Towards a Sustainable Arctic Tourism: An integrated strategy for the sustainable development of tourism in the Nordic Arctic

The tourism industry in the Arctic region of the Nordic countries faces a range of challenges in the future. Its products are sold using images of an unspoiled wilderness, combined with a unique living and cultural heritage. These combine to give the tourists a true adventure – the experience of a lifetime. It is therefore vital that the tourists’ expectations are satisfied by a visit to the Arctic. At the same time, key markets are becoming increasingly aware of the pressures that the tourism industry can have on these values. The Nordic countries are also under pressure from the highest political levels in the international arena to develop tourism policy that takes into account the need to preserve the sustainability of these values, in other words a sustainable tourism development.
This report presents an integrated Nordic strategy for a sustainable tourism development in the Arctic region. It is based on the results of a multi-stakeholder workshop that was held to develop the strategy, as well as a desktop study conducted by the consultants.