Climate Neutral Destinations – Leading the Climate Smart Tourism Business Development in the Baltic Sea Region

Climate change and growing customer demand for sustainable, low-carbon travel options present significant challenges for the tourism sector. To navigate this increasingly dynamic business environment, the industry must adapt swiftly. The project Climate Neutral Destinations addresses these issues by bringing together eight destinations from the Baltic Sea region. Our collaborative work aims to develop a Climate Smart Business Toolkit. This toolkit is designed to equip tourism companies with the necessary resources to address the challenges and facilitate a fundamental shift towards climate-neutral operations. Specifically, the project will offer practical steps and tools for businesses to develop in a carbon data-based and decarbonizing manner, and to design low-carbon experiences for visitors collaboratively. Additionally, a knowledge management model will be created to support climate-smart development at the destination level. 

The project aims to:

• Develop and test the Climate Smart Business Toolkit in close cooperation with tourism companies. The toolkit provides practical tools and guidelines for measuring carbon footprint, developing climate-smart businesses, creating and communicating low-carbon visitor experiences (aligned with EU Green Claims), and managing climate data at the destination level for strategic planning. 

• Create a network of climate-smart tourism leaders to support the cooperation and show the way for other destinations. 

• Develop a training programme targeted at destination management organizations on how to use the toolkit and engage tourism companies in destination climate work. 

SEI Tallinn:

• Offers expertise on CO₂ measurement and decarbonization in developing pilots;

• Supports Tallinn Strategic Management Office (project partner) in all work package activities;

• Evaluates all pilot activities, assesses their wider usability and identifies key factors for the uptake of the Climate Smart Business Toolkit for Tourism.

Project partners

• Finland: Visit Tampere (lead partner), City of Helsinki & the Baltic Institute of Finland
• Sweden: Royal Djurgårdens Society
• Denmark: Commercial Fund of VisitAarhus
• Norway: City of Stavanger
• Estonia: Tallinn Strategic Management Office, Stockholm Environment Institute Tallinn Centre
• Lithuania: Public Institution Kaunas IN
• Poland: Pomorskie Tourist Board

Funding

This project is funded by the Interreg Baltic Sea Region 2021-2027 programme and co-funded by the European Union.