Greenland’s smallest city, Ittoqqortoormiit, is a vibrant and vibrant community at the entrance to the Scoresbysundfjord – Kangertittivaq. The city rhymes with whaling and seal hunting, hunting polar bears and moku oxen, but now it also rhymes with cruise tourism.
This century’s longest total solar eclipse, which could be seen in Northeast Greenland on August 12, created tourist fever in the country’s northernmost town on the East Coast, Ittoqqortoormiit. The city is located at the mouth of the world’s longest and largest fjord system, which stretches over 350 km. In connection with the solar eclipse, Ittoqqortoormiit experienced a tourist boom the likes of which the city has never seen before.
Greenland’s smallest city, Ittoqqortoormiit, is a vibrant and vibrant community at the entrance to the Scoresbysundfjord – Kangertittivaq. The city rhymes with whaling and seal hunting, hunting polar bears and moku oxen, but now it also rhymes with cruise tourism.
This century’s longest total solar eclipse, which could be seen in Northeast Greenland on August 12, created tourist fever in the country’s northernmost town on the East Coast, Ittoqqortoormiit. The city is located at the mouth of the world’s longest and largest fjord system, which stretches over 350 km. In connection with the solar eclipse, Ittoqqortoormiit experienced a tourist boom the likes of which the city has never seen before.
Between 10 and 15 August, Ittoqqortoormiit was called 14 times by cruise ships. Around 1,600 passengers disembarked during the six days. Added to this are herds who also flocked to the city.
This is what tourist operator Mette Pike Barselajsen tells us. She runs ITT Guesthouse and is responsible for the so-called open city days when the cruise ships come. Together with a team of pensioners, young people and prisoners, she took the tourists on guided tours of the city for a short week before and during the solar eclipse. So the tourist turnover in Ittoqqortormiit had crowned days.
Cooperation on ship calls
On August 11, the day before the solar eclipse, four cruise ships with a total of over 500 guests were off the city at the same time.
– There are only about 320 people in Ittoqqortoormiit. With four cruise ships that day, many guests came to the city, when you look at it in relation to the city’s size, says Mette Pike Barselajsen.
In the weeks leading up to the eclipse, she had carefully reviewed the lists of cruise ship calls. She could see that the ships would be close together in the days surrounding the eclipse. Even if there was a plan.
– I therefore had to talk to my business partners about planning the times for the ship calls. Because it becomes too difficult to coordinate things and have space in the city for many visitors if two ships land at the same time, says Mette Pike Barselajsen.
The industry association AECO, which brings together expedition cruise operators in the Arctic, had seen the need for planning itself. Already in November, the association asked the first AECO members, the cruise operators, what they plan to do in Ittoqqortoormiit during the solar eclipse.
When the members submitted their sailing plans to AECO in January, the association could see that there were an unusually high number of ship calls in Ittoqqortoormiit between 10 and 15 August. In February, AECO convened the first meeting with the participation of representatives of Ittoqqortoormiit, Kommuneqarfik Sermersooq and the municipality’s business council. In May, representatives of the municipality were in the city, and over the summer several meetings followed, where the city’s plans and the ships’ sailing plans were placed next to each other.
Mette Pike Barselajsen then went to the ship agents to find out when the individual cruise ships would be in Ittoqqortoormiit. When her call list was held up against the agents’ lists, it turned out that there were both double bookings and calls that the city did not know about.
For example contacted Mette Pike Barselajsen together with AECO and one of the destination companies that handle the ships, the ships one by one, so that the ship calls could be spread over a few days, so that she and her team in the city could handle the task, she says.
Received guests in groups
Before the ships with cruise tourists arrived, Mette Pike Barselajsen and her team planned that the guests should not go around on their own, but in groups.
– When tourists have no one to accompany them, they go to people’s houses and look in the windows. We think that is crossing the line. Therefore, in Ittoqqortormiit we agreed that the cruise guests should go in groups with their guides. It is best for us who live here so that we are disturbed as little as possible, she says.
The town’s church, museum and information center were open when the tourists came to Ittoqortoormiit. In the information center, Mette Pike Barselajsen, for example, showed the tourists, how musk wool is processed by hand.
In addition, the tourist groups were each offered a hike of two to three hours with a local guide.
All ships had the same plan
In order for the ship’s passengers to disembark with the same knowledge, the city’s guidelines and wishes were compiled in one document together with city maps, pictures and a template for an open city programme.
The material was shared with all ships, and AECO gathered the operators beforehand for a meeting where they could hear what Ittoqqortoormiit had planned and what to tell guests and crew.
– Although the coordination started a little late, it all worked out because the shipping companies reacted quickly and flexibly in relation to the city’s wishes. Everything clapped. There was a successful collaboration between Ittoqqortoormiit, AECO, the shipping companies, the operators and the cruise ships. Everything went well because the ships kept the times. If the ships had not been willing to cooperate and respect the times we gave for the open city, then the city would have been packed with people. I am really happy that things worked out in connection with the tourist boom, says Mette Pike Barselajsen.
After the successful collaboration, Mette Pike Barselajsen, AECO and the cruise operators have agreed on future guidelines for cruise visits. This means that the guidelines are that passengers from a maximum of two ships may visit Ittoqqortoormiit per day.
Solar eclipse on cruise ship
However, Mette Pike Barselajsen did not experience the solar eclipse from land, but inside the fjord aboard the cruise ship Sea Venture together with her husband and daughter. And it was a great experience for the family.
She says about the solar eclipse:
– It got completely dark. We could see the stars. There were no northern lights. It was summer in Greenland. When the sun disappeared, it suddenly became very cold, and when the sun returned, it became warm again. A solar eclipse is something you may only experience once in a lifetime. This was a fantastic experience, says Mette Pike Barselajsen.
