How can Arctic tourism become more sustainable, more diverse, and more attractive year-round? This was the key question behind a recent pilot workshop in Alta, where tourism businesses met with cultural and creative actors to explore new opportunities for collaboration.
The workshop is part of the Arctic Europe Tourism Cluster (AETC) project’s work on renewing Arctic tourism by strengthening the role of culture in tourism and supporting year-round business development. Unlike seasonal activities, cultural experiences exist all year and can add depth, authenticity, and value to the visitor experience.
The format was developed in collaboration with Arctic Factory, the project’s strategic partner for product development, and facilitated by Eivind Reibo from Plenum Design.
Through sharing insights, group discussions and collaborative exercises, participants explored how local traditions, storytelling, wellbeing, food culture, and community engagement can become stronger parts of tourism products.
A strong message throughout the day was the need for more meeting places like this. Many participants highlighted that tourism and cultural sectors rarely have structured opportunities to meet, exchange ideas, and develop products together, despite the clear potential.
The discussions showed that stronger collaboration can lead to richer guest experiences and stronger local ownership, ultimately improving overall satisfaction.
Key themes included:
- Nature and wellbeing as a platform for cultural experiences
- Local traditions, food, crafts, and entrepreneurship as tourism assets
- Storytelling as a way to strengthen and connect experiences
- Community collaboration as the foundation for long-term value creation
The workshop resulted in new connections, concrete ideas, and a shared understanding that culture and tourism can create greater value together.
This pilot in Alta is one step in testing new ways of building stronger links between culture and tourism across the Arctic. The hope is that this format can continue and be repeated in other destinations, creating more opportunities for collaboration, innovation, and year-round development in Northern Norway and across the wider Arctic region.