COVID-19 is having a profound effect on the tourism sector in the Cool North and as the industry starts to move into a resilient, post-pandemic recovery there is an opportunity to look at more sustainable or responsible tourist behavior and address sustainability challenges in peripheral and Arctic areas that have been intensified by the pandemic. This will be done in a new one-year NPA Clustering Project, ETRAC - Ethical Tourism Recovery in Arctic Communities.
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On December 2020, the sauna was accepted into the UNESCO official cultural heritage list. Presumably only now do Finns realize their weekly practice is valuable. The sauna is not only a place or space for bathing but it has various meanings. We might argue that sauna is a significant part of the Finnish identity.
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"2020 has been a tough year for tourism and we are yet to witness the full regional and national impacts across the world. This year has also provided an opportunity to take a step back and ponder what kind of tourism is sustainable in the long run? Has the business been financially, socially, and environmentally beneficial for the region?"
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Nature has traditionally been an attraction for Finnish tourism. The peace and quiet of Eastern Finland appeal especially to tourists from congested areas. In addition to the natural landscape, the Ilomantsi area is attracted by its rich oral tradition: the ancient poetry culture has flourished there through the centuries. It is the tradition that underlies the national epic Kalevala.
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Service design is a customer-centred approach. One of the most important tools in service design is the Customer journey. Customer journey illustrates how the customer perceives and experiences the service. In this post, my goal is to clarify the concept of the customer journey. The customer journey begins before the customer has accurate information about the services and does not end when she leaves the service. Thus, the customer journey considers the phases before, during, and after actual interaction with the service.
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If you are a tourism operator offering accommodation, tours, or activities in protected areas, please complete this form by Friday 24 April 2020.
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In early March Wester Ross Biosphere Reserve officially launched the first-ever destination management plan in Scotland – a culmination of all the work done through the SHAPE project. The plan is a shared statement of intent to manage the area between 2020 -2022, articulating the roles of different stakeholders. Its strength is to address fragmentation. In a small community like Wester Ross visitor economy is not controlled by any one stakeholder group and so it is essential that public, private and voluntary sectors work together.
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Sustainable tourism means that you not only have to attract visitors to your region. You have to attract the right visitors, for the right reasons and then make sure that your guests during their stay act responsibly and leave your area “untouched”. Achieving that involves making the right choices.
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It is impossible to understand the world of travel and tourism without the opinion of bloggers; what they say on Facebook, twitter and other social networks matters. Galloway and Southern Ayrshire Biosphere recently worked with a travel blogger Watch Me See to promote ‘Biosphere Experiences’.
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The leaders of Snæfellsnes Regional Park have really embraced the opportunities given by the SHAPE project. SHAPE has both influenced regional tourism policy and enhanced local tourism attractions.
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