– Tourism has the potential to create positive effects for a place, but there is also a risk that it can become a burden, says Josefine Carlsson at Tourism in Skåne AB, which has started a new collaboration with the Swiss tour operator Kontiki Reisen.

Together with actors in three locations in Skåne, the project will Play a role develop and test new ways of working with sustainable place and product development. The idea is to collaborate throughout the chain, from the international travel sales chain to Skåne companies, the region, municipalities, local population and associations, to create experiences that have as many positive effects for the place as possible.

Now at the beginning of June, Tourism in Skåne AB and Kontiki Reisen will start workshops for key players at the three locations in Trelleborg, Hässleholm and Malmö.

– The whole point is that you work together at all levels from the beginning. It's about bringing in different perspectives and needs that exist on site early on, says Josefine Carlsson, responsible for nature tourism at Tourism in Skåne AB.

The project aims to develop new sustainable experiences for the conscious traveler. There is a growing trend around regenerative tourism, which is based on the idea that visitors contribute positively to the place, for example by helping to preserve nature or culture. Simply to leave behind a better place when they go home than it was when they arrived.

– When we were asked to participate in Play Role "We were quick to say yes! Of course we see an opportunity to work towards our own future business visions, but we also see it as a fantastic opportunity to be part of the future development of the area," says Michael Daly at STF Smygehuk Lighthouse Hostel.

Play a role is a concrete example of how Tourism in Skåne AB works based on the strategic roadmap towards 2030, with the vision Skåne – where tourism matters, where a core idea is that tourism can contribute to solving societal challenges. Tourism, under the right conditions, can be a positive force for sustainable change – a vision that Kontiki Reisen shares and which they have worked on for a long time in several places around the world.

If Play a role
Play a role is a three-year collaboration between Tourism in Skåne AB and the Swiss tour operator Kontiki Reisen. The purpose of the collaboration is to test and develop new ways of working with sustainable place and product development. In 2022, three partner municipalities with key players in the form of companies have expressed interest in participating; Malmö and Travelshop, Hässleholm and Källarbacken, and AB Visit Trelleborg and STF Smygehuk Lighthouse Hostel.