Sustainable Arctic Cruise Destinations:From Challenges to Practices

Growing cruise tourism numbers in the Arctic have prompted concerns about a lack of local capacity to handle this development. To address these concerns, this paper discusses how Arctic destinations deal with rising cruise tourism. The study involved a cross-case analysis of five Arctic cruise communities. We identified five practices of pricing, innovation, investment, regulation, and networking that can be used to address local cruise challenges and secure local control of the numbers of incoming cruise tourists. We conclude that sustainable development in Arctic cruise destinations relies both on regional and national regulations, on locally developed practices, and on local governance arrangements.