Global trend: Tourists are becoming a problem

Mayor Lars Erik Gabrielsen, Avannaata Municipality, is highly critical of foreign-owned tourism companies' use of snowmobiles for excursions. He believes that foreign tourism companies do not instruct snowmobile tourists well enough.

- We locals have shouted and screamed to change everything. Large companies from outside are lending snowmobiles to people who have never driven and without supervision and without instructions on how to behave - also towards dog sled drivers, the mayor writes on Facebook.

Tourists on snowmobiles

Lars Erik Gabrielsen describes the foreign tourism companies as tourists – and puts his trump card by concluding that tourists should not act actors.

The words fall in the Facebook group "Turismens Bagland i Grønland", where Nivé Heilmann from Diskobay-Tours has raised the debate on the basis of several accidents with snowmobiles on the driveway at Akinneq, where the snowmobile tourists meet the dog sled drivers.

- It makes me sad - it makes me scared, as long as we have guests and newbies on snowmobiles at Akinnaq, who make it dangerous for us dog sled drivers and the guests on our sleds.

- I want everyone to be safe - and I hope that companies that sell snowmobile tours will look at their safety briefings and learn about driving skills, says Nivé Heilmann.

A global trend

With their contributions, Lars Erik Gabrielsen and Nivé Heilmann hit on a trend in a debate that is not unique in Greenland, but also rages in Norwegian Tromsø, even though the debate here is about the ability of foreign drivers to drive in snow and mountains.

The conservative (Norwegian Høyre, ed.) municipal council member in Tromsø, Erlend Svardal Bøe, says in an article in the Norwegian newspaper VG, that the influx of tourists has created “pure hell” for the local population.

He used to be a staunch supporter of tourism growth – but has now turned upside down. Although tourism creates jobs and economic growth, the price has become too high.

Tourism creates problems for the local population with congestion at the airport, feces everywhere in nature, high hotel prices, and the fact that the normal shops in the center of Tromsø have all turned into souvenir shops. But it is especially the foreign drivers in rental cars that irritate Erland Svardal Bøe.

- Driving in Northern Norway in the winter darkness, on slippery roads and in snow fog is difficult enough for us who live here. For people without experience, it happens all too often that things go wrong – sometimes seriously wrong.

Life-threatening situations

– Yet tourists are free to rent cars in the winter. This creates life-threatening situations. I have personally experienced drivers suddenly braking in the middle of the road to stop and look at the Northern Lights. Slippery roads, high snowdrifts and snow are something completely different from what tourists are used to.

- Therefore, requirements for an ice-road course and snow driving must be introduced before a tourist can rent a car in Tromsø, says the politician, who does not want to wait for the national politicians to do something about the matter. It must be introduced immediately. Anything else is indefensible.

As a conservative politician, Søe is opposed to taxes in principle, but he only sees one solution. Higher taxes on tourists – otherwise I will have to cancel my wedding next year because there is no room for my guests from other parts of Norway in Tromsø's hotels, he threatens.