately starting with the flight passengers. This report primarily deals with data on Greenland as a whole, with few exceptions, but each region (Avannaata/Qeqertalik have been merged into one report due to data series considerations) is looked at in depth in its own smaller report all of which will also be published on tourismstat.gl/analyser in mid-May 2019.

5. Flight Passenger Statistics • Although the share of registered flight passenger in 2018 only reached 92.4 % it is important to keep in mind that we in the data/chart below compare with data on 2017 where only 87.7 % were registered. Thus the results must be taken with reservations. The fact that the overall traffic increased by 3.1 % is, however, an indication that a 3.3 % growth in the tourist segment as whole seems plausible as data on the overall traffic is complete with a registration of 100 %. The category “Unknown” is distributed proportionally between the markets. As explained before the small samples lead to larger statistical uncertainty than large samples, as even minor changes in numbers can cause disproportionally big differences in growth percentage from year to year. Thus all growth percentages for country segments under 1,000 pax are marked in grey to signal that they must be taken with special reservations. The most significant positive results are the growth rates for the markets Germany (18.0 %), USA (23.1 %), France (26.8 %) and Great Britain (13.0 %). On the negative side especially China surprises with a decline of 28.8 %. As shown to the left in 2018 China was a larger source market than Great Britain, but in 2019 China is overtaken by the latter, as well as Canada, Norway and Iceland. There is, however, a risk that a larger group of Chinese passengers can have left the country by an unregistered departure, so one must keep that in mind. The general picture is largely positive, though with a more modest growth than the previous 2 years.

6. Accommodation Statistics – Number of Overnight Stays Sold As for the national overnight stays number, one must bear in mind that more than 50 % of the guests in Sermersooq East are not registered, and they consequently represent the largest source of error in the data. This is equivalent to, in a national perspective that 4.2 % of the overnight stays in 2017 and 4.9 % in 2018 were not registered. Growth rates for country segments with less than 1,000 overnight stays are marked in grey to signal that those growth rates must be taken with special reservations, as they are based on small samples. • In order to calculate the growth from year to year the amount of unregistered will, in agreement with Statistics Greenland, be distributed proportionally between the markets (according to how much each market represents in the amount of registered overnight stays). • Furthermore the reader must be aware that the data at hand represents 76 % of the total bed capacity in Greenland. • After finding good growth in the flight passenger data for the USA, Germany, France and Great Britain these trends can only partially be confirmed here, as Great Britain represents a decline of a staggering 31.1 % in the number of overnight stays. • The most likely explanation is the combination of sources of error from both the lack of flight passenger registrations and the lack of overnight stay registrations. • If this is not due to sources of error, it means that Brits in 2018 either stayed in Greenland for at shorter period of time or to a larger extent slept in open air, in private homes or in accommodations that do not submit registrations.

7. Number of Overnight Stays in the 5 Regions - 2018 vs. 2017 From the overall national number on the number of international overnight stays in 2018 vs 2017 we know that the growth is 0.1 %. But one must take this with big special reservations due to incomplete registrations, especially in Sermersooq East. The chart below therefore only shows numbers on tourist overnight stays for 4 out of the 5 regions there are data series available from on bank.stat.gl/tudhot (Avannaata/Qeqertalik are listed together to allow the tudhot data series to remain unbroken back to before the merging of the two). Out of the 4 regions only Qeqqata shows growth. As for Sermersooq East there is a 19.5 % growth in the number of total overnight stays. This indicates a likely growth in the tourist segment, but due to incomplete registrations this can unfortunately not be verified. It is thus a very mixed and unclear picture that accounts for the number of tourist overnight stays sold. • If one focuses solely on the overnight stay statistics there would appear to be status quo on a national level with a 0.1 % growth overall. It is however possible that a relatively big growth can be found in the data on Sermersooq East that can increase the national level close to 3.3 %, which is equivalent to the growth in number of tourists by airplane. Due to incomplete data on Sermersooq East there is no way to prove this thesis, and the number of guests (see p. 10) further weakens this assumption. The number of overnight stays sold, are a good indication of the revenue created in the accommodations. The number of guests does not need to follow the same development 1:1, as it can vary from year to year how many nights each guest have bought in each accommodation. However there should not be too big a difference between the two parameters.

