Geotourism and Sustainability on Arctic Islands Case Studies of Heimæy (Iceland) & Svalbard (Norway)

This paper discusses geotourism and its role in facilitating the sustainable transformation of the traditional tourism industry and emphasizes the rationale for conducting research about islands in Arctic regions. The motive is to deliver knowledge that can contribute to the existing island studies by understanding geotourism and the subsequent sustainable impacts on Heimæy and Svalbard communities.

Svalbard and Heimæy are archipelago and island within the political borders of Norway and Iceland. They are popular geotourism destinations for domestic and international visitors and well-known natural habitats for threatened species. Svalbard has a land area around 4556 times the size of Heimæy, while has only about half of Heimæy’s total population. Heimæy is facing the North Atlantic Ocean and Svalbard is right next to the vast and deserted Arctic Ocean. This paper shows that with different dominant types of geotourism, island communities in both places benefit environmentally and socio-economically from geotourism.