Swedish Lapland Visitors Board has joined as a Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) member.
Swedish Lapland Visitors Board is the destination management organization for Norrbotten county and the municipalities Skellefteå and Sorsele. The destination brand Swedish Lapland is also a business-oriented collaboration platform for marketing and support to the industry’s ambitions to provide for international and national demand for the destination’s range of subarctic products and experiences.
Swedish Lapland represents Sweden’s part of the Arctic and has a world-unique position through its subarctic nature and culture. The destination is also part of Sápmi, the traditional settlements of the Sami indigenous people, stretching over four countries (Sweden, Finland, Norway and Russia). The entire destination is reindeer grazing land. Approximately 30 local Sami reindeer herding communities conduct reindeer husbandry, from mountains to the archipelago islands of the Gulf of Bothnia.
Ecotourism in Swedish Lapland
It can be said that Swedish Lapland equals ecotourism. The region is home to the Icehotel, Treehotel, and other genuine, authentic, and small-scale tourism experiences with a focus on people and encounters. Swedish Lapland’s collaboration with Nature’s Best, Sweden’s only sustainability label for nature-based experiences, encourages more companies to work with sustainability labeling. Several local companies in the region have received the Nature’s Best label. The quality label’s criteria are based on the GSTC Industry Criteria and include new thematic criteria, such as hiking, cycling, accommodation, Sami tourism and culture.
“Our ambition is to be an active part of the global movement of sustainable tourism and contribute to GSTC’s international network by exchange of experiences and best practise,” says Annika Fredriksson, CEO of Swedish Lapland Visitors Board.
GSTC Welcomes Swedish Lapland
“GSTC warmly welcomes the Swedish Lapland Visitors Board into our global membership, looking forward to collaboration and idea-sharing with our network of destination stewardship practitioners,” says Randy Durband, CEO of the Global Sustainable Tourism Council.
“With increasing adoption of the GSTC Criteria in the Nordic countries, we are glad to have the Swedish Lapland Visitors Board as a GSTC Member. This brings an opportunity for further collaboration in the Sápmi transnational region in regards to sustainability in travel and tourism,” says Roi Ariel, General Manager of the Global Sustainable Tourism Council.
GSTC encourages destinations pursuing sustainability practices in tourism to join as GSTC members. Apply the GSTC Destination Criteria and support local businesses to apply the GSTC Industry Criteria. Destinations can eventually aim for achieving certification by a GSTC-Accredited Certification Body as a sustainable tourist destination.
