Social Sustainability

Social sustainability may be defined from the perspective of the local population and the visitor. For tourism to be socially sustainable from the perspective of the local Sámi population, the travel industry must take into consideration the needs of the local population and the impact that tourism has and the changes that tourism causes in the daily lives and the quality of life of the local population. Tourism must be controllable, and it must have clear limits that are observed and followed. The benefits of socially sustainable tourism must be distributed as widely as possibly among the local population, for instance in the form of improved local infrastructure and services. Also, the negative impact of tourism on the Sámi community must be kept to the minor extent possible. An important part of social sustainability is to include the Sámi community and to give them an opportunity to influence on tourism that has an impact on their own living environment. The utilisation of natural resources by tourism industry and visitors must not weaken the traditional livelihoods’ or Sámi population’s opportunity to use of natural resources in the area.