8. Number of International Overnight Stays in Accommodations 2008-2018 Statistics Greenland has extracted a special data set for us, as Visit Greenland does not have access to raw data that can be attributed to specific accommodations. In the graph the green bars show the development in the total number of international (i.e. tourists) overnight stays over the last 10 years. With permission from Statistics Greenland VG has been allowed to extract data for a special control group (purple data set), which consists of the 9 largest hotels in order to determine the degree of correlation. There is a relatively good correlation between data, which points to an acceptable degree of validity in the registrations from the other accommodations, as the 9 largest hotels have consistently submitted complete registrations over the past 10 years. If there is a large discrepancy this could point to a certain amount of incorrect registrations in data from the other accommodations. As can be seen there is a smaller degree of fluctuations in the data on the 9 largest hotels, even in the recession period after the global financial crisis in 2008. That points to them being better equipped to meet the negative effects of the recession. They do, however, suffer loss in revenue from international overnight stays in 2018, where the other accommodations, based on data, appear to have experienced growth. 2017 represents the first time that tourist overnight stays from the 11 ’new’ accommodations (representing 8,351 extra international overnight stays in 2017), which only began registration in 2017 is included– thus the growth in the total sum between 2016 and 2017 is “artificially steep”, as is also indicated by the more stable level in the data of the 9 largest hotels. Most of the 11 ‘new’ accommodations have in reality been in business for several years leading up to 2017, so they do not represent a “genuine growth” between 2016 and 2017. That growth is in reality ‘invisibly fazed in’ over a longer period of time leading up to 2017. On the other hand data from 2017 and on are now more in line with reality. According to the inventory of VG in terms of the total bed capacity in Greenland per Q1 2019, registrations are submitted for at least 76 % of the total bed capacity.

9. Overnight Stay Statistics – Season Trends • Just as long as there has been registration in accommodations in Greenland there has been a clear season trend, which in one graph is similar to a “Mexican hat” with a significant high season June-July-August-September and just as significant a low season in November-December and January-February. As can be seen there has been growth in the later years, but is has primarily boosted the summer high season, and only to a smaller extent the other months. • One can, however, note that March-April in 2018 has seen a small increase, which hopefully can lead to better marketing of the spring season and its products. • As it is highlighted in the 11 recommendations (vg.gl/11anb) from the Towards More Tourism conference in November 2018, a more sustainable tourism industry will be the result if the ‘hat’ flattens more and bigger revenue will be created in the low and shoulder seasons. This can lead to more full-time employment in the industry and better the usage of the existing capacity in terms of hotel beds and flight seats. • In later years VG and Air Greenland have focused on promoting the winter season under the slogan “Winter is only the beginning” and “Winter is hot” in order to open the eyes of the market to the attractive and obvious possibilities in the winter season. It is necessary with a stable and coordinated effort across the industry if it is to be reflected in the market.

10. Accommodation Statistics – Number of Individual Guests • The number of guests in the accommodations shines a light on the number of individuals that have purchased overnight stays in a given region – or as in the graph below – in Greenland as a whole. The graph shows a decline of 4.7 % in the number of international guests from 2017 to 2018 (incl. guests residing in DK). The difference of nearly 5 percentage points compared to the number of international overnight stays can be caused by a difference between how many nights each guest bought on average per accommodation. • If one divides the number of international overnight stays with the number of international guests one arrives at the average number of overnight stays a given tourist has purchased per accommodation. It was 2.5 in 2017 vs 2.7 in 2018. In the flight passenger data (p. 5) one notes a good growth in the key markets USA, Germany, France and Great Britain. Compared to the number of overnight stays (p. 6) USA, Germany and France all saw growth, whereas Great Britain saw a big decline. As for the number of guests (the graph on the left) the USA and France both saw good growth, whereas Germany experienced a moderate decline and Great Britain a large decline. As we once again are left with discrepancies between the different types of tourism data, incomplete data would appear the most likely main cause. Other reasons may be the small sample sizes combined with variation in terms of the number of nights the different segments have bought on average per accommodation – or variation in terms of choice of accommodation, out of which some are not registered (for instance small hotel apartments, Airbnb or private homes).

11. Number of International Guest in 4 of the 5 Regions - 2018 vs 2017 • The chart below shows the number of international guests (incl. guests residing in DK) according to region. Avannaata and Qeqertalik are still listed as one region in order not to break the longstanding data series at bank.stat.gl/tudhot where Avannaata/Qeqertalik combined were registered under the previous region Qaasuitsoq. The two regions are likely to be spun off in a new data series in a few years. As for Sermersooq East only the total number of guests is shown, as more than half of the guests there has not been registered by nationality, thus the data is not valid. There is growth in two (Qeqqata and Kujalleq) out of the 4 regions when it comes to the number of international guests. The largest deviation from previously looked at data is that Sermersooq East has seen a total decline in the growth of 6.3 %. This must be seen in connection with a 19.5 % growth in the total number of overnight stays. Thus there is a large discrepancy between the number of overnight stays and the number of guests. If there are no errors in the Sermersooq East data this means that there was a jump in the average number of overnight stays per guest from 3.4 in 2017 to 4.4 in 2018 which is a significant change compared with the development in the other regions over time. It may however be partially due to the fact that the number of one day tourists has decreased significantly compared with the number of tourists that purchase a longer stay in the region.

12. Number of International Guest in Accommodations 2008-2018 As was the case on p. 8, where the total number of international overnight stays in Greenland was compared with corresponding data from the 9 largest hotels as ‘control group’, we make the same comparison in terms of the number of international guests. Here there is also a relatively good degree of correlation between the two data sets, which points to an acceptable degree of validity in the data on the other accommodations (than the control group). The other accommodations suffered a larger loss in revenue following the global financial crisis than the 9 largest hotels. In turn the 9 largest hotels saw a larger decline from 2017 to 2018, where the other accommodations experienced status quo. NB: Between 2016 and 2017 11 ‘new’ accommodations opened and they began to submit registrations, which causes an ‘artificial’ growth between 2016 and 2017 the equivalent of approximately 2,772 international guests. As can be seen, the control group represents approximately half of the international guests in the 10 year period and in 2016 even more than half. There are quite a few hotel projects in the making especially in IIlulissat and Nuuk, which is a logical consequence of the approval of the airport package. There are however also gradually created more and more small and midsize accommodations by the coast in later years, which is positive. According to the 11 recommendations from TMT2018 a sustainable tourism industry is not only about season expansion, but also about distributing the tourists all over Greenland, so it is not only the large destinations that are developed. Though accessibility in terms of the coming airport structure mainly favours the 3 airport cities, it will potentially also have a positive effect on other destinations, which will then be accessible with fewer stopovers from cities such as Copenhagen and Reykjavik (as well as in the future even more bigger hubs). For instance destinations such as Uummannaq, Qeqertarsuaq, Paamiut, Nanortalik and the like will obtain an easier one-day connection, which can make a big difference for tourists on shorter holidays.

13. Number of Guests – Season Trends 2009-2018 • When one looks at the season trends for the data type number of guests it is very similar to the graph on the data type number of overnight stays, which is to be expected. Comparing 2018 with 2017, 2017 had a slightly “flatter” season development that is more sustainable in terms of the potential for fulltime employment, bed capacity and flight seats. The 11 recommendations from Towards More Tourism about among other things season extensions speak for an increased effort to secure a better use of the capacity in the low and shoulder seasons. In a 10 year perspective it can be noted that the ”Mexican hat” in the beginning of the period from 2009-2018 was flatter and in time has reached a higher peak in the summer season which is indicative of destinations with a high degree of season trends. • Overnight stay data from Iceland shows that in the last few years there has been a more even season balance. There are still markets (e.g. Germany) that show a pattern of primarily summer visits, but in later years especially Great Britain has shown the opposite pattern, as they tend to mainly visit Iceland during the winter. One of the explanations for this fact can be found in cheaper air fares and hotel beds in the “off-season”. At the same time Iceland has managed to turn the winter into an attractive product via a focus on northern lights and a wide variety of winter activities as a result of a targeted effort in the low and shoulder seasons. This, of course, requires both resources for product development, marketing and good offers in the off-season in order to succeed in balancing the seasons and this process is likely to take some years.

