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Even after more than 100 trips to the icebergs of Ilulissat in western Greenland, tour guide Sigurd Janniche Thomsen still finds each journey special.
“The light changes every time, and so do the icebergs,” he says, as he leads visitors through the Ilulissat Icefjord, a Unesco World Heritage site.
Around his small excursion boat an almost eerie silence prevails, broken only by the distant cracking of ice.
In the freezing minus 27 degrees Celsius (minus 17 degrees Fahrenheit) air, towering icebergs – some reaching 100 metres (330ft) high – drift slowly towards Disko Bay and beyond to the open sea.

“Don’t worry, we’re not about to re-enact Titanic,” Thomsen quips. The infamous iceberg that doomed the legendary passenger liner in 1912 most likely originated from this very fiord.
As the ship crunches through the thick ice, breaking it apart as it moves, he explains how these huge chunks break off from the edge of the Sermeq Kujalleq glacier. This process – called calving – is happening faster now because of global warming.
Ilulissat’s icy landscape serves as a silent witness to the planet’s shifting climate, offering visitors a breathtaking yet sobering experience.
Despite its remote location, Greenland is opening up to the world. The world’s largest island – loudly coveted by US President Donald Trump – is working to expand tourism through a new law aimed at sustainable tourism and greater economic benefits for locals.
Greenland still feels undiscovered and untouched – it has that mystery Iceland once had. It’s wilder, rougher, and incredibly remote
Tanny Por, Visit Greenland
By 2035, Greenland aims to double its tourist numbers and for tourism to account for 40 per cent of the country’s export value and create over 2,000 jobs, says Tanny Por from Visit Greenland.
Tourism in Greenland is on the rise. In 2023, visitor numbers hit 140,000 – up from the long-standing 100,000 average – driven by growth in air travel and cruise ship arrivals.
But can Greenland replicate Iceland’s tourism boom? Iceland welcomed a staggering 2.3 million visitors in 2023 – six times its population. Greenland, with just 57,000 residents, remains far from such figures.
“Greenland still feels undiscovered and untouched – it has that mystery Iceland once had,” says Por. “It’s wilder, rougher, and incredibly remote. That’s its biggest draw right now.”
The capital, Nuuk, and the town of Ilulissat remain top destinations, but “micro-tourist” experiences are also being promoted, Por says. These intimate tours are for small groups of people who embrace a more sustainable, localised and personalised approach to travel.
Beyond classic dog sledding and northern lights tours, visitors can now sleep in igloos, explore the ice sheet or go heli-skiing down untouched mountain peaks.

A major game-changer is Greenland’s new international airport in Nuuk, featuring a 2,200-metre runway, enabling direct flights from Copenhagen, Denmark, in just five hours.
This eliminates the need to transfer to small propeller planes in Kangerlussuaq – a remote town of just 500 residents that long served as Greenland’s primary international gateway.
By late 2026, Ilulissat will also welcome a new international airport, further increasing accessibility. “The goal is to make Greenland more connected,” says Jens Lauridsen, head of Greenland Airports.
Greenland is taking notes from Iceland’s meteoric rise in tourism but aims to avoid its pitfalls.
“We don’t want a second Golden Circle,” Lauridsen says, referring to Iceland’s crowded tourist route. “We want to retain some of the uniqueness that the Golden Circle once had. That’s one of the things we’ve learned from Iceland,” he says.

Instead, Greenland plans to spread tourism across the seasons and regions, ensuring sustainable growth.
The goal is to do more than just to put Nuuk and Ilulissat on the map, Lauridsen explains. A well-balanced tourism model will benefit both visitors and residents while maintaining Greenland’s wild, unspoilt nature.
The buzz around US president Trump’s interest in buying Greenland feels distant amid the quiet of the Ilulissat Icefjord. Yet his fellow Americans will soon be visiting more frequently.
From mid-June until the end of September, United Airlines plans to operate direct flights from New York’s Newark international airport to Nuuk. Meanwhile, Scandinavian airline SAS is preparing its own direct routes from Copenhagen to Nuuk as well.
As Greenland opens its doors to the world, it remains committed to keeping tourism sustainable, preserving its wild landscapes and learning from its Arctic neighbour’s experience.
The question now is: can Greenland strike the right balance between growth and preservation?


