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Using matched employer-employee data, we examine how workforce knowledge characteristics relate to firm productivity in the equine sector. Using panel data on Swedish equine firms from 2010 to 2022, we construct measures of workforce composition, including occupation-specific education, accumulated work experience and knowledge diversity. The results show that access to occupation-specific human capital is positively associated with productivity, with substantial heterogeneity across firms. Knowledge effects are stronger among firms specializing in horse racing than in breeding, highlighting differences in the role of human capital across production orientations. The findings have implications for policy and firms' investment decisions.

This project report presents the development and implementation of the geospatial data analysis system, MIRANDA (Mirandaverktyget), designed to address challenges in mobility, tourism economy, and infrastructure planning. The system integrates heterogeneous datasets, including traffic flow, business registries, accommodation metrics, and demographic data, into a unified analytical framework powered by proprietary computational engines (Statistical, GIS, and Emission). Leveraging MSSQL for spatial data management and external APIs (e.g. Google, TOMTOM) for real-time and historical traffic updates, the MIRANDA system enables dynamic, data-driven decision-making through interactive visualizations such as heatmaps, isochrones, and trend analyses.

Five core models form the backbone of the system:

• Traffic Flow Model: Analyses vehicle movement, congestion patterns, and CO₂ emissions.
• Tourism Economic Model: Evaluates sector-specific revenue, employment, and tourism dependencies.
• Guest Night Model: Tracks accommodation metrics to assess tourism demand.
• GeoTour Data Analytics Model: Fuses lodging, traffic, and business data for spatial-temporal insights.
• Accessibility Analysis Model: Computes reachable areas via multi-modal transit (walking, driving, cycling).

Key outcomes include:

• Granular insights into traffic emissions, tourism growth, and labour productivity.
• Scalable tools for policymakers, urban planners, and transportation authorities.
• Interactive dashboards for real-time scenario testing and reporting.

The system’s modular architecture ensures adaptability across regions, while its empirical approach bridges academic rigor with practical applications. The MIRANDA system is an example that underscores the transformative potential of geospatial analytics in fostering sustainable development and evidence-based policy design. The system and all its parts are available on-line at www.mirandaverktyget.se.

Mirandaverktyget är ett mikrobaserat beslutsstödsystem för hållbar turism- och infrastrukturplanering. Mirandaverktyget består av två delar, dels en teknisk plattform där flera datakällor som beskriver turismvolymer sammanförs för att kunna beräkna och presentera turismens ekonomiska effekter, dels en processmetodik för hur datakällorna samlas in och vilka aktörer i planeringssystemet som behöver samverka. Syftet med rapporten är att avrapportera projekt Förfinade beslutsstöd för hållbart turistresande och infrastrukturplanering - Miranda 2.0, samt ge en nulägesbeskrivning av Mirandaverktyget och en beskrivning av förutsättningar och kostnader för framtida förvaltning och vidareutveckling av Mirandaverktyget efter projektets slut.Rapporten innehåller en kortfattad genomgång av vad Mirandaverktyget gör i dess nuvarande version 2.0, vilka aktörer som kan använda det och hur den nya kunskap som Mirandaverktyget producerar kan användas i praktiken. Därefter presenteras hur olika aktörer kan använda Mirandaverktyget som kompletterande planeringsstöd. I ett avslutande kapitel sammanfattas nuläget för verktyget och förslag ges kring verktygets framtida utveckling.

Rapporten beskriver och exemplifierar fem delverktyg; Trafikflödesanalys, Turismens ekonomi på karta, Gästnätter, Tillgänglighetsanalys samt GeoTourDataAnalytic Model.

Trafikflödesanalyser visar ATK-data (passager vid ”fartkameror”) på tim-/dags-/månads nivå för trafikvolym på specifika platser. Flerkameraanalys möjliggör bl.a. studier av säsongsvariation och trender mellan olika platser, och funktionen för CO₂-utsläpp illustrerar enkelt skillnader mellan platser. Turismen ekonomi på karta nyttjar data från Sveriges alla aktiebolag och belyser ekonomiska aktiviteter (omsättning, sysselsättning, tillväxttakt) och möjliggör illustrerade jämförelser ner på mikronivå (destination, kommun eller eget valt område).

Gästnätter illustrerar och visar såväl kommersiella som privatförmedlade gästnätter, dess fördelning i geografin samt ekonomiska effekt på egenvalda delar för hela Sverige. GeoTourDataAnalytics visar en samlad bild för turismnäringen, transportinfrastrukturen och platsens övriga intressepunkter i relation till trafikflöden och möjliggör flera geografiska analyser såsom koncentration ”hot-spots” men även identifiera ”GAP” i matchning mellan efterfrågan (trafikflöde) och transportutbud. Tillgänglighetsanalys kompletterar de övriga fyra och möjliggör detaljerade analyser mellan intressepunkter, transportslag och befolkning.

Mirandaverktygets tekniska plattform och dess fem delverktyg nås via hemsidan mirandaverktyget.se.

Using 14-years of firm-level data (2009-2022), this paper contributes with an examination of growth in key performance measures, such as firm size, profitability and productivity in the equine sports industry. We use registry data on financial accounts covering all active Swedish firms in the industry and perform comparative analyses across firms with different specialization, i.e., breeding, racing and mixed firms. We find the average profitability of firms in the industry to be low, but with substantial variation across specializations that tend to converge over time. The results suggest that the economic viability of the industry is questionable in the absence of lower labor costs and support from other non-equine related economic activities. Overall, the industry is characterized by a wide array of activities and business models and access to external capital and other economic activities are likely to play an important role for the future development of the industry.