14. Statements By Tourism Operators in Greenland I the past year Visit Greenland conducted two short surveys among tourism operators in Greenland. The first in March 2018 looked into how the 2017 tourist season has been as well as the expectations of the respondents to the 2018 season. 83 respondents answered. The second time was in November 2018, and the survey asked four questions on how the 2018 season had been so far and what could be the possible reasons for this. 64 respondents answered that survey. Below in green colour the expectations to the 2018 season can be seen as they were answered in March 2018. In blue colour one can see the answers from the November survey on how the season had progressed thus far. In March there were positive expectations to the 2018 tourist season, but in November it can be noted that the season progressed slightly less positive than expected. If the flight passenger statistics with a growth of approximately 3 % is precise this corresponds well with the answers from November 2018 – i.e. a combined more modest growth than the previous 2 years. The March survey was sent to 230 Greenlandic tourism operators out of which 64 answered most questions and 49 answered the entire questionnaire. In the end of 2019 VG will once again ask the tourism operators about the 2019 season along with other relevant questions to further qualify the tourism statistics from Statistics Greenland. The results of the survey must be taken with the following reservations: a) Complete answers from only 49 out of the approximately 260 tourism operators. b) Those that take the time to answer an online survey are often operators with a special flair for online technology c) These operators are likely better at answering emails in general. Both b and c represent skills that provide market advantages.

15. Air Iceland Connect Routes • The years from 2014 to 2016 saw a good growth on Iceland Connect routes between Iceland and Greenland, but since 2017 the development in the tourist segment has been in decline. Several tourist operators in Greenland that Visit Greenland has spoken to believe this is due to higher prices. An Air Iceland Connect ticket between Reykjavik and Kulusuk or Nuuk in the middle of July is approximately 400 € (about 3,000 DKK) for a one-way ticket, while a one-way ticket to Ilulissat in the middle of July can be as much as 901 € (about 6,700 DKK). As the prices vary a lot from day to day, it is difficult to say how the prices in general have developed in recent years, but higher ticket prices tend to put a damper on demand. An Air Greenland one-way ticket Keflavik-Nuuk in July can be as little as 2,756 DKK and up to 7,100 DKK. Another factor can be a beginning decline in the demand for Iceland as a destination which the overnight stay data from Iceland (below right) indicates.

16. Towards More Tourism 2018 – 11 Recommendations • From the 5th to the 8th of November 2018 Visit Greenland hosted the Towards More Tourism conference in Nuuk, with participation of tourism operators from all over Greenland and representatives from the 6 tourism regions (Avannaata, Qeqertalik, Arctic Circle, Sermersooq West, Kujataa and Sermersooq East). The conference offered keynote presentations and different types of workshops and not least networking events. This marked the first time in many years that the tourism industry came together, and the feedback has generally been positive in terms of what the participants have gained from attending the conference. • One of the main purposes was to formulate a number of joint recommendations for the tourism industry in terms of future challenges and opportunities, especially with regard to the expected increase in tourism following the establishment of the 3 new airports. • The result was the following 11 recommendations: • A strong and cohesive strategy for the tourism development • Season expansion – the distribution of tourism over time and place • Increased innovation and entrepreneurship • Sustainability,; nature and culture • Certification of tourism operators – quality and safety • Securing a workforce for the tourism industry • Competence development and education • Infrastructure – besides airports/heliports; harbour tourist receiving conditions, roads, trails, attractions, signs, toilets, souvenirs etc. • Digital services for tourists • The creation/strengthening of the regional tourist receiving infrastructure and marketing organizations • Branding and marketing • The complete recommendations can be read at vg.gl/11anb. It is very positive that the tourism industry as a whole can join together to define and prioritize which key areas are the most important to focus on. If the industry is to have the best possible prerequisites ahead of the establishment of the new airports it is especially important with coordination on a regional level, which is a process that will in effect be driven primarily by the municipalities and the regional destination companies– especially in close collaboration with the tourism operators. • There is continually a big need to maintain a dialogue with the tourism industry and it is currently looked into when the Towards more Tourism conference might return.

