Matkailualan haasteiden erilaiset ilmenemismuodot rakentavat johtajuutta alan yrityksissä Lapissa

Authors

• Heidi Kaihua Lapin ammattikorkeakoulu
• Ville Pietiläinen Lapin yliopisto

Keywords:

tourism, industry, leadership, interpretative phenomenological analysis, IPA

Abstract

The emerging challenges of the Lapland tourism industry build leadership in SMEs

Leadership research in the tourism industry has been conducted internationally and in Nordic countries, but leadership as an experiential phenomenon receives only scant attention. In this study, we assume that the tourism industry's attractiveness factors and development opportunities boil down to many leadership skills because the challenges related to the labor shortage in the sector are continuous, and no single solution can be expected shortly. We aim to study how the leadership of small and medium-sized tourism enterprises (SMEs) in Lapland intertwines with the challenges faced by the industry. We have chosen a phenomenological approach to the study to understand the experiential relationship.

Data consists of writings based on the experiences of 15 leaders or entrepreneurs, which we have analyzed with an interpretative phenomenological analysis, IPA. As a result of the study, we present four group experiential themes, which embody the relationship of the leadership to the challenges faced by the industry as 1) uncertainty, 2) adaptation, 3) development, and 4) resolving.

The results supplement the research literature in the tourism industry with leadership dynamics understanding, bringing out labor shortages and seasonality as phenomena that build up everyday leadership situational. The results can be utilized in supporting tourism entrepreneurs in Lapland and developing local leading skills in similar fields, whose operations are challenged by long distances, demanding environmental conditions, and limited logistics.