Providers of open access tourism products depend on visitors' compliance with funding models, a challenge amplified by geographic remoteness and by limited enforcement possibilities in destinations with recreational open access. This study investigates the case of two ski resorts in Sweden providing groomed trails for cross-country skiing under open access through the allemansrätt (Right of Public Access). Ski trail providers that prompt skiers to buy a trail pass operate in a legal grey zone due to the granted open access and are therefore dependent on skiers’ compliance. Hence, understanding compliance with the funding model of open access tourism products becomes crucial for providers to maintain an attractive product. Through 17 semi-structured interviews, the study analyses skiers' compliance with trail pass systems for groomed trails and embed these into skiers’ perceptions of user-fee models in open access contexts. Findings show that compliance often stems from a motivation to avoid conflict and negative emotions during possible spot checks despite undefined legal consequences. Personal interaction with trail providers seems to encourage compliance. Skiers tend to view groomed cross-country ski trails as commercial product rather than a common good. They also view trail passes as a risk of privatising access to nature. © 2025 The Authors

Food consumption accounts for a third of global greenhouse gas emissions in developed countries, with the hospitality industry, including restaurants, playing a significant role. While behavioural interventions show promise in promoting climate-friendly food choices, their implementation in hospitality operations poses significant challenges. This study integrates the operational perspectives of managers and staff with consumer behaviour insights to provide a more holistic understanding of intervention design in real-world hospitality settings. Through workshops with staff at an à la carte restaurant in a Swedish tourist destination, we co-designed a carbon label intervention and tested it in a field experiment. While the overall effect on consumer choice was limited, a substitution from high–to medium-emission dishes was observed. Moreover, our research offers a framework and practical insights for collaboratively designing behavioural interventions in hospitality. The study underscores the importance of staff engagement, guest satisfaction, and the need for ongoing adaptation in intervention design. © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Recreational trail of high quality for activities like cross-country skiing or mountain biking (MTB) are often the main attraction that drives a visit to a destination. In countries where open access to the recreational landscape applies, user compliance to the funding model is a key for the long term economic sustainability of the trail product. Practically, trail providers struggle with obtaining knowledge about the actual quantitative use of their trails and ultimately to define the success of their funding model. From a research perspective, understanding of mechanism that makes a user to comply is a challenge. This study aims to identify the actual compliance rate to a cross-country ski pass funding model at a Ski resort in the county of Dalarna, Sweden. The research question “What is the actual compliance rate to a trail pass system of visitors at the resort?” is answered by using a three quantitative data sources; a) on-site surveys that captures visitors’ demographics and skiing behaviour as well as the stated behaviour for the trail pass purchase, i.e. compliance to the funding model (I did not buy/ I do not want to answer); b) counters are positioned along the trail, capturing the actual use of the trails; c) the daily/weekly/monthly trail pass sales at the ski resort. Comparison of the three data sources with provides information about inaccuracies and conspicuous features to make conclusions about the actual rate of compliance and non-compliance. The paper also includes a discussion on funding models for cross-country ski trails and especially the feature of visible trail pass badges/stickers, that the skier are prompted to wear, and its effects on purchase behaviour. Limitations, especially related to the installed counters and skiers that possibly slip through all three data collection techniques are discussed and acknowledged.

Place-based knowledge of transport patterns at various spatial scales is fundamental for sustainable mobility planning in rural tourism areas. Our purpose in this paper is to report on a study carried out between 5 March and 5 May 2024 with the focus on mapping transport activities and places with mobility deficits in the rural tourism border municipalities of Malung-Sälen, Älvdalen, Trysil and Engerdal in Sweden and Norway.  We used a Public Participation Geographic Information Systems (PPGIS) survey to gather information on travel patterns and identify places in the four municipalities that require transport improvements. The study included citizens, second homeowners, and tourists. We received 1,426 responses to the survey and 1,758 unique locations have been identified by respondents as being in need of transport improvements. Of these, preliminary results show that Mälung-Sälen has the greatest need for improvement, leading the way with 966 locations identified. Not surprisingly, the use of diesel or petrol cars dominates both every day and leisure mobility in all municipalities. The dominance of carbon-intensive car-based travel in the region exacerbates climate change and poses a significant challenge for planning and facilitating a modal shift to more sustainable transport systems. This study is unique because it provides empirical data from several stakeholder groups, making it possible to analyze the perception of the need for transport improvements among different groups. Another novel contribution is the cross-border context for the study which offers analysis of mobility both within a country and between two Nordic countries. The results aid in understanding current mobility requirements in the region, providing useful knowledge for future sustainable transport planning.

Norm-nudges are effective in encouraging sustainable consumer behaviour in various settings, by raising the salience of the target behaviour via social norms. Tourism presents a highly hedonic context, in which behaviour is primarily framed by self-oriented goals as opposed to normative ones related to the good of the environment and society. While the existing literature provides insights on the appropriate content of norm-nudges to raise the salience of normative goals, less is known about an appropriate frequency of nudges. It is important to address this gap in tourism because tourists need to be aware of desired sustainable behaviours, while overly obtrusive nudges may backfire. A field experiment was conducted to test the extent to which an increased frequency of norm-nudges has a backfiring effect on sustainable tourist behaviour, using donations for mountain-biking trails as the target behaviour. Results show that increasing the frequency of norm-nudges does not diminish their positive uptake, which suggests that they can be used more to encourage sustainable behaviour and enhance tourists’ experiences. Using actual and self-reported behavioural data, this study provides new empirical evidence on the effectiveness of increased frequency of norm-nudges in a real tourism setting, contributing to knowledge on norm-nudges and backfiring effects. © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.