Strategy for tourism in the Faroe Islands

Tourism is among the industries that have grown the fastest in recent years globally. According to the WTO, growth has been 4-5% annually.

The pandemic has had a very disruptive impact on the industry in 2020, 2021, and to some extent in 2022, and will have implications for several years to come in the global market, perhaps even until 2025. However, the expectation is that tourism in the Faroe Islands can recover faster than that, which is also visible in the statistics for 2022.

Although the Faroe Islands lack new economic statistics from 2003-2012, it can be confirmed that our growth historically has been much lower than in the other countries around us, and the same is true for the number of accommodations.

The low number of tourists compared to other countries was the basis for the strategy that Visit Faroe Islands initiated in 2012, in close collaboration with the industry. The industry needed more customers to speed up developments, so it was decided to focus on marketing development over product development in order to achieve growth in tourism in the Faroe Islands. In recent years, we have seen growth, and therefore a new department for development was established in 2018. It is significant that growth and domestic development go hand in hand.

The Faroe Islands have great potential as a tourist destination. For the discerning traveler, the Faroe Islands offer a unique experience that cannot be found elsewhere. But without a strong knowledge of the Faroe Islands and continuous effective marketing, the Faroe Islands will be lost among the many travel offerings in the world. In order for the industry to become financially sustainable, continuous growth is required. This is especially important after the pandemic, as the industry has experienced significant financial setbacks, while the capacity for accommodation has doubled and international competition has significantly increased.

The strategy that has been worked on until 2020 was initiated in 2012. It has been necessary to wait with the 2030 strategy until both the global tourism and the Faroese tourism industry was back in operation.

All marketing efforts should be coordinated based on a common tourism brand for the Faroe Islands to achieve maximum impact.

Working to create the best possible frameworks for the industry. The legislation must be improved in a way that provides a secure framework and greater opportunities for service providers.

Contributing to developing the industry sustainably throughout the entire country through close collaboration. Advising on product development, investment development, and training, as well as providing financial support for regions and businesses.

Visit Faroe Islands is working on formulating a new longterm strategy for tourism towards 2030 - and invites all Faroese people to participate in the process with the first bottom-up strategy of its kind in the world.

The goal of this endeavour is for the new strategy to be well aligned with the desires of the Faroese people and to have as much impact as possible on how tourism develops in the Faroe Islands. Therefore, it is essential that as many Faroese as possible participate in the discussion about tourism in the Faroe Islands.

Sustainable tourism involves finding a balance between the well-being of those who live in the area, preserving our nature, making tourism sustainable as a business, and providing a good experience for visitors. Such balance can only be achieved through an open and public conversation about what we want from tourism in the Faroe Islands.

In addition to meetings and workshops with a broad range of Faroese people from all corners of the country, Visit Faroe Islands has gathered feedback from around 500 Faroese people about tourism. The work is expected to be completed in the first half of 2023.

Tourism shall become a new cornerstone of the Faroese economy, which shall develop in a sustainable way with respect for the Faroese people, the environment, and the economy. Faroese tourism shall double and generate at least DKK one billion in revenue by 2020.

New long-term goals shall be set in the 2030 strategy, which will be formulated in the first half of 2023.

Together, we shall put the Faroe Islands on the global map as a unique, interesting, and sustainable tourism destination. New long-term goals shall be set in the 2030 strategy.

All of this would have been achieved if the coronavirus pandemic had not affected the world. Tourism in the Faroe Islands has been almost non-existent in 2020 and 2021. In 2023, the focus will be on recovering the lost ground and achieving the 2020 goals. More accommodations will give the lodging establishments a higher occupancy rate, and increased revenue will benefit the entire industry. Jobs will be created in all parts of the industry, ranging from tour op - erators, experience providers, transportation companies, hotels, and restaurants to sales and marketing functions. Other sectors of the economy will also benefit from this growth.

Visit Faroe Islands has the task of marketing the Faroe Islands as a tourist destination on the international market and developing the Faroe Islands as a tourist destination. In recent years, marketing has focused on extending the tourist season and promoting the Faroe Islands as a year-round destination. The goal is to ensure that all parts of the tourism industry can be active year-round and thereby ensure steady employment for the workforce. This is done, among other things, by developing business tourism, which was also part of the Growth Forum project of the Faroese government.

Development work plays a major role in preserving the Faroe Islands as a sustainable tourist destination, with the goal of developing and preserving the islands at the same time.

Visit Faroe Islands has been working on marketing the Faroe Islands on selected markets in recent years. These are chosen based on their proximity to the Faroe Islands, where it is assumed that the familiarity with the Faroe Islands is highest, making it easier to attract more tourists quickly. In recent years, sustainability has also been a basis for ranking the markets, which are close to the Faroe Islands, so that tourists do not have to travel too far to get here. The markets that have been ranked are the Nordic countries, Germany, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Italy, France, and in recent years, also the USA, with particular emphasis on the east coast where there is a lot of familiarity with Iceland, which we can use in our work.

The work of creating a new long-term strategy for marketing and development from 2023 and beyond is underway. For more detailed information about the strategy, it is best to contact Visit Faroe Islands directly.

Goal 2023 1 billion in revenue

Goal 2023 700 jobs

Goal 2023

250,000 overnight stays