Abstract
PurposeWhile tourism scholars have increasingly recognized the significance of collaboration as an essential element in tourism development, there is a lack of theoretical and empirical research centering on (trans)local collaboration as a central means for future tourism development in Greenland. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the conceptual and analytic potentials and challenges of collaboration in an explorative case study.Design/methodology/approachThe paper applies a case study approach to scrutinize collaboration in the setting of a tourism workshop in South Greenland. This research approach is exploratory in nature and focuses on collaborative activities among participants from different research institutions and countries, from Campus Kujalleq in Qaqortoq, from small-scale enterprises and businesses, managers of destination marketing organizations and local fishermen.FindingsFour “collaborative configurations” emerged during the workshop. These inspire and challenge ways of (re)conceptualizing collaborative tourism development in South Greenland and call for the reconsideration of the present approach toward tourism development for shaping new possible future(s) of tourism in the Greenlandic context.Originality/valueThe relevance of this paper emerges from the crucial significance that tourism actors in Greenland credit collaboration. Moreover, by approaching development issues from within and mutually developing possible practice solutions through collaboration with local tourism actors, the paper aims to give voice to the local community, which currently is lacking in the debate on tourism development in Greenland.
Highlights
The Arctic is challenged by major social, cultural, environmental and economic change (Maher, 2017)
This paper introduces the term “collaborative configuration” to further nuance the emerging collaborative practices occurring in the workshop
The workshop aimed to create an atmosphere of knowledge sharing and exchange and to function as a platform, offering participants space to contribute to the exploration and development of proposals for how to combine sustainability with the changing and challenging environment in South Greenland in relation to tourism and fisheries
Summary
The Arctic is challenged by major social, cultural, environmental and economic change (Maher, 2017). Arctic communities are affected by climate change, by social shifts within the indigenous societies and by the emerging tourism-related economic opportunities resulting from increased cruise-ship visits and air traffic (Hall and Saarinen, 2010). The need to explore local paths of opportunity and to create new opportunities for tourism planning and the development of the respective Arctic populations are becoming increasingly important (Nordic Council of Ministers, 2015). On this background, the paper explores collaborative practices in a workshop setting, which took place as part of a research project on sustainable small-scale business development and demography in South Greenland (see AAU Arctic, 2017). The paper unfolds how these diverse and yet interconnected practices simultaneously inspire and challenge new possible futures of tourism planning and development in the Greenlandic context and how they potentially form diverse tools providing multiple options for developing a destination
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