Frontiers in Nature-based Tourism Lessons from Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden

About this book

Nature has been a key attraction factor for tourism in the Nordic countries for decades. The demand for nature-based tourism has steadily grown and is one of the most rapidly expanding sectors within tourism across Europe and elsewhere. This demand has created opportunities for nature-based tourism to develop as an economic diversification tool within regions rich in natural amenities. But this is not only about tourism businesses and tourists visiting nature - the natural environment as a basis for tourism involves many challenges related to local communities, public access, nature protection and the management of natural resources.

This book covers a broad set of topics in contemporary nature-based tourism from Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. Areas discussed are innovation, fishing rights and supply of angling, recreation experience preferences, national park attractions, the cultural clash between established outdoor recreational use and new tourism activities, the Right of Public Access as opportunity and obstacle, preferences of tourism landscapes, controversies around wilderness development, management of hiking trails, eco-tourism certification, and financing of recreational infrastructure.

Contents

1. Introduction: Frontiers in Nature-Based Tourism.
2. Innovative Processes in a Nature-Based Tourism Case: The Role of a Tour-operator as the Driver of Innovation.
3. Fishing Rights and Supply of Salmon Angling Tourism in Mid-Norway.
4. Understanding Recreational Experience Preferences: Application at Fulufjallet National Park, Sweden.
5. Turning National Parks into Tourist Attractions: Nature Orientation and Quest for Facilities.
6. Cultural Clash: Interpreting Established Use and New Tourism Activities in Protected Natural Areas.
7. The Right of Public Access -- Opportunity or Obstacle for Nature Tourism in Sweden?
8. Differences in Tourists' and Local Residents' Perceptions of Tourism Landscapes: A Case Study from Yllas, Finnish Lapland.
9. Tourism Struggling as the Icelandic Wilderness is Developed. 10. Stakeholder Consensus Regarding Trail Conditions and Management Responses: A Norwegian Case Study.
11. Eco-tourism Certification -- Does it Make a Difference? A Comparison of Systems from Australia, Costa Rica and Sweden.
12. Financing Recreational Infrastructure with Micropayments and Donations: A Pilot Study on Cross-country Ski Track Preparations in Sweden.

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Biography

Peter Fredman is a Professor in nature-based tourism at the European Tourism Research Institute (ETOUR) and Mid-Sweden University, Campus A-stersund. His main research interests are studies of outdoor recreation demand, visitor monitoring, planning, economic analyses and studies of the nature-based tourism supply. Liisa Tyrvainen is a Professor in nature-based tourism at the Finnish Forest Research Institute (METLA) and University of Lapland. Her main research interests are nature-based tourism demand, landscape research, participatory land-use and natural resource planning and economic analysis of landscape and recreation values of nature.