Toward culturally sensitive tourism Report from Greenland CARINA REN DANIELA CHIMIRRI METTE S. ABILDGAARD 1 Culturally sensitive tourism in the Arctic sensitive tourism Culturally ARCTISEN Multidimensional Tourism Institute (MTI) Rovaniemi www.luc.f/matkailu Design: Lappi Design / Tytti Mäenpää ISBN 978-952-6620-45-9 2 3 Publications of the Multidimensional Tourism Institute Matkailualan tutkimus- ja koulutusinstituutin julkaisuja Toward culturally sensitive tourism Report from Greenland CARINA REN DANIELA CHIMIRRI METTE S. ABILDGAARD Rovaniemi 2020 3 ARCTISEN Promoting culturally sensitive tourism across the Arctic Main result: Improved entrepreneurial business environment for culturally sensitive tourism Culturally sensitive tourism in the Arctic sensitive tourism Culturally that will be achieved by improving and increasing transnational contacts, networks and cooperation among different businesses and organizations. Improvement of business environment will also result in concrete products and services, locally and transnationally designed, that support the capacities of start-ups and SMEs to develop ARCTISEN sustainable, competitive and attractive tourism businesses drawing on place-based opportunities. Funder: Northern Periphery and Arctic Programme Partners: University of Lapland (Lead Partner), Finland UiT The Arctic University of Norway Northern Norway Tourist Board Umeå University, Sweden Ájtte - Mountain and Sámi museum, Sweden Aalborg University, Denmark University of Waterloo, Canada WINTA - World Indigenous Tourism Alliance Budget: 1.455.547,88€ 4 5 5 Contents Introduction .............................................................................................. 8 Structure of the report.................................................................................. 9 Framework for culturally sensitive tourism in Greenland ........................... 12 Culturally sensitive tourism in the Arctic sensitive tourism Culturally History of tourism development in Greenland ............................................ 12 Existing guidelines and quality certifcates ................................................ 14 Legal, territorial and cultural minority-majority challenges in tourism development ........................................................................... 15 ARCTISEN Demand for culturally sensitive tourism ..................................................... 15 Possibilities and challenges of culturally sensitive tourism ....................... 20 Possibilities in business innovation, product, service and capacity development .......................................................................... 20 On challenges ............................................................................................... 21 Examples ...................................................................................................... 22 Final refections ........................................................................................ 26 Acknowledgments .................................................................................... 30 Notes and references ............................................................................... 30 6 7 Introduction 7 Introduction While visitor numbers to Greenland are still strong tourism industry as one path toward While challenges still abound, many Culturally sensitive tourism in the Arctic sensitive tourism Culturally relatively low compared with other parts of growth (with fshing, mining, farming and tourism strategies, research and develop- the Arctic, tourism currently is experienc- hunting being the others)3, they also noted ment projects, funding opportunities and 1 ing unprecedented attention in Greenland . such a path’s impediments, some of which networks have recently been launched to 4 Successful marketing, combined with a already are known to Arctic destinations. uncover and alleviate barriers, raise the ARCTISEN 5 growing global interest in the Arctic, has led For example, the Rambøll Group identifed level of service and entrepreneurship, de- to a volume of tourists and a correspond- the most important impediments as being velop products, improve digital and phys- ing rise in political and societal interest in a short tourism season, lack of infrastruc- ical infrastructure etc. In this context, the tourism. Today, tourism is viewed as one of ture, current limited capacity, low customer Towards More Tourism (TMT) conference Greenland’s three economic pillars, next to service standards, low tourism growth rate, in 2018, hosted by Visit Greenland and Air fshing and mining, as well as a promising lack of package tours, low overnight-stay Greenland, illustrates current and ongoing lever for the Arctic nation’s future econom- average (only