Strategy

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES

The Lapland Institute for Tourism Research and Education and its operational organization are aimed to accomplish a credible, efficient, and high-quality tourism community with its own function and role in the regional, national, and international innovation environment and operating field of tourism.

Tourism-related education, teaching, and learning pursue multifaceted approaches, improved quality, and the development of new learning environments to meet the needs of the working life and to increase the attractiveness of the education.The aim is to increase high-quality tourism research at the national and international levels and to improve quality, to strengthen research and business life networks, and to increase the usability of research knowledge.

The RDS activities advance the industry in a comprehensive manner in accordance with the goals of the innovation strategy of the Lapland University Consortium.


FOCAL POINTS OF OPERATION

INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH PROFILE:
THE RESEARCH IS SPECIFICALLY FOCUSED ON
- tourism in the Arctic and in northern regions,
- social, economic, and environmental tourism politics
- tourism as a sustainable livelihood and business.

EDUCATION:
- to create versatile learning, development, and testing environments for tourism education,
- to ensure the stability of tourism education in Lapland and to produce added value for it,
- to reach a strong national status,
- to increase international recognition and prestige, and
- to establish versatile cooperation between educators and to make it a permanent practice.

RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT, AND SERVICE (R&D&S):
- to enhance practices, structures, and services,
- to strengthen and develop networks of actors in tourism,
- to enhance the production, analysis, and usability of knowledge, and
- to produce opportunities for the creation and development of service and product innovations.


IMPLEMENTATION AND ASSESSMENT OF THE STRATEGY

Reaching the objectives of the strategy of the Lapland Institute for Tourism Research and Education is ensured by implementing the operational plans of the sectors and by following the implementation. The operational plan of tourism’s R&D&S is part of section Lapland of Experiences, Culture, and Tourism in the university consortium’s innovation program 2009–2012. The operation of the Lapland Institute for Tourism Research and Education is assessed according to impact, expediency, results, efficiency, and visibility using criteria and indicators defined respectively for each area.