‘Greenland is no longer a future story, it’s today’—investors eye the Arctic
“Greenland is no longer a future story, it’s today,” declared Hugh Short, CEO of Alaska-based PT Capital, as he addressed a packed room of global investors at the Arctic Investments 2025 conference in London.
Short, speaking alongside Peter Lyberth, CEO of Nalik Ventures in Greenland, outlined an ambitious plan to transform the country’s growing tourism sector into a new frontier for international investment. The two presented a roadmap for foreign capital, amounting to several hundred million dollars in potential projects, to help develop hotels, cruise ports and supporting infrastructure as Greenland opens its skies to direct international travel.
“We’re standing at the front end of a tourism economy that will transform this country over the next decade,” Short said. “The airports are open, the demand is real and now we need investment capital to match it.”
However, if Greenland is to live up to its full potential as a prime tourism destination, there are several challenges that need to be met.
New airports unlock access and opportunity
More than $700 million has already been invested in new runways that will connect Greenland directly to North America and Europe for the first time.
Nuuk, the capital, opened a 2,200-metre runway in late 2024, replacing Kangerlussuaq as the country’s main gateway. Ilulissat, Greenland’s leading tourism hub, will complete a 2,200-metre runway in 2026. Qaqortoq, the key to South Greenland, is building a 1,500-metre runway, also due to open in 2026.
The new airports are already attracting major carriers including United Airlines, SAS, Air Greenland and Icelandair. United’s Newark–Nuuk route, operating twice weekly, is fully booked throughout the summer season.
“Air access is the catalyst,” Lyberth said. “For years, we talked about potential. Now the infrastructure is in place. These airports open Greenland to the world and open our communities to opportunity.”
In July alone, 15,500 passengers arrived on full flights to Nuuk. Annualized, that equates to roughly 110,000 visitors, a record for the country and an early indication of demand far outpacing capacity.
Accommodation shortage highlights investment need
That rapid growth has exposed Greenland’s most pressing development challenge: a shortage of hotel rooms.
Nuuk currently has only 527 rooms, far below what’s required. PT Capital estimates the city needs at least 300 additional rooms just to serve existing traffic, and more than 3,000 to accommodate projected growth through the early 2030s.
To begin closing the gap, PT Capital and Nalik Ventures are partnering with local hoteliers Klaus and Anita Iversen, expanding the Hotel Aurora portfolio in Nuuk. Their next project, Hotel Aurora Nature, a 112-room property located between the new airport and the city’s ski lift, is scheduled to open in summer 2026.
“We’re investing with the people who know Greenland best — Greenlanders,” Short said. “Strong local operators, working with global partners, can build projects that succeed both economically and socially.”
The firms have identified more than $100 million in immediate equity opportunities across hotel and tourism infrastructure nationwide.
A growing Arctic tourism market
PT Capital’s analysis shows that Greenland is following the same trajectory once seen in other polar destinations.
Between 2010 and 2024, Alaska grew from 1.8 million to 3 million visitors. Iceland grew from 650,000 to 2.3 million. Antarctica expanded by 10 percent annually and Svalbard grew by 7 percent per year.
Across these regions, annual tourism spending now exceeds $8.5 billion, with an average growth rate of 6 percent.
Short said Greenland’s share of that market could rise rapidly as access improves. PT Capital projects that annual arrivals will reach 440,000 visitors within eight years, requiring 3,200 new hotel rooms and about $750 million in construction.
“The global traveler today wants something authentic: real nature, real people, real experiences,” Short said. “Greenland has that. What it needs now are the facilities and partnerships to meet the demand.”
Cruise and onshore development next
Cruise tourism, long seen as a niche market, is also expanding rapidly, from 23,000 passengers in 2007 to 95,000 in 2024.
PT Capital and Nalik are proposing to build turn ports connected to the new airports and to partner with major cruise lines on take-or-pay contracts that secure long-term berthing rights. The plan also calls for investment in local tour operators, cultural attractions, and onshore experiences to ensure that value from visiting ships remains in Greenlandic communities.
“Right now, most cruise passengers tender in by small boat,” Short said. “That’s inefficient, weather-dependent and limits local benefit. We can change that with proper port infrastructure and smart partnerships.”
Lyberth underscored that every project should serve Greenlandic interests first.
“We shouldn’t build this for the guests or the investors,” he said. “We should build it for our own sake, for Greenlanders, but we know we can’t do it alone. We need partners who believe in our vision.”
Connecting local ambition with global capital
PT Capital, based in Anchorage, has investments across aviation, energy and hospitality, including projects in Iceland and Alaska. Nalik Ventures, part of Greenland’s National Investment Fund, supports local entrepreneurs and small business growth across the country’s widely dispersed communities.
Together, they are positioning themselves as a bridge between Greenland’s local ambitions and international financing.
“We see ourselves as that connector,” Short said. “On one side, you have Greenland’s talent, land, and culture. On the other, investors looking for stable, sustainable returns in the Arctic. Our job is to bring them together.”
Lyberth closed by reminding the London audience that Greenland’s modernization is no longer hypothetical or distant.
“Ten years ago, we were debating whether to build the airports,” he said. “Now they’re real. Greenland is open for business and open for partnership.”
