Sustainable Destination

We are proud to announce that Longyearbyen is a "Sustainable Destination".

Increased focus on sustainable tourism as a priority area is a growing trend worldwide. More and more people are seeking and choosing destinations that are proactively showing responsibility and meeting challenges related to sustainability. An investment in sustainability is an investment in the future.

Sustainable tourism involves working to take care of nature, culture and the environment, strengthening the social values and being financially viable. Tourism impacts the environment, climate, nature, culture and local communities. Consequently, a responsibility rests with the tourism industry to develop and practice its activities in a manner that generates the least possible negative impact, while at the same time increasing the positive impact.

The vulnerability of Svalbard’s nature, the delicate balance between use and protection and, last but not least, the perception of the authenticity that the guests come to experience mean that it’s essential that we always conduct our activities here responsibly.

Longyearbyen as a destination wishes to be one step ahead and show that we are taking responsibility for the future. As a destination, we strive to continuously improve our sustainability status.

Developing a sustainable destination is a platform for cooperation and development, which creates commitment and cooperation locally – among the businesses, residents and guests alike.

Increased interest in the environment makes tough demands on the companies in terms of adapting and promoting more sustainable tourism activities. Consequently, any value creation that occurs in tourism must occur in a sustainable manner that takes care of environmental considerations to ensure that the nature and culture of Svalbard remain a competitive advantage – not just in the wilderness, but also in Longyearbyen.

The Sustainable Destination label is a quality label for destinations in Norway. This prestigious label is based on a standard that sets clear demands for sustainable business practices and development. The Sustainable Destination label combines and highlights the many good sustainability measures that have been implemented in Longyearbyen. Since 2016 Svalbard and Longyearbyen has also been on the prestigious list "Global top 100 sustainable destinations".

Welcome to Longyearbyen - a sustainable destination

Visit Svalbard encourages work on environmental certification of companies in our destination as one of the main focus areas in our sustainable policy. In addition to Visit Svalbard itself, the companies listed below are certified.
#sustainablelongyearbyen

Here you can see a short film about Longyarbyen as a sutainable destination: