Rethinking connectivity in Arctic tourism development

This paper explores tourism development in Greenland using connectivity as a prism to explore the emerging challenges and opportunities brought about by vast distances and limited and costly accessibility. We introduce the current tourism situation in Greenland in a context of broader development patterns and currents in Arctic tourism. Based on interviews, workshops and policy analysis, we point to three pressing conversations in Greenlandic tourism: governance, tourism data and capacity. Drawing on the concepts of ‘islandness’ and (dis)connectivity, we suggest that Greenland is not one, but several, only partially connected destinations. We end up arguing for a greater need for sensitivity and tailoring in tourism policy making and for future initiatives to take geographical and ‘situational’ differences into account. •New international airports change the premise for tourism development in Greenland.•Connectivity is transformed and contested in planning and constructing infrastructure.•Connectivity shapes Greenland as a destination in topographical and topological space.•Policy coordination and capacity management are key for shaping future tourism development in Greenland.