Sustainable Tourism in Svalbard: Balancing economic growth, sustainability, and environmental governance

This commentary introduces a methodology and theoretical framework for studying how thetourism industry might balance the competing demands of economic growth and environmental governance. We focus on the “balancing act” Svalbard tourism industry must playamong sometimes competing demands of climate change mitigation and emissions fromtourism, and of strict Norwegian environmental management policy and demands forincreased tourism. While these are specific to Svalbard, the balancing act of competing needsis the core challenge of the UN Sustainability Goals giving this research global and pan-Arcticrelevance. Through collaboration between two tourism organisations, the Association of ArcticExpedition Cruise Operators (AECO) and Visit Svalbard and an interdisciplinary team of scientists,we will co-produce knowledge about how to innovate new opportunities while protectingthe wilderness, the very backbone of tourism. This collaboration considers how policy, climatechange, and local attitudes together may affect the tourism industry and helps to define anddevelop sustainable tourism operations and products. For instance, tourists may participatein environmental and community-related activities or “micro safaris” rather than a sole focuson charismatic megafauna. Policy discussions about tourism growth need to consider how localand national governments anticipate and navigate rapid social, political, and environmentalSvalbard; Sustainable tourism;Transformation; Local perspectives;Co-production of knowledgechanges.

Til publikasjon: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0032247421000668, https://hdl.handle.net/11250/3114650, https://hdl.handle.net/11250/3067188 | Publiseringsår: 2021 | Tidsskrift: Polar Record