The University of Lapland took part in the Lapland Tourism Parliament 2021 to present the SmartCulTour project, which brought together tourism industry players for a hybrid event in Levi, Finland on 28-29 October.
The theme of this year’s Lapland Tourism Parliament is the recovery of tourism and future directions. There were speeches on changes in the operating environment and expectations of recovery, discussing solutions to labour shortages, the future development of domestic tourism and sustainable and responsible tourism. Speakers at the seminar include Mika Salminen, Director of THL, Markku Ollikainen, President of the Finnish Climate Panel, Topi Manner, President and CEO of Finnair, Juha Majanen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Finance, Johan Edelheim, Professor of Tourism and Media at the University of Hokkaido, Timo Kousa, President and CEO of Aurinkomatkat, Visit Flanders Marketing Director Elke Dens and Pentik entrepreneurs Anu Pentik and Topi Pentikäinen.
The event organisers conducted a live interview with the senior researcher Hong Li (University of Lapland), in which she introduced the SmartCulTour project and the six Living Labs – the Utsjoki Lab in particular – in detail. The visibility of the SmartCulTour project was enhanced during this event.