Hurtigruten Has Plans for Nuuk
Hurtigruten ‘Fram’ in Greenland. The company wants passengers to start and end their voyages in Nuuk rather than Kangerlussuaq further north. (Screen shot with permission from Hurtigruten).
If Nuuk gets a satisfactory new airport, Hurtigruten wants to use Nuuk as a turning port for its Arctic cruises, according to CEO Thomas Westergaard of Hurtigruten.
If Nuuk gets a satisfactory new airport, Hurtigruten wants to use Nuuk as a turning port for its Arctic cruises, according to CEO Thomas Westergaard of Hurtigruten.
The Norwegian company Hurtigruten wants to use Nuuk, Greenland’s capital, as a turning port and also plans to build a hotel for cruise tourists in town, provided that a new airport is built, according to Sermitsiaq.ag. And Greenland’s authorities are planning to build a new airport.
Hurtigruten already goes to Greenland on its Arctic cruises, however, the turning port is Kangerlussuaq in Søndre Strømfjord, a bit north of Nuuk. According to WEstergaard, Nuuk is better suited as its port is always ice free.
The turning port will be the port where tourists begin and end their cruise voyage, which requires sufficient hotel capacity. Westergaard indicates to the Greenlandic newspaper that a hotel would need to have some 120 rooms.
Furthermore, Hurtigruten argues that cruise tourists would leave a lot of money in Nuuk through various activities in and around the city. Westergaard says Hurtigruten’s hotel at Svalbard has an annual turnover of NOK 100 million only related to its activities, such as snowmobile trips, boat trips and sleddog trips. In Nuuk, he also sees a potential for mountain hikes, fatbike rides and ATV trips, according to the paper.
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