Research group on social impacts of tourism

Understanding the impact of growing tourism on the community and lives of those who build the destination is one key factor in tourism planning, development and sustainability. Tourism development and destination management should have economic, environmental and social benefits, contribute to community building and a better quality of life for residents. It is thus important to monitor the attitudes of residents and their perception of the impact of tourism in their community.

The research group traces its roots to 2014 when the first studies on Icelanders' attitudes to tourism and tourists were conducted in collaboration with the Icelandic Tourism Research Centre, Hólar University College, and the Icelandic Tourist Board. The aim of the group is to promote knowledge and understanding of the social impact of tourism.

Current members are:

Guðrún Helgadóttir, professor of tourism at the Department of Business and IT, USN School of business, University of South-Eastern Norway.

Eyrún Jenný Bjarnadóttir, researcher at the Icelandic Tourism Research Centre

Georgette Leah Burns, Associate Professor in the School of Environment and Science at Griffith University in Brisbane, Australia

Guðrún Þóra Gunnarsdóttir, director of the Icelandic Tourism Research Centre

Contact person: Eyrún Jenný Bjarnadóttir [ejb@rmf.is]

Activity track

• In 2023 the book Supply Chain Operations in the Arctic: Implications for Social Sustainability was published. The book provides insights into the Arctic through the lens of supply chain management and operations. Editors are dr. Antonina Tsvetkova, Associate Professor in Supply Chain Management at Molde University College, and dr. Konstantin Timoshenko, Associate Professor in Business Economics in the School of Business at the University of South-Eastern Norway. One chapter of the book deals with social sustainability and tourism supply chain from a residents' perspective, authored by Guðrún Helgadóttir, Doris Effah-Kesse, Eyrún Jenný Bjarnadóttir, Georgette Leah Burns and Guðrún Þóra Gunnarsdóttir. The chapter is the result of the research group’s collaboration on the social impact of tourism and is based on the results of research conducted by The Icelandic Tourism Research Centre for the Icelandic Tourist Board on the attitudes of residents towards tourism and tourism in Iceland. The book is published by Routledge.

•  In 2019 a paper on the social sustainability of tourism in Iceland was published in Scandinavian Journal of Hospitality and Tourism, written by Guðrún Helgadóttir, Anna Vilborg Einarsdóttir, Georgette Leah Burns, Guðrún Þóra Gunnarsdóttir og Jóhanna María Elena Matthíasdóttir. The paper is available here: Social sustainability of tourism in Iceland: A qualitative inquiry (tandfonline.com)