1 Introduction
Is it possible to consider ‘Indigenous tourism’ as something that unites tourism efforts and activities across Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland) and Sápmi? Does it make sense, in spite of many obvious and more subtle differences in languages, cultural practices and heritage and experiences with colonial history to claim similarity, or even communality? Following this, can the current unfolding of Indigenous led tourism in Kalaallit Nunaat and Sápmi become the starting point of a joint conversation and more learning on Indigenous tourism in the Nordics?
In this report, and based on the experiences from the 1st European Indigenous Tourism Conference EITC 2025 held in Inari in May 2025, we will try to answer this question by illustrating and discussing how Indigenous tourism across the globe and within the Nordics shares similarities and affinities that can teach, inspire and guide the future development at this moment in time when interest and demand for Indigenous tourism are growing and Indigenous peoples in many countries are increasingly taking tourism development into their own hands.
We fully recognise and acknowledge cultural diversity across and also within Sámi and Kalaallit Inuit (Greenlandic Inuit) communities. But we also argue that in spite of differences as well as variegated prior experiences with tourism, customer base and scale, many similarities exist in the ways tourism is perceived and developed among Indigenous tourism entrepreneurs. What this report seeks to explore is how beyond differences, Indigenous tourism actors may inspire and learn from each other, and just as importantly, inspire others by how tourism is envisioned and carried out more sustainably by Indigenous peoples, in Sápmi, in Kalaallit Nunaat and beyond.
The conference focused on ethically, culturally and socially sustainable Indigenous tourism in the European Arctic and beyond. The main topics of the conference were certifications in Indigenous tourism, sustainable tourism, and selling Indigenous tourism globally and locally. Moreover, the conference included an Indigenous Tourism Research Symposium on the topic of Tourism and Indigenous cultural heritage.
Link to the full conference programme: https://matkailu.samediggi.fi/en/eitc-2025/#ohjelma Links to the conference recordings with English subtitles are available here: https://matkailu.samediggi.fi/en/eitc-2025/#info
What you will find in the following is an attempt to share and synthesise the conference speakers’ and participants’ voices and experiences and expand the knowledge of the many valuable insights that they demonstrate whether from Indigenous tourism associations and organisations, companies, cultural institutions and museums or from research.
1.1 What is in this report?
All of the stories shared during the conference point to a close connection between land, culture, heritage, nature and ways of connecting to and honouring these in everyday tourism practices. However, and in order to synthesise valuable insights, we have attempted to draw out some of the main characteristics that stood out across the narratives and discussions to understand and learn from Indigenous tourism. These highlights include a profound rootedness in place and everything that connects to it (Section 2) and a very central focus on storytelling as a way to give voice to, share, represent, empower and decolonise Indigenous existence and experience in and through tourism (Section 3). Formal certification and trademark procedures and systems in which Indigenous tourism can be recognised, protected and strengthened were also central to the conversations (Section 4) as were discussions on how to organise, build alliances and include community into its future development (Section 5). The report also includes reflection on the connections between tourism, crafts, art and design as a potential direction for future development as these elements were all present at the conference (Section 6). We finish by discussing where Indigenous tourism is going and what should be done, according especially to younger generations, who will take over in the future, to secure responsible and just pathways for Indigenous tourism and its many entrepreneurs (Section 7).
Before going deeper into the knowledge building that took place during and after the conference, we will first introduce the colonial background and present reality of tourism where Indigenous tourism entrepreneurs across the world operate. It is a context that needs to be understood and taken into account when working in/with Indigenous tourism.
1.2 The colonial context of Indigenous tourism
“Colonialism is not a uniform experience [among Indigenous peoples], but it has common patterns, such as the dispossession of land, cultural suppression, imposition of foreign governance structures, and denial of self-determination” (Kuokkanen et al., 2025, p. 2). This is also the case in the Nordic countries, where many Sámi see wind energy as a new form of colonialism. As pointed out by Ellinor Guttorm Utsi at the conference, wind power plants disrupt Sámi reindeer herding and culture, and threaten the next Sámi generations. While colonialism and its detrimental impacts were mentioned by many of the conference speakers, many also pointed to the revitalization of the Indigenous cultural heritage that colonialism has destroyed, and this revitalisation can be supported and enabled by tourism.
