Cooperation and sustaining tourism during the COVID-19 pandemic

by

Dora B Aamot

Cooperation during the corona-time appears to be a fundamental principle of a prosperous tourism industry. More than one year has passed since the travel and tourism industry was brought to its knees, with closed borders, travel restrictions, prohibitions, companies without visitors, shutdowns and bankruptcy. However, tourism is a robust and flexible industry, which has been able to overcome many disturbances and disasters during the past century. By getting an insight into the tourism industry in Alta, Northern Norway through in-depth interviews with both tourism companies, destination companies and tourism organizations, important elements of a corona-transformed, but successful tourism industry were illuminated. The main pillars of the succeeding tourism businesses were identified as adaptation and resilience, sustainable thinking and approach, and co-existence. Across these pillars, cooperation emerged as a common and core element. Specifically, cooperation was identified across various actors and across various scales, such as between tourism companies, between companies and higher level organizations, between companies and the local society, along with the primary product of the tourism industry in Northern Norway; cooperation between companies (humans) and nature. Emphasizing cooperation as an essential factor for overcoming disturbances can serve as an aiding tool, and its significance is presented in the article.