17. 5 Large Market Surveys 2016-2018 • In collaboration with NATA, Air Greenland and the research agency NIT Kiel Visit Greenland has in later years conducted large market surveys in the 5 key markets Scandinavia (DK, SE, NO), Germany, France, Great Britain and the USA with between 2,000 to 4,000 respondents in each market. • The respondents were asked a large number of questions in 7 areas we have sought to uncover, and which ultimately resulted in main conclusions and discussion points: • 1. The interest in travelling to remote adventure destinations (including Greenland) 2. The image of Greenland as a travel destination • 3. Product and experience preferences of potential Greenland tourists • 4. Socio-demographic profiles of the potential tourists • 5. The segmentation model of Visit Greenland applied to the respondents • 6. Reasons not to go to Greenland • 7. The competitive position for Greenland – benchmarking against closest competitors • 8. Main conclusions and discussion points • Overall the surveys confirm the basic assumptions of Visit Greenland about the key markets, but naturally there are new insights and surprises in individual areas, which makes it a good and exciting read for everyone in the Greenlandic tourism industry, e.g. for a time outside the high season, where one has the time to immerse oneself in knowledge about the markets. VG has summarized the analyses of the 5 large surveys. You can read them at vg.gl/5surveys. In the document one also finds links to each of the complete analyses compiled by NIT Kiel – with the exception of the latest (Scandinavia) which is covered by a time limited exclusive agreement with Air Greenland until the 22nd of August 2019, after which it will be available at vg.gl/skandinavien. • VG uses conclusions and findings in connection with the quantitative tourism data and statistics available through Statistics Greenland, our own surveys and conversations with the industry itself as well as data and knowledge sources directly from the markets and from large international surveys/research. • Furthermore VG has since been a part of an inter-Nordic tourism analysis collaboration via the work group Nordic Analytic Group, which functions on an ad hoc basis, but also has worked together to conduct a large market survey in China on the segment High Spending Free Individual Travelers (HiSpFITs). The survey was supported by the Nordic Council of Ministers with 500,000 DKK. That analysis is quite extensive and can be studies in detail at vg.gl/cn18, or one can read the shorter summary at vg.gl/cn18short. • It is highly recommended to view the analyses in connection with the VG segmentation model and our approach to working with communication for the segments which one can find at tourismstat.gl, where VG publishes all tourism relevant knowledge.

18. Global Trends In Adventure Tourism • As mentioned Greenland is a distinct adventure destination. Adventure tourism is characterized by as a minimum to contain the following 3 aspects: Physical activity, Nature experiences and Cultural experiences – as opposed to mass tourism that often focuses on big cities, shopping, beach, relaxation and a more superficial interaction with the locals. According to Adventure Tourism Travel Association (ATTA) adventure tourism accounts for more than 60 % of the revenue in the local communities, whereas by far the biggest share of the revenue in mass tourism goes to global travel agencies, hotel chains and cruise companies – and most of all in the large, classic destinations. • According to ATTA’s Adventure Travel Trends Snapshot 2018 the “hottest” activity these years is: • Followed by: • Overall one can, with the exception of ‘Safaris’, see a pattern that is about responsibility toward nature and culture, which is a trend likely brought on by an increased political focus and an increased media focus on responsibility and sustainability. The markets tend to align to the demand, so this points to a reality where the discussion about sustainability is not all talk – at least where adventure tourism is concerned. At the same time these trends offer a clear signal as to where one can improve one’s competitiveness. • According to the research agency Technavio (‘Global Adventure Tourism Market 2016-2020’ from 2015) Greenland is up against the following leading adventure destinations:

19. Global Trends In Adventure Tourism • Also according to Technavio’s ‘Global Adventure Tourism Market 2016-2020’ report (see previous page) adventure tourism is on its way toward half of the global tourism market: The graph to the left: Shows the estimated global growth in adventure tourism and this confirms that adventure tourism is the fastest growing tourism market in the world compared with the other global tourism markets. The graph to the right: The revenue in adventure tourism is also expected to increase significantly in the coming years (the blue bars represent trillions of $ globally) with an average annual growth of approximately 5 %.

