Arctic Yearbook 2014
515
As an operative model the tourism safety and security development activities have existed since
2009. The activities have taken place in 14 tourism destinations within sparsely populated
Finnish Lapland and have included hundreds of educational events, drills and company sparrings
for tourism companies and SMEs, non-tourism companies, public authorities, associations and
other actors. The participating tourism destinations are Enontekiö, Utsjoki, Levi, Ylläs,
Saariselkä, Pyhä-Luosto, Kemijärvi, Posio, Rovaniemi, Meri-Lappi (Kemi and Tornio regions),
Salla, Muonio, Pello, Ylitornio. Other actors in the Tourism Safety and Security System in
Lapland are presented on our web-site.2
The education and training events have taken place in tourism destinations in Finnish Lapland.
The key idea behind the training has been to enhance the safety skills of the enterprises, public
authorities and local populations of the municipalities that operate in and around tourism
destination environments. The key problems they tackle are long distances and a lack of safety
and security resources combined with a significant increase of the international population
during tourism seasons. This results in risks that would cause immediate economic losses and
indirectly do major harm to the regional and national image if they occurred. Our core idea has
been to create sustainability by committing the local population, public authorities, associations
and other actors to safety and security skills and education. The cornerstones of our activities
are:
•
•
•
•
Listening closely to customer needs (safety and security end-users, tourism enterprises,
associations and other third sector organisations, citizens in municipalities close to
tourism destinations)
Active network building: regional, national, international
Creating practical tools for companies and SMEs
International cooperation and maintaining our expertise by continually implementing
multidisciplinary research into the topic
(Source: Qualitative interviews of the tourism safety experts in Finnish Lapland, April-June2014)
The approach has gained recognition due to its innovative and cost-efficient approach. The
National Diamond Act award it received is the highest national recognition for safety and
security innovations. This recognition has supported our international network building,
indicated by European EPSA2013 award given to the network in November 2013. The
significance of these awards is they were awarded after independent peer review and recognition.
The internationalisation process serves all actors in the network, especially the tourism industry
and SMEs. This briefing note is a co-creation of a particular internationalisation project
(European Dimension on Tourism Safety and Security, ESF 2012-2014). The project lead partner is the
Multidimensional Tourism Institute, which is a key initiator in the network building and has
chosen tourism safety and security as its spearhead theme in RDI. This strategic choice is
supported by Lapland University of Applied Sciences, which has chosen safety and security as a
strategic priority.3 Other partners are Lapland State Administrative Agency and Lapland Hospital
District, who both play crucial roles in tourism intensive Finnish Lapland.
Conclusion
Tourism Safety & Security