**4. Findings**

The case study reveals that interorganizational learning for sustainable innovation is resulting from the certification process, but that it gets disrupted by barriers. The following three types of barriers have identified that slow down learning for sustainability in tourism destinations: (1) sustainability ambitions; (2) relevance of the certification process for users and (3) experiences of users.

## **4.1 Interorganizational learning for sustainability**

Tourism actors are integrated in several networks and the sustainable certification process has increased collaborative activities as well as awareness of sustainability indicators among tourism actors. The focus on sustainability has resulted in the development and innovation of new products, extended seasons, sustainable practices, infrastructure, media attention and marketing. Sustainability is now communicated and acted upon.

*There is much more talking about it, it is highlighted as important thing. And regarding the garbage management, which was completely disaster in the past, the municipality has put pressure, demands have been made that this must be addressed and realized. And with the development of different trash cans and everything like that, it has clearly happened (T5E).*

Besides waste and water management, energy efficiency is an important sustainability driver for innovation. For example, Trysil tries to reduce the energy consumption associated with alpine skiing by preserving natural snow. Trysil is advertising with early skiing conditions and every October, the destination hosts a cross-country skiing tournament. For this event, snow has to be produced which is an energy consuming process. Instead of producing everything, snow from the previous year is saved.

*You produce snow in winter and then you have natural snow and you save that snow for the following year. It costs a lot less to collect snow in piles, lay a cloth over and use wood-chips to cover it, so that you can save about 70% of the snow from April to November. Last year in April, 29,000 cubic meters were saved. And in October when they took away all the chips, there were 21,000 cubic meters left. So that is a way to think about the economy and environment (T5E).*

Moreover, the structured nature of the certification process on the level of the municipalities and destination marketing organizations results in a more systematic, professional and thorough approach to tourism development, and some of these changes reach tourism firms. However, there is potential for more involvement, and bottom-up processes. Several tourism actors perceive that there has been a lack of information and learning connected to the certification of the destination. Consequently, tourism firms do not see a direct link between the certification process and their own development, claiming that they do not see the potential of how to use the sustainability certification for the benefit of their innovation processes. In the remaining findings, we will discuss three barriers standing in the way of interorganizational learning for sustainable innovation.

#### **4.2 Barrier 1: sustainability ambitions**

Despite the positive changes towards sustainability, different ambitions regarding sustainable development hamper understanding and learning potential between actors in the studied destinations. According to the sustainability project manager at one municipality, tourism businesses experience the concept of sustainability as challenging to work with, and they have a narrower understanding of the concept than the municipality or the certification organization. Moreover, there are tensions between different types of tourism organizations within the same destination and what to prioritize when focusing on sustainable development.

The main concern of the municipalities and DMO's is to keep local communities vital and lively, which is threatened by an aging, a migrating population and seasonal tourism activities. Destination management puts social and economic sustainability in the foreground with a focus on whole year-round tourism by balancing the numbers of guests in the winter season and the summer season. For example, in winter, Trysil is fully booked with alpine adventurers while the shoulder seasons and summer *Barriers to Interorganizational Learning for Innovation: A Case Study of a Sustainable Tourism… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.112555*

seasons have much less visitors. This makes it hard for tourism companies to create jobs year-round.

*It is important to have a year-round travel life because then we get jobs all year round and then it is easier to attract new residents. And it's easier for those who stay here to stay. So it has been a focus of Trysil municipality's long-term plans for many, many years. (T7M).*

For the interviewed business actors, sustainability was still a rather vague concept linked to waste management. In our cases, it seems that business concern for sustainability depends on the sector, i.e., those businesses working closely together with nature focused on green and environmental aspects, culture-based firms are concerned with heritage and cultural sustainability, culinary experience-based firms focused on social sustainability.

The sustainability project management sees it as its role to motivate tourism businesses, and to help them to figure out what sustainability can mean for them. Project management promotes a holistic and dynamic view on sustainability where the overall goal is to make the destination a better place to live.

*"For me, it has to do with society, consciousness, social responsibility. We must run our tourism businesses responsibly. And that means that we must increase our knowledge and we must make the right decisions. Be it at common or municipal level, or at the level of businesses" (T8).*

#### **4.3 Barrier: user experiences**

The process of getting a sustainability label at the level of the destination was driven by the municipalities and the DMOs. This local certification team, in line with the policy of the certification organization Innovation Norway, believes that sustainability knowledge and practices will increase if firms in the destination get certified as well, as it will increase learning and integration in networks. However, only few in Trysil, are working on a business-level certification because they do not see the point of getting certified, or lack resources necessary for certification, and are therefore less open to new knowledge and learning. The larger and more professional an organization is, the easier it becomes to get an environmental certification. When a tourism business has this critical level of professionality, the destination certification can be of help to decide how to get certified. For example, one hotel changed its certification scheme from Svanemerket to Environmental Lighthouse because the destination certification promoted the Environmental Lighthouse certification. They worked with a lot of improvements to reduce energy and water consumption.

