Now, the Nature Tourism Companies are joining forces and deepening their work on sustainable nature tourism in Sweden. On the agenda are, among other things, a mapping of the industry and its players, the development of new tools for easier transition to sustainable operations, and measures around skills development and education.
Nature tourism companies are now beginning intensive work to promote sustainable nature tourism in Sweden. In a first stage, the nature tourism industry and its actors will be mapped. This is information that has been missing for a long time, and which is relevant to creating the conditions for assessing the industry in Sweden.
Next, in collaboration with the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth, indicators will be developed for measuring the sustainability of companies. In connection with this, new tools will also be developed that will help companies in a tangible way to transition to more sustainable operations. A kind of introductory training that can form the basis for more in-depth knowledge and ultimately perhaps labeling with, for example, Nature's Best or other sustainability labels.
– It will be like an introduction to sustainability. Simply knowledge to be able to work more sustainably, and also criteria to measure yourself against. So that an entrepreneur also knows whether the sustainability work is progressing or not., comments Camilla Jönsson, acting secretary general of the Swedish Nature Tourism Companies.
The nature tourism companies will also build and share a competence platform, so that both companies, destinations, educators and partners can share knowledge about sustainability and entrepreneurship within nature tourism.
Raising nature tourism as a concept
The gathering of forces also means raising the dialogue about outdoor recreation and nature tourism. There are both challenges and opportunities with both concepts. The base is nature and infrastructure, but otherwise they are completely different activities, where responsibility also lies differently at the national level. The Ministry of the Environment/Swedish Environmental Protection Agency is responsible for outdoor recreation, while the Ministry of Enterprise, Innovation and Technology and the Ministry of Agriculture, via the Swedish Agency for Economic Development and Growth and the Swedish Board of Agriculture, are responsible for the tourism industry and sustainable rural areas.
– It is important that the discussion about nature stays is not conducted solely from the perspective of outdoor life, and that from there we look over the edge of nature tourism, so to speak. We need a level playing field and find out where the synergies and contradictions lie., notes Camilla.
– Nature is the main reason for traveling to Sweden, so we need to change the way we view nature tourism, and highlight its importance for tourism in general. A nature tourism company is often a small-scale self-employed person with a varied turnover, and has therefore had more difficulty getting support during vulnerable periods, such as during the pandemic, for example. We simply need to highlight and create good conditions for these entrepreneurs,she concludes.
Sustainable for the entire tourism industry
Further strengthening the goal of contributing to positive rural development and competitive tourism that does not deplete nature and the environment are some of the more overall effects of the initiative. This is fully in line with the Government's strategy for sustainable tourism and a growing tourism industry, which in turn is linked to Agenda 2030 and the global goals for sustainable development. By joining forces, the Nature Tourism Companies intend to be able to lead the way in the tourism industry's sustainability efforts and contribute to the national goals.
According to the press release.
