A piece of ice broken off from the iceberg floats in the ocean.
Grace Widyatmadja/NPR
Greenland is opening up to the world.
The remote island, home to about 57,000 people, will soon be more accessible than ever to international tourists. Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark, has been expanding airports and hotels to energize the economy.
Later this year, there will be seasonal direct flights from the U.S. to Greenland's capital, Nuuk, for the first time. That means visitors will be able to travel from the East Coast to Nuuk in roughly four hours.
Local tour guides, like Jan Cortsen, see this as a moment of opportunity.
"I'm welcoming people because I want to show my beautiful country to other people," Cortsen said during a boat tour to view the icebergs.
Cortsen lives in Ilulissat, a small town of fewer than 5,000 people just north of the Arctic Circle. Its glinting white and sapphire blue icebergs and scenic fjords are among its most popular attractions. There are plans to open a new airport in Ilulissat next year.
Jan Cortsen is all smiles as he takes NPR out for a ride.
Grace Widyatmadja/NPR
"We want to develop as a city and people," Cortsen said. "When the new airport comes, I want to be the biggest tour company in Greenland."
In 2023, foreign tourism added nearly $270 million to Greenland's economy, according to Visit Greenland, the national tourism authority.
Cortsen is part of a collective of Inuit tour operators. He wants to make sure that as more tourists visit the island, the money they bring goes to local businesses, rather than to foreign operators.
"We want to be together because we want to be stronger, because we want to show what we locals can do in our own country," he said.
He added that he wants to share "the real Greenland" with other cultures.
