Messy Innovation in Nordic Tourism

Tourism in the Nordics, like much of the global tourism industry, operates on thin margins. This fragility often discourages risk-taking, leading to cautious decision-making and slow, incremental improvements. But survival-mode thinking and hesitation are not going to cut it. If Nordic tourism wants to stay relevant, sustainable, and competitive, we need to rethink not just how the industry operates, but why it operates that way in the first place. The X-Nordic Travel Contest (XNTC) set out to find the answers, to drive innovation and strengthen the sustainability and competitiveness of the Nordic tourism industry.

The Nordics are globally recognised for digital capacity and green ambition, yet the tourism innovation sector lags behind other clusters such as FinTech or GreenTech. Startups are small, ecosystems are scattered, and funding isfragmented. Tourism innovation, it turned out, often slips through the cracks of national policy. Leading XNTC, Group NAO connected these dots to identify the main challenges, invite solutions and new thinking, match solutions with the Nordic tourism industry, and unfold new solutions in a cross-Nordic context.

The XNTC programme culminated in a Policy Study on X-Nordic Tourism Innovation outlining the first regional roadmap for tourism innovation across the Nordics. The study recommends establishing a permanent Nordic platform for tourism innovation, dedicated funding for SMEs, and cross-sector collaboration on sustainability and digitalisation. In addition, "A Nordic guidebook for tourism innovation" now shares all the tips, tricks, and lessons of the XNTC's 2-year full-circle innovation journey.