Today’s visitors choose to travel to regions, destinations and businesses that committedly work with sustainability. Therefore, we are working to make Dalarna an economically, environmentally and socially sustainable destination. This commitment includes Visit Dalarna’s own organization and operations. Here you can read more about our sustainability efforts, the definitions of sustainability we adhere to and review our sustainability policy.
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Foto: Anna Holm
Copyright
Foto: Anna Holm
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Foto: Tommy Persson
Sustainability is one of three overarching areas, central of all of Visit Dalarna’s and the destinations work in development and communication. Alongside digitalization and internationalization, sustainability is one of the three main challenges that we need to address for Dalarna to remain competitive in a global market by the year 2030.
For the tourism industry, this is a matter of survival. From a market perspective, it's a necessity – regions, destinations, and businesses that are not perceived as responsible in terms of sustainability are increasingly overlooked by consumers. For our own sake, it's about ensuring that our experience production does not negatively affect the resources we have in terms of environment and cultural heritage, ensuring long-term profitability and ensuring that the tourism industry contributes to sustainable community development throughout Dalarna.
This is how we define sustainability
- Economic Sustainability: Achieving long-term economic growth for the business without negative consequences for ecological or social sustainability.
- Environmental Sustainability: Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
- Social Sustainability: Developing a society that values the equal worth of all individuals and prioritizes human needs and well-being.
These definitions guide our efforts to ensure Dalarna becomes a sustainable destination across economic, environmental, and social dimensions.
Sustainable Businesses
A company that consciously integrates economic, social, and environmental sustainability throughout its operations. The company has conducted a sustainability analysis according to GSTC criteria demonstrating a high degree of sustainability, or holds certification, labeling or standards in sustainability.
This means:
- The company is working towards increased sustainability throughout the value chain, from suppliers to consumers, and integrates profitability, environmental considerations, and social engagement into its business model, or has a business model built on sustainability principles.
- The company's management is consciously integrating sustainability throughout the organization and is committed to ongoing sustainable development. Employees have knowledge about and actively work with sustainability in their daily tasks and customers are encouraged to engage and act in a sustainable way.
- Certifications, labels or standards are based on those specifically tailored for businesses in the tourism industry.
A Roadmap for Sustainable Development
We focus on maximizing positive effects of the tourism industry while working to minimize long-term negative impacts in order to make Dalarna a sustainable destination. This includes ensuring that our production of experiences does not negatively affect the resources we have in terms of environment and cultural heritage, ensuring long-term profitability, and ensuring that the tourism industry contributes to sustainable community development throughout Dalarna.
GSTC for the Tourism Industry
Since 2019, we have been working with the methodology for sustainable tourism of the GSTC (Global Sustainable Tourism Council). It is based on the sustainable development goals of Agenda 2030 but are tailored specifically for the tourism industry.
In September 2023, Visit Dalarna joined the GSTC as a destination member. Membership provides us with access to a global network of tourism stakeholders, including destinations, regions and the tourism industry. This membership marks an important step in our sustainability efforts, allowing us to participate in knowledge exchange with organizations worldwide dedicated to sustainable destinations. This knowledge is then disseminated within our region and included as part of Visit Dalarna’s portfolio of development advisory services as well as serves as a basis for destination communication efforts.
Sustainability Policy and Environmental Management Plan
In addition to our efforts to make Dalarna a sustainable destination from a visitor's perspective, we have also developed a sustainability policy and an environmental management plan for our organization.
The main purpose of the policy is to set guidelines for how sustainability efforts should be conducted within the organization to contribute to our overall mission.