Abstract

Within the European Union, the tourism issues facing many peripheral areas are similar to those elsewhere in the world. Beginning in the late 1980s, the emphasis of thinking in the Union moved away from large automatic grants to attract inward investment projects, towards small firms and indigenous development. As party to this thinking, tourism SMEs have been assigned an important role in the process of regional convergence. While investment subsidies remain a key instrument, they have been supplemented by technical support to tailor assistance to the needs of the individual firm. The latter aspect is an important plank in Swedish regional policy, which sees investing in human competencies as the core to innovative development at the local level. This paper examines the progress and the outcomes of a four-year programme to upgrade the level of business skills in eight tourism SMEs, which are located in the sparsely populated regions of northern Sweden.