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

v

Europe recorded 584 million international tourist arrivals in 2014

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;

Rome vs. Sibillini

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