Førde Conference on the Future of Tourism

Karl Seglem opens Førdekonferansen 2019. Photo: Espen Stensvoll.

Debt or gift?

Of the many questions that were discussed Førdekonferansen On Thursday, July 4, Arild Molstad asked the first and biggest question: Is it a debt or a gift we left behind for the next generation?

Arild Molstad is one of our most experienced travel journalists. The tourism industry is facing formidable growth, and Molstad is uneasy. He was particularly harsh on cruise tourism, which creates what he called an unhealthy cruise addiction in our fjord villages. - Along the way, people stand with their hats in their hands and give thanks for little and nothing, tourism takes more than it gives back. Our most important capital, natural and cultural capital, is in the process of shrinking, said Molstad.

- Scarcity goods always increase in value, he further emphasized. - The western Norwegian fjord landscape is such a good. Economic growth does not have to mean increased consumption, quite the opposite. Molstad has been involved in developing "Roadmap from the tourism industry in Norway". Here, the major players in the industry formulate a common goal of directing marketing towards tourism that provides high returns but low environmental impact.

Kirsti Mathiesen. Photo: Espen Stensvoll

Cultural experiences are a game changer

This year, together Førdekonferansen record number of participants. Nearly ninety people prioritized spending the day in Eikaas Amfi at the festival hotel. Kirsti Mathiesen Hjemdal, head of research at Agderforsking, argued passionately for how art and cultural experiences such as the Førdefestivalen offers, can be a "game changer" for green tourism. She emphasized that curating such experiences is a unique skill. Without this knowledge, we end up either throwing pearls before swine or with worthless clichés, she argued.

Margrethe Helgebostad. Photo: Stig Roger Eide

Robbery as an attraction

Margrethe Helgebostad, responsible for tourism analysis at Innovation Norway, also emphasized the potential of cultural experiences, but pointed out that tourists are like Ole Brum and say: Yes, thank you – both. Over seventy percent want both nature and culture, and they want the typical Norwegian. In a humorous review of the analysis material, Helgebostad proposed new understandings of what the typical Norwegian can be. Robbery in a trimmed Volvo, for example. An exotic experience we can cultivate, she smiled to laughter and applause from the audience. County Director of Culture and Industry, Jan Heggheim, zoomed in on the Westlanders and our uniqueness as a trail to follow in marketing and brand building.

State Secretary Atle Hamar received praise from both Molstad and later from Kristian B. Jørgensen, managing director of Fjord Norge AS. “Atle, you are our man in the work towards greener tourism,” said Jørgensen. Hamar replied by clarifying that Norwegian tourism lives off pure nature.

Atle Hamar. Photo: Espen Stensvoll

Nearsighted and farsighted

Towards the end of the day, the tourism industry itself had the floor, and the temperature in the debate also rose. – We are short-sighted! We are also short-sighted, said Fjord 1 director Dagfinn Neteland enthusiastically. We are so afraid that our neighbor will succeed. We have to stop that! Up in Geiranger they are terrified that tourism will increase in Rauma. Why don't they cooperate, either? We have to cooperate much better, and be more generous. I am not a politician, but if a party writes "good cooperation" in their program, then I will vote for them!

Rolf Sanne Gundersen leading the conversation with Dagfinn Neteland (Fjord1) and Sigurd Kvikne. Photo: Espen Stensvoll.

For and against cruise tourists

Managing director of Sunnfjord development Rolf Sanne Gundersen led the debate between hotel director Sigurd Kvikne in Balestrand and the director of the shipping company. While Kvikne has declared Balestrand a "cruise-free zone", Neteland wants cruise tourists to be welcome, but in more controlled forms. They both agreed that year-round tourism and good, predictable communications are what must be focused on.

Per Idar Almås, director Førdefestivalen Photo: Espen Stensvoll.

Hereafter we call it

Director of Førdefestivalen , Per Idar Almås, also spoke warmly about collaboration and speaking up as a strategy. Sigrid Moldestad led the program with a steady hand and small personal stories that put the various contributions into perspective for the participants. When she concluded by singing one of the poems set to music by Jan Magnus Bruheim, it was a reminder both of the gift we should take care of and pass on to the next generation, and of how important it is to help each other and be generous both in travel and in life:

"The strife and flowing thoughts
and the heart, dreamily still.
What's the point, if I don't
Does anyone have one to give it to? 

What do I want with everything I say?
and all the words I write?
If they don't have a soul and a heartbeat
that in you can create life? 

What is the cause of all the prosperity in the world?
that comes and weighs you down.
It's all empty if I don't have anyone.
to share the joy with."

Here you can see the program for Førdekonferansen 2019.