The new TemaNord report analyses good practices, new approaches, opportunities and challenges for Indigenous tourism in the European Arctic. It states that sustainable tourism is about creating space for Indigenous cultures to thrive on their own terms.

The report Indigenous tourism in the European Arctic – Reclaiming pasts and strengthening futures identifies four interconnected pillars that are central to fostering and strengthening Indigenous tourism. The pillars are: the relation of Indigenous tourism to place and land, storytelling as a vital part of decolonisation, certifications and trademarks as tools for self-determination and business development, and collaboration and community inclusion as necessary steps to move forward.

“We fully agree with the main statement of the report that sustainable tourism is about creating space for Indigenous cultures to thrive on their own terms. The report will be useful in our tourism projects,” says Silje Karine Muotka, President of the Sámi Parliament in Norway.

Moreover, the report discusses the potential to connect tourism with crafts, art and design. It supports destination management organizations and entrepreneurs in developing sustainable business solutions and assists policymakers in enabling Indigenous tourism futures to flourish in the Arctic.

“This report meets the goal of the Nordic Arctic Programme by supporting the development of local business opportunities and sustainable economic growth in the Arctic. We are looking forward to following the implementation and pact of this work”, says Susanne Andreasen, Director of The Nordic Institute in Greenland – NAPA, the administrator of the Nordic Arctic Programme.

About Arctic Co-operation

The report summarises the main topics and the conclusions of the European Indigenous Tourism Conference EITC 2025 held in Inari, Finland in May 2025. EITC 2025 was the first-ever Indigenous tourism conference in Europe. It was jointly organised by the World Indigenous Tourism Alliance, the Sámi Parliament in Finland and the University of Lapland.

The report was co-created with Indigenous tourism actors in the project Sustainable Indigenous Tourism in the Nordic Arctic. The project strengthened cross-Arctic collaborative knowledge co-creation, capacity building and sustainable Indigenous tourism development through networking and co-operation, and it was funded by the Nordic Council of Ministers’ Arctic Cooperation Programme. The project partners were the University of Lapland, Umeå University, UiT the Arctic University of Norway, Aalborg University, the Sámi Parliament in Norway and Innovation South Greenland/Visit South Greenland. The Sámi Parliaments in Finland and Sweden were collaboration partners in the project.

Permanent address of the electronic publication: https://www.norden.org/en/publication/indigenous-tourism-european-arctic

An executive summary of the main points of the report in poster-format: https://matkailu.samediggi.fi/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/EITC25-juliste.pdf