four nights per trip), low ex- efforts to develop to develop the Green- ic development. Furthermore, its success- penditures per tourist (~1,100 Danish Kro- landic tourism feld by showcasing best ful development potentially could help pave ner or ~$160 US dollars per day), a lack of practice cases, inspiring and creating dis- the way for the Arctic nation’s independ- concrete initiatives by Greenland’s govern- cussions about current and future tourism ence from the Danish Commonwealth. ment (and a low priority given to them), lack development in Greenland, secure better The growing attention from political of online information about the nation’s local and regional coordination and owner- and other public actors in Greenland has tourism destinations, and diffculties with ship6. Attended by 137 tourism actors, pre- elicited several reports, policy documents internal and external coordination in the dominantly micro- and small enterprises and strategies conducted during the 2010s Greenlandic tourism sector. from all over Greenland, it shows how tour- to explore Greenland’s tourism potential2. ism – unlike mining and infrastructure ven- While they all recognised development of a tures – is not just a waiting game for large 8 9 foreign investors7. It is also a place where conducted in February and March 2019 in how indigenous culture plays a different national and local strategies, investments Nuuk, Greenland’s capital, and in Sisimiut, and much less prominent role in promot- and people can make things happen and the second largest town in Greenland. The ing, developing and articulating tourism in make a difference despite lingering diffcul- respondents represented a handful of small Greenland. This is explained partially as ties, which also were mentioned during the and medium-size tourism companies, and a consequence of, among other aspects, conference, in coordinating and developing a range of other central tourism-related or- Greenland’s status as a self-rule nation, the tourism and associated products at a re- ganisations such as associations, public quest for economic and national independ- gional and national level. authorities and research institutes. The in- ence,9 and the modest (for now) presence Tourism offerings in Greenland cur- terview questions revolved around the use of tourism in Greenlandic society. rently centre around adventure tourism and of local culture in tourism, operating tour- the ‘big Arctic fve’ sights and experienc- ism businesses, development ideas, and es marketed by Visit Greenland8: dog sled- tourism possibilities and challenges. Inter- ding; whale watching; Northern Lights; ice/ viewing different kinds of tourism actors snow; and the nation’s pioneering people. allowed for approaching cultural sensitivity In addition to economic development, In combination with sailing, hiking, fshing from multiple perspectives. culturally sensitive tourism enhances: and hunting, as well as cultural offerings, y stakeholders’ self-determination such as kaffemik coffee parties in private Structure of the report y homes and visits to handicraft workshops, intra- and intercultural understanding these comprise the products offered to the The report frst offers a cursory intro- and respect nearly 100,000 people who visit Greenland duction to the history of tourism in Green- y inclusion and empowerment.10 annually. land in Section 2, setting the stage for a In this report, we will introduce and discussion of the frameworks for cultur- discuss how this recent interest and ris- ally sensitive tourism in Greenland in Sec- ing numbers of tourists intersect with the tion 3. Particular interest is shown in how interpretation and evaluation of actual and culture and cultural practices in Greenland expected growth by Greenlandic tourism are connected to tourism and how com- actors, with a specifc emphasis on cultur- munities experience it, either in benefcial ally sensitive development. This overview or conficting ways. Section 4 offers a per- is based on desk research, as well as 11 spective on the character and challenges solo interviews and two double interviews tied to cultural sensitivity specifc to Green- with 15 tourism actors. The interviews were land compared with other Arctic tourism regions. A major identifed difference is 9 CULTURALLY SENSITIVE TOURISM LOCALITY Things are discussed together at RECOGNITION AND RECIPROCITY Culturally sensitive tourism in the Arctic sensitive tourism Culturally local level with many stakeholders ARCTISEN PERSONAL INTERACTIONS RESPECTFUL AND FACE-TO-FACE ENCOUNTERS DISCUSSIONS DISCUSSING AND CULTURAL KNOWLEDGE LISTENING Interest and willingness to learn from other cultures COCREATING Figure 1. Characteristics of culturally sensitive tourism. 10 11 Framework for culturally