SUSTAINABLE ARCTIC DESTINATION

Sustainable Arctic Destination is a certification programme aimed at promoting sustainable tourism development in Kiruna in Swedish Lapland and enhancing the quality of our destination.

The growing tourism industry is of major importance to the economy and is now considered one of Sweden’s basic industries. According to the UN World Tourism Organization, global travel and tourism is expected to increase at a rate of about three percent annually until 2030. Many foreign visitors are interested in Sweden’s attractive and varied natural environments of vast forests, mountain landscapes, rivers and lakes – all of which there are many in Kiruna. The wealth of unique attractions within our destination gives us an exclusive position in global tourism. We have an Arctic climate with plenty of snow in a world where the climate is becoming steadily warmer. We have natural phenomena such as the northern lights and the midnight sun, interesting experiences such as Sámi culture, ICEHOTEL, the space and mining industries, and a city that is undergoing a major transformation.

Kiruna in Swedish Lapland is a strong and growing brand and Kiruna Lappland have confidently chosen to participate in the national goal: through sustainable development practices double turnover and the value of exports generated by the Swedish tourism industry by 2020. As an important step in this effort, Kiruna Lappland have decided to assume greater responsibility for the development of responsible and sustainable tourism in our destination. Our goal is to find a balance where tourism contributes to an improvement of social and economic conditions, whilst environmental, natural and cultural values are preserved. In order to make this vision a reality, sustainability has to be a natural core tenet of Kiruna’s tourism strategy. With the goal of providing tourism companies with the tools they need to grow and develop in a sustainable direction, Kiruna Lappland have developed a sustainability programme known as “Sustainable Arctic Destination”. The aim is to have a majority of companies at the destination certified as part of this programme.