The earliest written records of Sápmi were crafted by European explorers, whose ventures were driven by the imperatives of expansion, fuelled by capitalism, technological advancements, and religious zeal. These records, as argued by Said (1985), were not grounded in the empirical realities of the lands these explorers encountered. Instead, they should be understood as reflections of European aspirations, desires, repressions, and projections. The “others” served as mirror images for the European elite, with the Sámi people – like other Indigenous populations – portrayed as wild, unruly, and uncivilized. Nordic colonial history is a history of dispossession and cultural erasure that has shaped and continues to shape Indigenous communities and Indigenous-state relations in the Nordic countries. This is the politics of loss, restitution, repatriation and appropriation; but also, the rich life of Indigenous knowledge that has survived the dark colonial night and which is the knowledge, stories and memories that contemporary tourism is built upon.
The Western fascination with Indigenous peoples, encapsulated in the concept of the “noble savage” is deeply entwined with the project of modernity. The West, having lost its sense of an authentic self-due to modernity’s fragmenting effects, sought to reclaim this authenticity through a nostalgic vision of the past, projected onto encounters with Indigenous “others”. This duality of “otherness” became a cornerstone of colonial endeavours, justifying the disciplining of the Sámi people through law, religion, politics and the possibility to participate on equal terms in developing the Sámi societies. Even today, Indigenous entrepreneurs recount how they remain entangled in these colonial narratives, which continue to shape the expectations of travellers and inform national political and administrative frameworks surrounding the Indigenous tourism industry. However, these dynamics are gradually evolving, creating opportunities to decolonise tourism (i.e., to dismantle its colonial structures) and rebuild it on the foundation of Indigenous philosophies and values.
For Kalaallit Nunaat, the transition into Self-Government in 2009 marked an important milestone on a trajectory towards statehood. It had until then transitioned from a colony into a municipality in 1953 and into home rule in 1979. While the Greenlandic nation has come a long way in securing independence, the past colonialism has taken its toll in a plethora of ways that are only slowly and painfully unravelling in public through a truth and reconciliation process and through media and research exposure.
Indigenous peoples are asserting their right to participate equally in the economic arena, including the right to narrate their own stories. Yet, market pressures to commodify their “otherness” evoke painful memories of colonial tourism practices in the Arctic. Decisions about which elements of Sámi cultural heritage can be commercialised must be grounded in local dialogue involving Sámi institutions. At the same time, Sámi actors emphasise the importance of cultural sustainability, recognising that not everything can – or should – be sold. Tourism operators must also balance the cultural integrity of their offerings with customer expectations and satisfaction, a tension that is not always easily reconciled and something which is also recognizable in Kalaallit Nunaat.
Decolonising efforts may not be directly connected to tourism marketing and development efforts in Kalaallit Nunaat at first sight. Yet, close ties exist between efforts of branding, marketing and ‘selling’ of people and places in tourism and questions of identity, ownership, just distribution and narrative sovereignty (Ren, 2024; Ren & Abildgaard, 2021). From that perspective, being able to control who tells what stories and sells what products to which guests is key.
Decolonisation, understood as an ongoing process, offers a framework for fostering respectful and sustainable Indigenous enterprises. It invites us to envision innovative programmes rooted in Indigenous knowledge and to navigate the delicate balance between avoiding exotification and advancing autonomy. Achieving the political aspirations articulated by Indigenous leaders requires systematic efforts, expertise at all levels, and institutional anchoring. The right to self-determination for Indigenous peoples encompasses the right to be heard, included, and actively involved in decision-making processes that affect their lives and lands. These rights are enshrined in instruments such as the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and the International Labour Organization’s Convention No. 169, ratified by the Norwegian and Danish government, but not by the Finnish or Swedish government. Article 31.1 of UNDRIP underscores the importance of respecting all forms of Indigenous knowledge production and transmission, whether rooted in traditional, Indigenous, or Western scientific methods. This respect extends to the sovereignty of Indigenous peoples in defining and maintaining their own institutions across all sectors of society.
Decolonial practices in tourism demand a shift away from structures of domination towards equity in planning and decision-making. This includes the meaningful inclusion of Indigenous rights-holders in all decision-making processes related to the planning and funding of development programmes in the Arctic. The principle of “Nothing about us without us” has become a guiding ethos for Indigenous tourism, emphasizing the necessity of collaboration, respect, and shared authority in shaping the future of this industry. As Suvi West concluded at the conference, we [Sámi] don’t need to do tourism in a Western way.