This thesis seeks to gain insight into environmental management implemented by micro and small tourism enterprises and explore levels of awareness and interest among owner-managers of micro and small tourism enterprises toward schemes aiming for the environmental improvement of business. The research uncovers findings that elevate possibilities for reducing misinterpretation of terminology relative to sustainable tourism business. This research seeks to understand why the suggested lack of sustainable tourism implementation remains evident in tourism. Discussion from findings intends to draw attention to central themes relative to achieving research objectives and seeks to yield important information in the pursuit of sustainable tourism business. A qualitative, semi-structured interview approach was used to gain in-depth and detailed perspectives from owner-managers of micro and small tourism enterprises. Owner-managers interviewed were purposively chosen using non-probability sampling. Selection was based on providing a variety of tourism businesses and physical business locations across the case study region. Overall, findings suggest that owner-managers are implementing low levels of environmental management and have limited knowledge of what implementation of environmental management specifically involves, such as, how long it takes and how much it costs. The underlying values of owner-managers demonstrate potential opportunities for further implementation of sustainable business practice. In addition, owner-managers seemed to place importance in conducting business responsibly and having minimal impact on the environment so that quality of life remains for future generations. Essentially, research findings aid in the understanding of why the suggested lack of sustainable tourism implementation remains evident in tourism and pose future avenues for research in the pursuit of sustainable tourism business.

In recent decades, tourism has been developed rapidly in the world. With such development, tourism sustainability has drawn great attention, especially in remote destinations. In Swedish Lapland, the studies have been focusing on social sustainability in terms of local communities and other external factors. Personnel as an important part of the tourism industry received less attention. Therefore, this research aims to provide an in-depth examination of the reasons behind personnel instability, personnel management, as well as maintaining the company image with personnel instability in small-sized tourism businesses in remote destinations. By using Abisko Mountain Lodge as the case, this research conducted five in-depth interviews with personnel, and one interview with the manager. The findings of this research revealed that personnel took the job without any aim for material needs, and the reasons for leaving Abisko include the location of the hotel, lack of living necessities, and emotional loneliness. Personnel management is mainly a flexible personnel strategy while a transformational leadership style plays a critical role. The company image of this case is ‘including’. Though new ideas are welcomed, the image will remain the same for all stakeholders. The limitations of this research include lack of interviews with permanent personnel and lack of nationality differentiation.