As part of its 2025 NORA chairship, the Faroe Islands chose to host a conference dedicated to exploring the potential of marine and coastal tourism in the North Atlantic.
The background for selecting the theme was the belief that innovation and coastal tourism hold the key to unlocking sustainable growth across the NORA area. Despite the ocean’s central role for North Atlantic communities—geographically, economically and culturally—current tourism products and activities remain limited, often centred around fishing trips and traditional sightseeing.
The key questions were therefore:
How can tourism providers and stakeholders across the region develop and expand innovative and regenerative marine and coastal tourism experiences?
And how can we ensure that these create long-term value for local communities?
The Ocean of Opportunities conference took place at Hotel Føroyar in Tórshavn on 21 and 22 October and brought together more than 120 participants from across the Nordic region, Orkney, Ireland, the Azores, Italy and the United States. As the lead organiser, NORA created a platform for dialogue, knowledge-sharing and collaboration on the development of sustainable blue tourism.
Purpose and content
The two-day programme featured presentations, workshops and discussions. Laura Storm spoke about the importance of regenerative leadership, including the need to rethink blue tourism in order to move beyond the “doing less harm” approach and towards regenerative principles that restore and revitalise both people and nature. Cillian Murphy, meanwhile, emphasised that sustainable tourism begins within the community, and that community buy-in is essential if destinations are to develop in a socially responsible manner.
Participants were also introduced to a number of inspiring case studies, including:
- Examples from the Azores of educational activities that combine science and tourism (Carla Dâmaso)
- Cold Hawaii in Denmark as an example of how place-based tourism initiatives can catalyse social and economic development in rural areas (Rasmus Johnsen)
- How the Maine Oyster Trail promotes sustainable working waterfronts as powerful drivers of economic resilience and cultural pride, which lays the groundwork for meaningful tourism that supports local livelihoods and promotes ocean stewardship (Jaclyn Robidoux)
The parallel sessions offered examples of inclusive coastal activities from around the North Atlantic—from sailing as cultural heritage to accessible coastal experiences and local food initiatives. The conference’s concluding presentation, by Anna Karlsdóttir, looked at the effect of cruise tourism on small Arctic communities and called for better management of its growth. Her presentation was followed by a panel discussion about cruise tourism that identified the opportunities and the challenges it poses for remote coastal communities, while also repeating the call for better management, specifically through strategic planning and local engagement.
The programme also included social activities. The first day ended with an event hosted by Tórshavn Council at Skeiva Pakkhús—an old waterfront warehouse—featuring food based on NORA’s Arctic Young Chef initiative. On the afternoon of the second day, delegates could choose between different excursions, all in one way or another connected to the ocean. The activities offered participants ample opportunity to network and continue discussing the conference presentations and the findings in a more informal and relaxed setting.
Read more about the conference.
Evaluation and results
The evaluation showed that the conference largely met participants’ expectations. Participants especially highlighted the value of new knowledge, fresh insights and strengthened networks, which can provide a basis for future collaboration across the region. The conference brought together stakeholders from different fields and countries around a shared understanding that the development of blue tourism in the North Atlantic must be regenerative, community-based and involve collaboration among regions.
There was broad agreement that the success of tourism should be measured more by the value it creates for communities, culture and nature, and less by visitor numbers alone. At the same time, the conference underlined the importance of continued knowledge-sharing, partnerships and political support in realising the region’s potential for sustainable marine and coastal tourism.
Read the full evaluation and final report.
