Visitor contribution
Bakka in Nærøyfjorden (photo: GNB)
It is with pleasure that I read the press release from NFD. It states that, during a visit to Lofoten, Minister for Industry Jan Christian Vestre is opening up visitor grants as a pilot project. Although the report focuses on Lofoten, the world heritage fjords are also mentioned as one of several possible pilot areas.
This is very positive and an important signal from the government; nokme through the joint good financing project has been working since 2018.
"It is important - this is a locally anchored visitor contribution to the direct development of small, vulnerable local communities to the delight of visitors and permanent residents," says project manager Ståle Brandshaug. For many years, he has worked together with various destinations to find good solutions for such a contribution.
We are small villages with large numbers of visitors. In order to give everyone a good experience, both those who live here and those who come to visit us, it is important to provide a good infrastructure so that it is nice to be here. A visitor contribution can be a good help in financing such solutions.
Nothing has been decided yet. There are many clarifications that need to be put in place. However, today I take with us the positive signals from the Minister of Industry, and hope that the work will make good progress!