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- Pettersson, Robert
(författare)
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Sami tourism in Northern Sweden : Supply, demand and interaction
- 2004
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Indigenous tourism is an expansive sector in the growing tourism industry. The Sami people living in Sápmi in northern Europe have started to engage in tourism, particularly in view of the rationalised and modernised methods of reindeer herding. Sami tourism offers job opportunities and enables the spreading of information. On the other hand, Sami tourism may jeopardise the indigenous culture and harm the sensitive environment in which the Sami live. The aim of this thesis is to analyse the supply and demand of Sami tourism in northern Sweden. This is presented in four articles. The first article analyses the potential of the emerging Sami tourism in Sweden, with special emphasis on the access to Sami tourism products. The study shows that there is a growing supply of tourism activities related to the Swedish Sami. The development of tourism is, however, restricted by factors such as the peripheral location and the lack of traditions of entrepreneurship. The second article analyse which factors influence tourists when they make their decisions about Sami tourism. In the article the respondents are requested to answer a number of hypothetical questions, ranking their preferences regarding supply, price and access. The study indicates that tourism related to the Sami and Sami culture has a considerable future potential, but also that there is a gap between supply and demand. In the third article the analysis shows that the festival in Jokkmokk, thanks to continuously added attractions, has been able to retain a rather high level of popularity, despite its peripheral location. Finally, the fourth article analyses to what extent the winter festival in Jokkmokk is a genuinely indigenous event, and to what extent it is staged. It is argued that the indigenous culture presented at the festival and in media is highly staged, although backstage experiences are available for the Sami and for the tourists who show a special interest.
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| 2. |
- Brandt, Backa Fredrik, 1972-
(författare)
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Botniabanan - förväntningar i tid och rum på regional utveckling och resande
- 2005
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The aim of the thesis is twofold: to analyze the effects of the expectations on the Bothnia Line on the housing market and expectations on railway use. To fulfill these aims, three questions are considered:1. To what extent is property prices influenced by the expected effects of the Bothnia Line?2. Are there differences in expectations on regional development and future journeys between residents in different locations and with different individual characteristics?3. How are trips to work affected by the expectations on the Bothnia Line and the performance of the train service according to residents in different locations?Property prices are investigated quantitatively with data delivered from Lantmäteriet. The data contains every sold property from 1994 to 2001 in the municipalities of Umeå, Nordmaling, and Örnsköldsvik. Expectations on regional development and future traveling on the Bothnia Line were investigated with two questionnaires conducted in the autumn of 2002.The empirical results from the study of property prices are clear. There are no signs of influence from the Bothnia Line on the property prices close to the railway stations or in the proximity of the railway.The empirical results from the questionnaires reveal a mixed picture of the expectations. In the municipalities located furthest away from the railway, the expectations are low. On the contrary, a large proportion (>75 %) of the residents in municipalities along the railway line believe it can be useful for the population in general when searching for new employment opportunities. This is especially true for males living in Örnsköldsvik. A significantly smaller proportion (≈25 %) believes they will use the railway themselves.One explanation to the geographic variations is that they are a result from an ongoing diffusion process. Residents in Örnsköldsvik were the first ones to have a visual image of the railway since the construction started there. As the construction continues, the expectations might increase in other locations as well. Another possibility is that people only react on word of mouth from someone that actually made a trip before they consider changing the mode of transport. If that is the case, the expectations will increase only after the opening of the railway line.With the exception of residents in Nordmaling, expectations on future journeys with the Bothnia Line are low. The low expectations on journeys on the Bothnia Line might be explained by the lack of attraction between the places along the line. They are satisfied with their present situation and cannot find any rationale to consider other alternatives. It is a different story if they are forced to consider other alternatives. The result from a stated preference study shows that if they are offered employment at another place, the majority is willing to commute.
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| 3. |
- Lundmark, Linda, 1975-
(författare)
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Restructuring and employment change in sparsely populated areas : examples from Northern Sweden and Finland
- 2006
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The purpose of this thesis is to examine ongoing restructuring and its impacts on sparsely populated areas in Sweden and Finland. In the context of sparsely populated areas, the global processes have great local impact because of their poor capacity to adapt to rapid economic changes. The focus here is on tourism and forest-related employment, however amenity motives for mobility and migration are also considered in relation to restructuring. A major part of the information used in this thesis comes from a database collected and stored by Statistics Sweden.Results show that employment in tourism in the Swedish mountain municipalities is largely seasonal in character. The seasonality of tourism has caused seasonal in-migration or long-distance commuting of young people, first and foremost to the southern mountain municipalities. The success of tourism as a regional development strategy is affected by the structure and characteristics of the local labour force. The importance of tourism for development also depends on other regional characteristics such as infrastructure, demographic composition, experience and education of the local labour force, as well as on attributes of the tourism industry. The assumed and almost automatic positive relationship between nature conservation and tourism is challenged. Tourism employment does not automatically follow from unemployment in forest sectors, accentuating differences in the characteristics of the labour force needed in tourism, forestry and related activities and the difficulty of enforcing restructuring and diversification towards tourism.In the last article, analyses of the forest-related employment are in focus. It is concluded that there is no significant effect of climate change on employment. Instead other global, national and local processes and interrelationships, such as supply and demand and productivity increase, have a greater impact on employment. Forestry and related sectors have shifted towards a more capital intensive management, which means that the productivity rate of the each worker is so high that the increasing amount of harvestable forest due to climate change does not involve the employment of more people. The relative unimportance of forestry and forest-related employment in the research area has also been highlighted.In conclusion, the economic restructuring processes in relation to tourism have been limited in a majority of the mountain municipalities. This is clearly demonstrated by the high level of seasonal labour mobility to some parts of the mountain area. However, there is evidence suggesting a positive relationship between seasonal tourism employment and permanent migration. To the north, there are fewer large resorts with high seasonal pressure than in the south. This means that tourism can be a way of maintaining work opportunities and sustaining local service. In the south and in the larger resorts, tourism might be a way to ensure more employment, albeit on a seasonal basis. Local diversity through place-dependent activities like tourism and resource-based recreation, as well as resource extraction, might offer opportunities for economic diversification. However, if the demographic structure is unbalanced there will be difficulties in pursuing economic restructuring and diversification. Add to this a peripheral location and there are many obstacles to increasing population, even temporarily. Thus, tourism development must be carefully considered on a local basis.
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