Navigating towards justice and sustainability? syncretic encounters and stakeholder-sourced solutions in Arctic cruise Tourism Governance

Abstract

Cruise tourism has a dubious reputation for conspicuous consumption and associated environmental harm. Cruises to the Arctic promise passengers pristine landscapes and authentic and engaging experiences interacting with local and Indigenous communities. Yet, these very environments and communities are under existential threat amidst the climate crisis, provoking the question of how to reconcile the ever-expanding Arctic cruise industry’s conflict with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs). To answer this question, the article proposes a novel approach that fuses concepts and methodologies from normative global governance research and critical tourism studies. Based on extensive empirical research in Norway, Canada and Iceland, the article presents stakeholder-sourced solutions that address a variety of justice conundrums associated with the expanding cruise tourism sector in the region. On the basis of the approach developed in the article, our research is able to inform public and policy discourse towards a just and sustainable transition of the polar cruise tourism industry in light of UN SDGs by highlighting the importance of creating ‘syncretic encounters’ based on four dimensions: authentic storytelling, decompressing spatial and temporal resources, just working conditions, and attention towards the built environment.