Nature-based tourism in a Nordic context

• In this chapter, we describe the Nordic region as a tourist destination primarily illustrated with examples from Norway, Sweden and Finland. The east–west and north–south gradients of these countries capture many of the special features of nature-based tourism in the Nordic region. In the context of tourism, it makes sense to speak in terms of a destination rather than a region, being a key concept of institutionalized tourism. However, regardless if one takes an economic geography, marketing management, customer, or cultural oriented approach (Saraniemi and Kylänen, 2011), we believe the Nordic region has much in common also as a tourist destination. We also argue there is a common understanding of what nature-based tourism is among the Nordic countries, which can be expressed as human activities occurring when visiting nature areas outside the ordinary neighborhood, or put differently, where the key attraction factor is nature and key activities are based on the nature environment (Koivula and Saastamoinen, 2005). For a more in-depth discussion about definitions of nature-based tourism we refer to the Introduction to this volume. 

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Social och ekonomisk geografi -- Kulturgeografi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Social and Economic Geography -- Human Geography (hsv//eng)

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