GREENLAND - Ivik Knudsen-Ostermann, whose company runs boat tours to see Greenland’s glittering blue icebergs, says his bank has told him to expand ahead of an expected influx of tourists...
after the US. President Donald Trump put the island in the global spotlight. Trump’s comments, coupled with the opening of a new international airport in the capital Nuuk, have already boosted arrivals and more are expected.
“Already now, we are getting many more bookings than we have received earlier, especially because of a man with the last name of Trump. He has really put Greenland on the map once again,” Knudsen-Ostermann, operator of Greenland Cruises, said, standing on the dock of an ice-packed harbor. Greenland became the focus of international attention in January when Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., arrived at the newly opened Nuuk airport.
Since then, the US president has doubled down on his pledge to make the Arctic island part of the United States, as he eyes its vast wealth of rare earth minerals critical for high-tech industries. Greenland is hoping new airports will bolster its tourism and mining industries to diversify the economy, which is currently reliant on fishing for 95 percent of its exports.
The country’s vast ice sheet, glaciers, deep fjords and abundance of marine life, including whales, are the key attractions, while pride in the local Inuit culture is also growing. (CNN/Getty Images)