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Tourism

Why Greenland could be the next go-to destination for sustainable tourism

The northern lights over a red wooden cottage near Kangerlussuaq, southwest Greenland. Photo: Shutterstock

With its icebergs, untouched landscapes and activities including dog sledding, Greenland is looking to grow tourism sustainably. Photo: Shutterstock

Gliding through the waters of Disko Bay is the best way to get a feel for the impressive scale of the Ilulissat Icefjord. Photo: Shutterstock

Nuuk is the capital of Greenland. Photo: Shutterstock

Colourful houses in Greenland. Photo: Shutterstock

How Greenland’s rapid pace of climate change creates risks and opportunities

Climate change is progressing faster in Greenland than anywhere else, and the melting ice and rising temperatures are changing people’s lifestyles and livelihoods.  Photo: Getty Images

The town of Ilulissat near icebergs that broke off from the Sermeq Kujalleq glacier on March 8, 2025. Photo: Getty Images

Dog sledding near Ilulissat in Greenland. Fishermen used to sled out on the ice to work, but many have started using boats. Photo: Shutterstock

Ship in heavy seas near icebergs in Scoresbysund on the east coast of Greenland. More shipping is coming to Greenland because climate change is making it more accessible. Photo: Shutterstock

How has Hoi An in Vietnam changed? Then-and-now photos show no tourists back in 1994

A girl plays with a kite (left) in an empty street in Hoi An, in 1994. A typical Hoi An street scene, in 2024 (right). Photo: Simon O’Reilly/Shutterstock

Traffic in Hoi An, Vietnam, 1994. A lot of the cars were pre-Vietnam war, and the buses were ancient. Photo: Simon O’Reilly

A girl plays with a kite (left) in an empty street in Hoi An, Vietnam, in 1994. A typical Hoi An street scene in 2024 (right). Photo: Simon O’Reilly/Shutterstock

Fun on the water at the boat races, Hoi An, 1994. Photo: Simon O’Reilly

The teams set off during a boat race in Hoi An, 1994. Photo: Simon O’Reilly

Boat races in Hoi An, 1994. The oars are planks and other bits of wood, but the paddlers put a lot of power into them. Photo: Simon O’Reilly

Fishing net repair in Hoi An, Vietnam, 1994. Photo: Simon O’Reilly

The boatyards in Vietnam had no electricity or power tools. A worker uses a hand-powered drill in a yard near Nha Trang, Vietnam. Photo: Simon O’Reilly

Fishing boats near Nha Trang, Vietnam, in 2025. Photo: Shutterstock

We only saw one hotel in Hoi An in 1994, in an old colonial building. The security guard played guitar for his friends. Photo: Simon O’Reilly

A sad sight: floating brothels on the river in Hoi An in 1994. Photo: Simon O’Reilly

Large flocks of ducks were a common sight on land and water in Vietnam. Photo: Simon O’Reilly

A street in Hoi An in 1994 (left) and 2024 (right). 

Looking south on Cua Dai Beach, Hoi An, in 1994, and 2024 – now the Hoi An Beach Resort. Photo: Simon O’Reilly/Hoi An Beach Resort

The front of the old China Beach Hotel outside Da Nang, in 1994 (left). The same scene in 2024, now the Furama Resort Da Nang (right). Photo: Simon O’Reilly/Furama Resort Da Nang

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The Hotel Chelsea in 1947. It has stood at 222 W. 23rd Street, New York since its completion in 1884. Photo: Museum of the City of New York/Getty Images

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Best apps for foreign visitors in China and which are useless – like Google Maps

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A customer makes an electronic payment with Alipay on his smartphone for his food at a restaurant in Beijing. Photo: AFP

Lifestyle

Travel & Leisure

Can Greenland, with its massive icebergs, dramatic, unspoilt scenery and new airports, increase visitor numbers sustainably?


Travel Destinations

Greenland

Sustainability

Responsible travel