Summer cruise traffic on the agenda

June 10th, 2022

After two years of pandemic, and an almost full stop in cruise traffic, tourists are again arriving by sea to Adventfjorden. The Destination Management in Longyearbyen recently gathered to discuss cruise traffic this summer.

“We see a different composition of the cruise segment than we have seen before. This summer there will be more expedition cruise ships, while there will be fewer conventional cruise ships. This is a completely new situation compared to previous seasons,” says Kjetil Bråten, Harbour Master at the Port of Longyearbyen.

He explains that there are six days in particular with a lot of traffic to the port. Around 57,000 cruise guests are expected to enter via the port. This is below 2019 levels, but in total there will be more arrivals.

Post Covid-19, Svalbard remains an attractive cruise destination. This offers valuable earnings for Longyearbyen, and not least year-round employment. Cruise tourism is and will be an important part of Svalbard’s tourism.

Some challenges related to visitor management, facilitation and information have been identified. These are challenges that can be solved to a large extent through cooperation and good planning, so that the cruise tourists’ arrival in not experienced as a burden on the local community.

Meeting challenges with dialogue and cooperation

With this as a starting point, the destination management in Longyearbyen was recently gathered to talk about the summer’s challenges. And how we can use insights and data capture to safeguard a sustainable future for cruise tourism in the Arctic.

Present were Longyearbyen Local Council, The Port of Longyearbyen, Avinor, Visit Svalbard, AECO and actors from logistics/transport and key representatives from local tourism. All of whom are in some way involved in cruise tourism.

With fact-based dialogue, various issues were raised on the agenda and discussed. Issues that require coordination and interaction, but the majority of these are fortunately short-term and manageable. There is great willingness amongst all those involved to find good common solutions for both businesses and the local community.

Short- and long-term solutions and measures for this summer’s challenges

This summer, we are expecting a few days that are particularly busy, however continuous efforts are being made to spread the cruise traffic throughout the season. Six dates stand out in particular, as conventional ships, the so-called “great whites,” arrive at the same time as expedition cruises, which are smaller coastal cruises around Svalbard. June seems to be the most hectic cruise month of the season.

Via Svalbardposten we have already been informed of the risk of long queues at the airport, which on average expect three flights per day in June. Twelve days in particular throughout the summer will lead to a strain on local infrastructure, as both scheduled and chartered aircrafts arrive at the same time. Work is now under way to find solutions, including increased staffing. Avinor has an ongoing dialogue with key actors both locally and on the mainland to deal with this summer’s challenges. Both Avinor and Widerøe Ground Handling encourage locals to arrive early at the airport prior to departure, and efforts are being made to make arrivals and departures as smooth as possible

SAS has fewer flights in the summer of 2022 than in 2019, and the company is struggling with delays, low staffing and cancellations. Norwegian has approximately the same capacity as in 2019. Overall, this helps push up prices, which can be an impediment to business activity, education, research and more – and frustrating for the locals. Aircraft capacity and challenges at airports characterize the airline industry after the pandemic, which also applies to Svalbard. Increasing future flight capacity is a measure being worked on for upcoming seasons

Visit Svalbard, on their part, are increasing their staffing during the summer months and are well prepared. There will be tourist information both in the harbor building and in the town. Visit Svalbard also sends and publishes weekly information about the number of boats and passengers to the public and businesses. Local youth are employed as city hosts and will be available to answer questions from visitors. They will lead the way to the city center, and help keep the city clean and tidy on days with many visits.

A dedicated host has been hired in the Port of Longyearbyen, who will work to improve facilitation throughout the cruise season.

Both AECO and Visit Svalbard have a high focus on communication with the cruise operators. Efforts are being made to increase the amount of time vessels stay at the port, so passengers have more time to explore the town and engage in activities. Communicating guidelines for visitors to Longyearbyen is a high priority. AECO has a close dialogue with their members, informing them of the local conditions.

However, it is not possible to reach all operators with information. For several years, there has been an increase in the number of tourism operators who are not part of the organized network, which poses a challenge for communications-work. This applies in particular to operators of small vessels with capacity up to 12 people. AECO’s guidelines are mandatory for all AECO members, but non-member operators are not obliged to follow the same strict guidelines. The Governor of Svalbard is encouraged to distribute guidelines to operators who have issued notices about tours, and who are not part of the organized tourism industry.

Data capture and analysis for future prioritization

The composition of the cruise tourism segment arriving in Svalbard this summer differs from previous years. The expedition cruise segment has increased over the last few years, and now constitutes a significant part of cruise tourism in Svalbard. The decline in the number of conventional cruise ships is expected to continue, both due to the recently introduced heavy oil ban, and the NOU 2022:1 on cruise traffic in Norwegian waters, which is now under consultation.

For the Destination Management, it will be important to measure local value-creation and footprints from both overseas and expedition cruises in the years to come. The Tourism Council’s revised masterplan aims to develop methods, tools and measurement systems that capture this. In this way, it will be possible to prioritize operators with environmentally responsible practices, and to set local requirements for cruise operators in the future.

For the Destination Management, it’s crucial to start this work at an early stage, and already this summer the data capture starts. Specific measures this summer are to further develop good cooperation, obtain an overview of learning points, and maintain open communication with both locals and other actors involved. This knowledge will be used to find future-oriented and sustainable solutions for cruise traffic.

An important part of the work will be to define and establish binding cooperation between the public and private-sector actors who together constitute the so-called “destination management”, responsible for managing both the travel-destination and the local community and ensuring coordination and comprehensive management of the challenges which arise between the different stakeholders.

For questions about the cruise season, please contact: