Driving Sustainable & Competitive Tourism Across Europe
PM4SD Summer School 2015
Ms. Ólöf Ýrr Atladóttir, Dir. Gen. of the Icelandic Tourist
Board and Vice-President of ETC
vICELANDIC TOURISM
5% GDP
28% National currency revenue
5900 jobs created since
2008(no. for other sectors
-7300)
24% increase in visitor no. 2013-
2014Visitors 2014
≈ 1.000.000
Sustainable tourism"Tourism that takes full account of its current and future economic, social and environmental impacts, addressing the needs of visitors, the industry, the environment and host communities"”
Tourisms challenges
• Seasonality– Job creation– ROI
• Guest congestion – dispersion
• Environmental overload
• Public goods utilisation and financing
Tourisms resources – “Auðlindir”
• Nature – natural attractions• Culture – indigenous
and authentic• Services and infrastructure • People and societal framework
Nature and natural attractions
• 70% of visitors list nature as Icelandic tourisms main strength
• Nature – in the eye of the beholder?– Wilderness– Variety– Singularity
• Adventure tourism – a natural playground
Nature and natural attractions• Utilisation vs.
environmental protection• Image as “pure”,
“unspoilt” destination• Overcrowding at popular
places• Trampling of natural
vegetation• Environmental overload
and pollution due to tourism
Nature and natural attractions • Long term planning and
design• Development of new
attractions and regions• Environmental
accreditation• Vakinn: a cohesive
Icelandic quality and environmental accreditation system
Culture – indigenous and authentic
• Rising proportion visiting Iceland for cultural attractions
• History• Music• Literature• Design• Urban daily life• Nightlife• Rural life
Culture – indigenous and authentic
• Designed tours• City breaks• MICE• Designer tours• Music festivals• Museums and
exhibitions• Self awareness through
tourism strategy
Culture – indigenous and authentic
• Infringement on daily life• Overload in certain times• Producing for tourists• When do we lose
ourselves?
Society, services and infrastructure
• Quality makes long term business sense• Increasingly self sufficient travellers – the experience economy• Positioning as modern, safe, environmentally aware destination• Participatory experiences• Innovation – utilising all senses
Society, services and infrastructure
• Service quality– Accomodation– Gastronomy– Activities
• Hospitality: one of Icelands main strengths
• Infrastructure– Road system – Transportation
Society, services and infrastructure
• Human resources• Training• Systematic work on
quality issues• Burnout• Strain on public
infrastructure• Financing public works
European tourism
• Economic
• Societal
• Environmental
• ROI increase, dispersion, condensation, destination development, regional strategies
Tourism strategy; future vision; stakeholder participation; innovation support
• Employment, training, phasing out seasonality, local services
Educational strategy; destination design; entrepreneurship
• Coordination of quality and environmental sustainability:
Cohesive accreditation systems; management of natural heritage and protected areas; Cohesive planning;
European tourism• Congestion in many popular
destinations
• However, many regions could benefit from an increase in well planned, sustainably developed visitation
• We need to start addressing other metrics than tourism numbers in a methodological fashion.
European tourism• Can Europe expect to grow at the
same rate as emerging destinations?
• Is it possible to make a coherent strategy for European tourism?
• Increased numbers of tourists are not necessarily an aim in itself – what do destinations want? What influence on society? What benefits for infrastructure? What kind of job creation?
European tourism• Are pan- European initiatives
such as EDEN as start of a strategic European vision for tourism?
• Can Europe devise a coherent strategy – with the participation of individual nations?
• Can Europe support individual nations initiatives in building their owm coherent strategies for tourism?
European tourism• ETC members can be partners in the
necessary discussions towards this.
• Quality should not be confused with luxury – quality is a necessary component of European tourism at all levels, and Europe needs to project a holistic vision in that respect.
• We need to connect necessary strategic planning of tourism within destinations to the marketing of those same destinations. Marketing must give a true sense of the destination.
We need to control tourism development - not be controlled by developments within tourism.
Quality – planning - strategyQuality at all levels and ranges – that should be our competitive edge
Environmental issues must be mainstreamed into quality thinking
Long-term planning is necessary for the sustainable growth of the industry
A cohesive strategy must be implemented, taking into account the diverse nature of the industry