Sustainable tourism in the new normal

Funded by: Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth

Time period: 1,5 year (Januariy 2021 - July 2022)

Partner organizations: Dalarna University, Uppsala University

About the project

The world is now facing a health-, social-, and economic crisis. Tourism is one of the worst hit industries. Within this sector, the pandemic is discussed as an enforced halt to the frentic traveling in the world, a possibility to reflect over our choices, an invitation to tourists and the industry to reevaluate their possibilities and to adapt to more sustainable practices in the new normal after covid 19, expressed by the UN World Tourism Organization: sustainability should be the new normal after covid-19. The crisis has created problems, but also been a catalyst for innovations. This period is therefore very rich in ideas, activities and innovations to combat the pandemic. Some of these can become useful to combat less visible crisis like climate change, if adequately dealt with. The aim with this project is to take the experiences generated during the pandemic crisis to develop new knowledge to reach a more sustainable development of tourism in the new normal after the crisis. We will collect, explore and develop the initiatives, activities, business models, products that have appeared among tourism business provoked by the pandemic, that also have the potential to be developed into sustainable innovations to the deal with the climate crisis and other sustainability challenges.

The project will focus on two destinations, Gotland and Dalarna, representing two different kinds of destinations, one summer and one winter destination, while both have nature based and outdoor recreation tourism, which have been among the most resilient during the pandemic. Both have also made substantial infrastructural investments in the last years (a cruise quay on Gotland and airport in Dalarna) which makes them vulnerable to disruptions in revenue flows.

Project leader: Ioanna Farsari

Project members: Ioanna Farsari, Ulrika Persson-Fischier, Marije Poort

Here is a video presenting the results of the project (in Swedish):