Greenland tourism weak

October 30, 2013

The government of Greenland has published a statistical report for 2013 that is interesting and informative. In 2012 Greenland’s tourism industry struggled.

The tourism sector was down in 2012 compared to 2011:

• While the number of air travellers increased marginally from 71,026 to 71,387 the cruise ship visitor numbers were way down.
• In 2011, cruise ship visitors numbered 29,826 while in 2012 they were only 23,399.
• Total rented rooms fell from 183,333 to 177,267 from year to year.
• The predominant source of overnight visitors were Greenlanders - down by 4% to 110,921. German, and Canadian visitors were down. While visitors from the US, Nordic countries and Japan were up.

The Greenland Statistical review indicates that:

• The population of Greenland declined again in 2013 to 56,370. The population was greater 8 years ago than today. Most years the population declines.
• Traditional activities - hunting, fishing , sealing and whaling are all declining in term of harvests.
• There are about 6,000 motor vehicles in Greenland—one for every 10 people.
• 17,446 people were on social assistance in 2013 about 40% of the population greater than age 15 years.
• The price of electricity can reach as high as $0.63/kwh
• The labour force is growing in spite of the population decline.
• There is an urbanization trend. Nuuk, the Capital, grew by 3,000 people over the decade.

 

Commentary

Fishing, traditional harvesting and tourism have declined lately. Investments in infrastructure, government expenditures and extractive industries have grown.

Sources

• a)The main tourism stats can be found here: http://www.stat.gl/dialog/topmain.asp?lang=en&subject=Tourism&sc=TU



• b)http://www.stat.gl/publ/en/GF/2013/pdf/Greenland%20in%20Figures%202013.pdf