*When I started to work here, we installed water saving showers. We reduced water consumption to 8 liters per minute and we did that for both hotels (T2H).*

One of the smaller experience-based firms had started with the Environmental Lighthouse certification process but has given up because they experienced the label as requiring too much work, too bureaucratic and with a narrow environmental focus. *It (Environmental lighthouse) is a scheme that is flexible and spans many industries, so that it is a scheme that does not have such a large threshold to enter. And that is probably one of the advantages, that there is a low threshold to get started, and then it is a scheme that gives you some systems and routines in place, and helps you to work with HSE really (GL).*

It seems true that HSE is seen as a relevant part of the environmental certification on the business level, but that there are many other elements that are less relevant.

*Considering the environmental lighthouse label, there are a lot of things that we are not really doing. HSE seems the biggest part for us in that particular environmental certification (PJ).*

A sustainability certification on the business level can contribute to internalizing the destination certification. The destination label gets more meaning when businesses start working with their own certification because they are able to operationalize the different aspects of sustainability.

*I feel like something happened when we got people to sit down and start the Environmental Lighthouse process. Then in a way, it will be done from the bottom up really (T5E).*

In regard to learning from the certification process, it is a missed chance for both tourism actors and the management of the destination certification that only few small tourism businesses managed to get a certification. However, our interviews and observations show that small tourism experience businesses do work with and according to sustainability principles, but hardly in a professional or systematic way. The reasons for the small businesses not getting certified seem to be a lack of time and resources and a misfit between the goals of the certification and the activities of the business. Hence, the negative experience of the tourism actors with business-level certifications stands in the way of the learning possibilities that the certification on the destination level has to offer. These user experiences of the certification programs at both the business and destination level can disrupt learning for sustainability.

## **4.4 Barrier: relevance for users**

The certification has given the municipality and DMO a working methodology to improve collaboration between the tourism industry and the municipality. Also, working with the label has given meaning and content to the concept of sustainability. The sustainable destination project has contributed to more knowledge about sustainability and quality in the destinations through communication, competence development and training. Trysil has focused on educating its members in terms of experience quality, guidance and marketing. The goal is to increase the level of competence among tourism actors in the destination.

*We are working on increasing competence among our members. We organize courses that tourism actors here can participate in to develop their business. For example, we have also been trained in how to write better both in terms of offers and with* 

*Barriers to Interorganizational Learning for Innovation: A Case Study of a Sustainable Tourism… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.112555*

*information on websites to give good enough information to guests. We are going to run more training, increase the competence in languages by offering an English course (GL).*

However, there is scepticism regarding the usefulness of the certification label in attracting more customers and selling more products. The market does not seem to find it that important that a ski destination is sustainable.

*"We think in a holistic way in Trysil, and that all companies will earn more". And it is good that we are environmentally conscious. But I do not think Trysil has sold any more tourism products because of it, no. (T4E).*

Nevertheless, the interviewed companies showed a great deal of responsibility towards nature and the environment. And the need to communicate with and educate guests.

*That is how we communicate and work with our guests. And how we can influence them in thinking sustainably or thinking environmentally when they are here as a guest (T5E).*

It is hard to say if this environmental consciousness is a consequence of the spreading of awareness and knowledge from governmental organizations. The municipality and destination company actors at least think they played a role in it and say that the awareness of the environment and the job that needs to be done is higher than before the certification was in place.

*We have spread knowledge in relation to things that can be done and we ensure that both small and large measures contribute. Awareness about the environment is probably much higher now than before we started with the labeling scheme (T6D).*

Working with the certification has also contributed to improved communication and learning between municipality actors.

*Since we have these common plans, we are more able to make visible what we do. Before we took it a little bit for granted. But through that work on the certification, and not least when we report on so many different criteria, it creates an awareness of what we do, and we do quite a lot, we found out (T7M).*

Besides the learning at the destination level, the sustainability team (municipality and destination company) focuses on learning from innovation Norway, other destinations as well as from their own experiences.

*We have lots of project meetings regularly. We still have them with those who started (the pilot destinations), but also the new ones that have come in. And Innovation Norway is good at making it possible for us to hear what happens to the other destinations, different people and to get tips and inspiration (T6D).*

The certification team and local governance actors say they have learned a lot from the certification. The interviewed firms say they learned little from the destination certification and that they do not immediately see the potential of the sustainability certification for their own practices, marketing and innovation. Instead of concrete

projects, the certification program comes with rules, regulations and requirements. For example, a dog sledding experience business uses a snow scooter to prepare tracks which can also be used by local people and visitors with dog sledges. The owner of the company explains how difficult it was for him to get permission to use the scooters.

*It is terribly strict with snowmobiles. But, after talking to the municipality and destination of Trysil, I could make the trails. My trail network is now included in the trail maps so that there are opportunities for others with dog teams who come here on holidays (T3E).*

When the rules are too rigid, there is little room for developing a sustainable strategy that fits the uniqueness of the destination. Tourism actors doubt the relevance of the destination certification when they experience a lack of flexibility and rigid rules, which can hamper knowledge integration for sustainable development. Destinations need the flexibility to find a balance between their unique situation and the requirements for sustainable development.
