Adventurous Arctic encounters? Exploring Chinese adventure tourism

Abstract

While Greenland prepares itself to get “China ready” and Visit Greenland is increasingly gearing its offerings towards adventure tourists, this article examines the Chinese adventure market to Greenland. We first explore China-directed activities at the destination such as B2B trade development, product development and marketing training support for tourism operators. The article then compares these activities through social listening to needs and wants of Chinese travelers to Greenland, as expressed in travel blogs on the platform Mafengwo. The concerns voiced by Chinese travelers show how adventure tourism is understood and addressed differently at the destination and by Chinese tourists. By showing how local tourism actors see Chinese tourists and reversely, how Chinese tourists view and negotiate Greenland as a tourist destination, we argue for a more dynamic understanding of Chinese adventure tourism to Greenland to seize changes and opportunities within the Chinese market. Especially in light of new international airports, this conversation, we argue, is of vital importance to work with this market in a sustainable manner. In conclusion, the article sketches possible trajectories towards the development of more culturally sensitive tourism.