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Arctic Yearbook 2014
52,000 guests registered in 2012. A rough estimate would be that the economic turnover in 2011
from tourism was about €55 million, and it is expected to have grown slightly each year since.
Generally speaking, tourism statistics are poor in the Faroes, but some efforts have been made
recently to improve this (VisitFaroeIslands 2014).
The Faroes have not yet been particularly good at “getting their share” of the large and growing
global tourism business. The relative level of visitors is about the lowest in Europe and the capacity
of guesthouses has been stalled since the 1980s. On the other hand, the quality of the hotels and the
number of restaurants, especially in the capital Tórshavn has improved substantially in the last
decade. As in many other cold island communities, tourism is seen as an important way to generate
economic growth. Tourism is expected to grow significantly, and the important “Faroes Tourism
Branch” has recently had a financial injection of funding, is newly reorganised, and has adopted a
new tourism strategy, which by 2020 has the ambition to: (1) double the number of
accommodations; (2) double the number of employees in the industry, and (3) increase the turnover
from about €60 million today up to €125 million (VisitFaroeIslands 2014;
www.visitfaroeislands.com).
Faroese tourism has developed from the enthusiasm of many devoted single entrepreneurs, who
have combined their devotion – for example to save an old sailing ship from destruction and thus
create possibilities to earn income. It has also developed from public and public/private investment
in the necessary infrastructure – an airline and a European ferry link. You could say that “the big
players” have the job to get the tourists to the Faroes while the job of the “small players” is to
“entertain them” when they are there (Hovgaard 2014).
Current challenges and the future of Faroese tourism conveniently take their departure from the
new tourism strategy. This new tourism strategy has its focus on “branding” and “external”
relations. Although branding is extremely important, a larger increase in the number of tourists will
also create a need for increased local viability, better “product” and “experience” experimentation
and innovation (Sundbo 2014).
Thus there is a need for investments, in social capital as well as other resources, which still seem to
be institutionally under prioritized (Hovgaard 2014). There is also a need to balance the new strategy
with wider planning issues, as doubling the number of tourists undoubtedly will put added pressure
on local infrastructure, local culture and the environment in general. Simple questions like the social
and cultural consequences of more tourists, for instance if people are willing to give up their “local
way of life”, need to be addressed. There is a need to discuss such issues further, and find reasonable
and balanced ways to proceed (Laursen 2014).
Faroese nature is normally advertised as being “unspoiled”, yet there are parts that are already under
stress, and therefore there is a need to combine environmental and tourism policy to manage further
stress. One important factor in successful tourism development is to professionalize the business
aspect, and research shows that local entrepreneurship, innovation, professionalization and further
research are necessary preconditions to develop destinations and the experience economy in general
(Sundbo 2014).
Arctic Tourism