Study trip to the Faroe Islands – an insight into society, hospitality, and the visitor industry

In November, the Swedish Lapland Visitors Board traveled to the Faroe Islands to delve into how the island nation works with sustainable tourism. During intense days, we met with organizations and entrepreneurs – and gained insight into a society where distances are short, the weather changes quickly, and tourism development is largely based on collaboration.

Arriving in the Faroe Islands was like stepping into a landscape that in many ways differs from our home in Arctic Sweden. There are hardly any trees here, the mountains slope steeply towards the sea, and the weather changes from sun to hail in a matter of minutes. It also became clear how close the Faroese are to national politics. With a small society and short decision-making paths, the contact between industry, authorities, and residents becomes more direct. For us at the Swedish Lapland Visitors Board, it was an interesting contrast – and an example of how structures can truly contribute to the opportunity to develop sustainable tourism.

Swedish Lapland Visitors Board and Visit Faroe Islands have a great collaboration where their CEO Guðrið Højgaard has been a valued speaker at several conferences that we have co-organized. The latest in Svolvær in November. We naturally took the opportunity to visit them at their office in Tórshavn and received a presentation on how they work.

“It was especially fun to hear more about their various PR campaigns, they have really succeeded in finding what makes their place unique and also managed to do PR of regenerative tourism, impressive”, says Matilda Mattsson Fröjd, Corporate Communications Manager, Swedish Lapland Visitors Board.

One of the insights during the trip was the value of hiring local guides. During the days in the Faroe Islands, we met a number of different guides who all gave their own perspectives on the place. Their personal relationships with nature, culture, and everyday life gave us an understanding that is difficult to read in guidebooks. It became a concrete reminder of how local voices create depth, context, and relevance in the experience – and how they contribute to both quality and sustainable development in the visitor industry.

The Faroe Islands works with a hospitality where the relationship between visitors and locals is central. Visitors are offered insight into everyday life and culture, including through an established “at home” concept (Heimablídni), which is both personal and in demand. It is a model that exists on a small scale in our arctic region, but has not really caught on on a broader front. It is interesting to see what opportunities there are to create meeting points between guests and local communities.

Here, on the island nation in the North Atlantic, the weather is largely the same year round, but still summer is the peak season. It becomes clear that the strength of the seasons often depends less on demand and more on supply: what activities are offered, which companies are open and how the marketing is set up.

“It is an interesting reflection of our own region, where winter is the strongest period – not necessarily because that is when the need is greatest, but because that is when we have a well-developed offer”, says Niklas Wede, Market Development Manager, Swedish Lapland Visitors Board.

The trip to the Faroe Islands was an eye-opener to new perspectives, both on similarities and differences between our regions. How supply shapes seasons, how hospitality can be deepened and how structures affect the ability to work sustainably over time.

A trip that provided insights that will contribute to our continued work in Arctic Sweden.