Circulatour
As climate change and overtourism affect many traditional destinations, interest in “coolcation” tourism and the Northern Periphery and Arctic (NPA) region is growing. This creates new opportunities for tourism in the NPA, but it also increases pressure on ecosystems, infrastructure and community wellbeing.
The aim of the Circulatour project is to support more circular and resource-efficient tourism across the NPA. This is done by developing, testing and transferring practical solutions that improve visitor flow management, reduce resource use and help destinations adapt to changing tourism patterns. The project brings together partners from across the NPA to share knowledge, test solutions in different tourism contexts and transfer good practices between regions.
The project will deliver three practical tools: a visitor flow prediction model, circular smart destination maps, and circular tourism guidelines to support destinations, businesses and visitors.
Project Information:
Project Duration: 1.9.2026–28.2.2029
Funded By: Interreg NPA
Project Lead: South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences (Xamk)
Main activities of the project
Step 1: Development of circular tourism solutions and digital tools
Mapping stakeholders, tourism flows and resource pressures
Development of AI-enabled visitor flow prediction model
Analysis and development of circular tourism solutions
Development of circular smart destination map model
Step 2: Pilot demonstrations in Partners communities
Establishment and piloting of Circular Destination Planning Labs
Conducting stakeholder engagement, local testing cycles and feedback loops
Implementing adaptation and sustainability planning
Step 3: Promotion, capacity building and transnational exchange
Preparation of outreach and awareness raising
Conducting training programmes for small and medium-sized organisations, destination management organisations and public authorities
Organization of transnational knowledge-transfer workshops and learning exchanges
Our Partners
South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences (Xamk), Finland (Lead Partner)
Mikkeli Development Miksei (MikseiMikkeli), Finland
Innovation South Greenland (ISG), Greenland
Luleå University of Technology (LTU), Sweden
University of Akureyri (UNAK/ITRC), Iceland
Dingle Peninsula Tourism Alliance (DPTA), Ireland
RDI Hub, Ireland
Other EU Projects
Our European partners come to us for practical delivery in AI adoption, digital transformation and innovation strategy. We're always open to new collaborations with organisations that share that same focus on impact
Fionnuala O Callaghan
Head of EU Projects
