Sustainable Adventure GuidAnce

The tourism industry contributes significantly to national greenhouse gas emissions. At the same time, the national tourism strategy aims to significantly reduce emissions from the sector despite an anticipated increase in tourism in the coming years. Achieving this ambitious goal requires innovation and new solutions to drive sustainable development in the tourism industry. One key strategy for reducing emissions in the tourism sector is to encourage behavioral change among tourists. The project SAGA aims to develop, test, and evaluate a Green Tourist Guide (GTG) to motivate both tourists and local residents to make greener choices, such as using low-emission transport options. Through the use of gamification—leveraging game-like incentives—the guide seeks to make sustainable choices both engaging and rewarding. The GTG will undergo two pilot phases to optimize its effectiveness. To ensure the success of the GTG, SAGA will conduct an extensive mapping of the tourism innovation ecosystem. This process involves active collaboration with key stakeholders, including tourists, destination management organizations, technology providers, and transport operators. By engaging these actors, SAGA aims to build a solid foundation for the implementation of GTG in the tourism sector. Furthermore, SAGA will analyze user behavior through surveys to identify factors that encourage behavioral change among tourists. This analysis will be critical in designing effective strategies to integrate into the Green Tourist Guide. Finally, SAGA will evaluate and communicate the potential impact of the GTG on emission reductions, providing science-based sustainability indicators to measure its effectiveness. This work will equip the tourism sector with the tools needed to achieve emission reduction targets while enabling sustainable growth in tourism. SAGA represents a unique approach to combining technology, sustainability, and innovation to shape the future of tourism.

The tourist industry is Norway’s fifth largest export industry and is estimated to be responsible for approximately 8.8% of national emissions. The national tourism strategy aims to cut these emissions by 50% by 2030 relative 2019 emissions, despite a foreseen 45% growth in tourism. To achieve these goals in emission cuts, innovations in the tourism sector are necessary. One clear means to reduce emissions in the tourism sector is to encourage behavioural change in the tourists. To that end, SAGA aims to develop, test and evaluate a Green Tourist Guide (GTG) targeting tourists and citizens alike and incentivize green consumer choices, such as using low-emissions transport modes using gamification techniques using two rounds of pilot periods. To ensure the success of the GTG, SAGA aims to understand the tourism innovation ecosystem in which GTG will be implemented using stakeholder engagement activities involving key actors such as visitors, service providers, local communities, destination management organisations, technology providers, financial institutions and transport providers. Furthermore, SAGA will conduct analysis of user behaviour patterns and preferences through stated preference survey to identify the factors that influence behavioural change of tourists. Lastly, the communication of sustainability indicators and potential impacts on the tourism sector will be estimated.