4 City, culture and nature – resources for tourism

4.5 Summary

Cities, nature and culture are key resources to the Norwegian tourism product.

• The Government will encourage sustainable use of cultural heritage sites for tourism. There is an ambition to establish world heritage centres at all of Norway’s World Heritage Sites.

• The Government will prepare a strategy for culture and tourism, focusing on cultural tourism.

• The Government will establish a cooperation council for culture and tourism modelled on the Industrial Policy Council for the Cultural and Creative Industries.

• The Government will improve coordination between cultural and tourism products by studying the possibility of establishing a nationwide online cultural calendar.

• The Government has submitted a separate strategy focusing on agritourism. The Government will help ensure that experiences and activities related to agriculture and reindeer herding contribute to Norway’s development as an attractive destination.

• The Government has presented a branding strategy for Norway’s national parks. The Government will help ensure that the strategy is used to make the national parks attractive outdoor recreation areas and destinations.

• The Government will work to introduce new registration and reporting rules related to coastal tourist fishing (recreational fishing). The Government has proposed amending legislation and regulations that govern tourist-oriented fishing companies. The Government proposes, among other things, to increase the export quota for tourists fishing under the direction of a registered tourist fishing company.

• The Government will promote management of human traffic in nature, primarily by providing information, signage, labelling and simple infrastructure, in addition to other measures that have a guiding effect.

• The Government will contribute to the work of adapting trails for sustainable use. The trails in question will be developed and promoted as national hiking trails.

• The Government will help establish favourable policy frameworks in which to further develop sustainable tourism in Svalbard.

• The Government will consider whether regulations on the use of local food and beverage products in tourism can be tailored to better meet the needs of the tourism industry in Svalbard.

• The Government will continuously assess emergency preparedness in Svalbard in light of the activities taking place in the archipelago as well as changes in the risk situation.