How Should Tourism Benefit Locals? RETURN Starts Community Consultations

Across the Northern Periphery and Arctic, the RETURN project is now launching a series of community consultations in partner regions to explore a fundamental question: how should tourism-generated revenues be used for the benefit of local communities? Tourism Revenue Transfers (TRTs) — such as accommodation fees, visitor levies or other destination-based contributions — are increasingly discussed as tools to manage tourism growth and strengthen local resilience. However, the legitimacy and long-term viability of these models depend on public acceptance and transparent reinvestment. RETURN therefore places community perspectives at the centre of the policy conversation. Listening Before Designing Each partner region will organise its own community event, engaging residents, local stakeholders and community representatives in structured dialogue. The objective is not to promote a specific funding model, but to gather grounded insight into: - What local challenges tourism revenues should address - Which types of investments generate visible and shared benefit - How funding should be governed and allocated - What conditions increase trust and fairness in revenue use The format and facilitation guidelines were developed collaboratively within the partnership to ensure comparability across regions, while allowing adaptation to local contexts. From Local Insight to Policy Knowledge The outcomes of these consultations will be systematically documented and compared across partner regions. This cross-regional analysis will provide RETURN with robust evidence on how communities in different NPA destinations prioritise the use of Tourism Revenue Transfer funding. The results will feed directly into project outputs, policy briefs and recommendations aimed at decision-makers and politicians currently planning or considering different forms of visitor levies and tourism funding mechanisms. By grounding Tourism Revenue Transfers in community expectations, RETURN strengthens the evidence base for fair, transparent and regenerative tourism governance. RETURN – Reinvest to Regenerate.