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- Byström, Joakim
(författare)
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Tourism Development in Resource Peripheries : conflicting and Unifying Spaces in Northern Sweden
- 2019
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The northern Swedish inland is a sparsely populated area with a historical dependence upon natural-resource extraction. Therefore, this region has traditionally been defined as a resource periphery for extractive purposes. However, the rise of tourism challenges this narrative by producing a pleasure periphery for touristic purposes. A pleasure periphery in this context is linked to nature-based tourism that sells dreams of pristine nature and/or vast wilderness. This touristic “story” therefore becomes an antithesis to the region's industrial past. The overlapping touristic and extractive spaces, and their seemingly conflicting development narratives, constitute the theoretical approach to tourism development in the scope of this thesis. Further, this thesis adds to theorizing tourism development in northern peripheries, by contesting established development theories against each other in a northern Swedish setting. Multiple methods using both quantitative and qualitative data are used to answer the questions in this thesis.Three conclusions can be derived based on the empirical findings. Firstly, established tourism development theories are at risk of being invalid in more peripheral settings. As an example, protected areas constitute a poor development strategy, and are not producing tourism employment as shown in studies from more densely populated regions. Other destination-development theories presupposing urban-like infrastructure, which is absent in peripheries, also become invalid. Secondly, conflicts between tourism and extractive industries do occur at the discursive level where they tend to be described in dualistic terms. However, in terms of labor-market processes, findings show that tourism and resource extraction are actually rather interrelated. Within mining tourism, such a related diversification occurs due to the spatial distribution of mining and tourism skills and the interaction between them. Thirdly, the location of tourism destinations is broadly governed by resource-extractive infrastructure. Therefore, tourism destinations are normally located in places that have previously been made accessible via investments in the resource-extractive sector. Hence, resource extraction projects (unintentionally) produce accessibility to the touristic “wilderness”.In summary, resource extraction becomes a precondition for tourism development in northern Sweden, rather than a conflicting land-use competitor. Therefore, planners and decision makers should consider incorporating aspects of tourism in future plans for resource extraction as these industries often spatially overlap, intertwine, and consequently form a development symbiosis in northern resource peripheries.
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| 2. |
- Nilsson, Per A., 1957-
(författare)
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Studying abroad : exploring mobility, expectations and experiences among mobile students
- 2019
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis deals with the experiences and outcomes of temporarily studying abroad, via follow-up studies, aiming to explore international student mobility with a focus on the individual’s perspective. The specific research questions, dealing with the individual students’ expectations and experiences, are addressed in three papers. The fourth paper is a framing of these studies, using results from a global study.The first research question connects to the attractiveness of international study experiences: Q1. What are the individual’s expectations for studying abroad, among inbound and outbound students, and what are the students’ reported experiences compared with these expectations? The second research question connects to the mobility culture of youth: Q2. Does students’ reported life satisfaction change in any way after studying abroad?A main finding for outbound students was an appreciation of courses offered at the destination higher education institution that were not available at Umeå University. The students also had a desire to change their environment and have new experiences. Conversely, the desire to work abroad in the future was lower after returning home. A major finding for inbound students was that they assigned higher value to personal development than academic development. The experience made the students positive in regard to working abroad. Inbound students reported significantly higher satisfaction at follow-up six months later for the domains somatic health and activities of daily living. For both in- and outbound students, experiencing a new culture was more important than pure academic experiences.When the experience was compared with the expectation, in most cases the outcomes were positively related for both in- and outbound students. The motives for international study were primarily related to personal achievements, indicating a fulfilment of one’s potential and curiosity about a sojourn abroad.Finally, the results from the Umeå studies were compared with a global survey. The Umeå studies shows that the respondents viewed studying abroad as an important experience and as a merit later in life. The global survey results indicate that the transition from education to the world of work is of increasing importance to students, and that it matters more for non-European students. The global study showed that employability, teaching ability, expert lectures, and course organization are important to international students.
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| 3. |
- Müller, Dieter K., 1968-
(författare)
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German second home owners in the Swedish countryside : on the internationalization of the leisure space
- 1999
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Between 1991 and 1996 the number of German second home owners in Sweden increased from about 1,500 to more than 5,500. The purpose of this thesis is to give a comprehensive description and analysis of the German cottage purchases in Sweden, 1991-96. In detail, the motives of the cottage buyers, the circumstances, the geographical patterns of cottage ownership, its diffusion, the integration of the cottage owners, and their expenses in the receiving areas are investigated. The analysis is based on two main sources; (a) an unique database UMCOBASE covering all second homes in Sweden; (b) a survey among 91 German second home owners.Second home ownership is considered as touriste product and as semi-permanent migration to the countryside. These perspectives have in common the importance of the role of the positive image of the countryside. Differences in property prices and climate may also attract second home owners to a specific area. It is argued that changes in the German society form a considerable driving force. Stress and life in the large metropolitan areas as well as the political situation after German reunification contribute not only to this interest for second home living, for the countryside, but also for Sweden, often seen as a shining example. Many German images of Sweden are based on popular writings and movies of the Swedish children's author Astrid Lindgren. Sweden provides the German cottagers with the requested environments and the availability of housing, cheap property prices, and rather short distances make the interior parts of southern Sweden an ideal destination for the mixture of households with different individual motivations and preferences mainly from Hamburg and Berlin.The internationalization of the economy and the globalization of culture make it easier to purchase a second home abroad. In this case, the growth of German second home ownership in Sweden can be considered as a colonization of the Swedish countryside. The diffusion of cottage ownership is enhanced and directed by the innovators who due to their social networks attract new cottagers to the same area. A very important precondition for the increased German interest in Swedish cottages was the decline of the Swedish currency in 1992 allowing purchases at a cheaper price. The fact that the real estate agencies focused on the German market may be another reason for the increase, and also for the distribution of German cottage ownership within Sweden. The German second home patterns are also analyzed employing multiple regression analysis. It is shown that the distance between ferry harbors and second homes is a major restriction for the distribution of German cottage ownership in Sweden. Even future growth will take place in areas where German cottage owners are present today.The multi-functionality of the countryside caused competition regarding land-use and decision-making power between rural residents, tourists, and agents of other interests. Even if second home tourists and the permanent residents share a lot of interests, integration into the local community can be difficult. It is argued that the German cottagers are leisure gentrifiers consuming the countryside as a leisure resource only. Second home owners are faithful tourists who visit the second home area frequently and stay for a long time. This entails that they also spend a considerable amount of money in the host community. Hence, some jobs in the research area are more or less dependent on the expenditures of the German cottage owners. Despite being motivated, most German cottagers have problems integrating into the host community. The German cottagers seem to adapt to this situation by meeting with each other and by applying a conservative eco-strategy, thus converting their surroundings into their imaginary Swedish countryside.The post-war societies in the western world are characterized by rapid changes. The recent interest in second homes can be read as a rejection of modern life, because the cottage might be the continuous place in life. It is argued, however, that the second home is attractive because it blurs the strict separation of everyday life and tourism.
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