20. The New Tourism Strategy Period 2020-2023 • The Ministry of Industry, Energy and Research is currently working on the national tourism strategy for the years 2020 to 2023, i.e. the period leading up to the construction of the new airports. All five municipalities in Greenland (KommuneqarfikSermersooq, AvannaataKommunia, KommuneQeqertalik, KommuneKujalleq and QeqqataKommunia) have been invited to provide input to the process, and the strategy will be published in the summer of 2019. The national tourism strategy will overall contain sections on: • New infrastructural framework • The establishment of a Visitor Centre • National attractions • Tourist receiving infrastructure and sustainability • Regional tourism strategies • Concessions • Framework conditions and legislation • Market development and visibility via Visit Greenland • Visit Greenland will also subsequently publish the organization’s own strategy for the period, which covers the five core tasks/areas of action: • Market development • Visibility • Season extension • Accessibility and framework conditions • Statistics and documentation • The role of Visit Greenland in the Greenlandic tourism development is described in the statutes of the company: • “The purpose of the company is to serve as Greenland’s national knowledge centre for tourism, to work to brand and promote Greenland as a tourist destination and to work to promote and develop the tourism industry and tourism activities in Greenland. The purpose of the company is furthermore to promote and develop the experience and artisanal industries.” • In the coming strategy period Visit Greenland will continue to attract adventure tourism to Greenland, which offers the biggest possible local revenue and is the tourism type that is the most considerate of nature and respects the culture. • For Visit Greenland adventure tourism means that a destination: • Creates experiences that focus on active participation • Offers many levels of engagement and activity • Creates immersion in the destination via nature and culture • Products which make the guests feel like pioneers by challenging boundaries either culturally, intellectually or physically. • For Visit Greenland responsible tourism means that one: • Involves the local community in order to generate the most local economic benefits • Contributes positively to the preservation of nature and cultural heritage • Minimizes the negative environmental and social impact • Offers experiences which create an understanding of the local community and culture • Creates a connection between local tourism operators and international travel agencies about adventure tourism • Visit Greenland has created tools for the industry in order for operators to know the segments of tourists that travel to Greenland and how we can attract more. All of these tools are available for use and free of charge for the industry. See which segments your business caters to at www.tourismstat.gl and learn more about the tools you can use in your business at http://corporate.greenland.com/da/redskaber/.

21. Final Thoughts As mentioned in the introduction this v1 edition does not take into account the cruise tourism in 2018. That will however be included in v2 which is published shortly after the cruise data becomes available at bank.stat.gl. If indeed a growth of approximately 3 % is in line with reality, despite incomplete data, we must note a certain decline in the tourism development compared with the previous 3 years that saw a growth of approximately 10 %. It is difficult to pinpoint the main causes for this, as many aspects factor in. It is well-known that the singular most popular and famous destination in Greenland is Ilulissat, and that there are capacity limitations in terms of the number of beds in the summer high season there, which appears to be a limiting factor. This is confirmed in statements by the operators in the industry. Furthermore Greenland is on a development stage in the global tourism market where it is only just “being discovered”. Initially, it is the most iconic and popular destinations that attract the demand. From our market surveys we know that Greenland is still relatively unknown. Even though the interest in visiting Greenland is high, it cannot be converted 1:1, firstly because there are many competing destinations that are both cheaper, more accessible, more well-known and more visible when it comes to ads and media coverage. Secondly, Greenland is not a ‘plug-and-play’ destination with its scattered geography, extreme weather, low population, high prices and lack of knowledge among potential tourists. We have a big task ahead of us when it comes to making Greenland well-known and become top-of-mind among adventure destinations. On the other hand there is true value in the country being “undiscovered” and having a unique nature and culture, and in later years we have felt an increased interest from international media, though this often is in connection with the theme climate change. The future airports in Nuuk, Ilulissat and Qaqortoq are going to dramatically increase the accessibility which in turn begs the question: How many guests will be a sustainable amount for a country that is small in terms of population with scattered settlements? All indications in regards to global tourism points to a continued growth for many years to come, and the demand for Greenland is likely to follow suit, especially as the new airports are established. Perhaps the 3 % growth in 2018 is indicative of a global tourism market that varies from year to year in terms of destinations. In these years we see that demand for Iceland is on the decline from an extreme level to a more moderate level. This may have an indirect impact on the demand for Greenland – be it positive or negative – or both at the same time. Regardless it is recommended that Greenland continues to attract the fastest growing type of tourism in the world, “adventure tourism”, which ensures the largest possible local revenue, is considerate of nature and respects the culture. Please use the tools that Visit Greenland has created to attract adventure tourists. Feel free to contacts us if you wish to learn more. We wish you all a really good and prosperous 2019 tourist season! With best regards Visit Greenland The Tourism Statistics Report is compiled by Mads Lumholt, Visit Greenland, April 2019.