Arctic Yearbook 2014 | Page 516

Arctic Yearbook 2014 516 The purpose of this briefing note has been to disseminate the theoretical and practical approaches that have created the presented best practice for developing tourism safety and security: the Tourism Safety and Security System in Lapland. The briefing note is also a material package enabling the dissemination of information about our best practices in this field. This is one way for us to be able to respond to the request made by the Arctic Strategy of Finland (2013), encouraging us to spread information about our regional innovation (best practice) to all Arctic countries. Safety and security are at the core of all responsible business, and a tourism destination that is not interested in safety and security will lose its competitive advantage sooner or later. The briefing note introduced the topic and then presented the theoretical starting points on the concepts of safety and security research, demonstrating it to be a wide and multidisciplinary research field. Next, the practical operative model, main activities and internationalisation of the Tourism Safety and Security System in Lapland approach were presented. The activities are based on combining theory and practice. This combination is challenging but crucial for successful research and development activities. We believe that when researchers enter into dialogue with practitioners, they gain essential data for generalising the actual problems faced, making it possible to support the process of presenting these problems to a wider audiences as well as decision-makers, thus helping to solve these problems. When tourism practitioners can talk with research actors, it makes it possible for them to develop a broader understanding of the causes behind the problems, empowering them to find solutions from the correct sources. We welcome all countries in the Arctic in joining our common endeavour – contact us! Notes 1. In the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs there is a separate formal committee on safe travelling, see: http://formin.finland.fi/public/default.aspx?contentid=50470 (in Finnish only). See also: http://matkustusturvallisuus.fi/. The Tourism Safety and Security in Lapland initiative presented in this briefing note is a unique regional innovation (best practice) for all tourism actors, especially for SMEs. We have strong cooperation with the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs in developing our activities and networking internationally. 2. Tourism Safety and Security: http://matkailu.luc.fi/Hankkeet/Turvallisuus/en/Tourism-Safety-and-Security. 3. Lapland UAS Strategy: http://www.lapinamk.fi/en/Who-we-are/Lapland-UAS-Strategy. References Niemisalo