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The visual dimension plays a significant role in tourism, especially in its promotional materials. In promoting and representing their places and people, destinations participate in negotiations over meaning and identity, whether they do so consciously or not. These negotiations have real consequences, especially for third world destinations and minority stakeholders still grappling with the legacies of colonialism.

This study uses Cuba as a case study to closely analyze the particular role images and representations of tourism play in destinations’ efforts to combat colonialist identities and power relations. Cuba bears many of the features common to other third world (in particular Caribbean) island destinations. There is a rich theoretical background of existing research into the common tropes and consequences of these destinations’ efforts to promote and represent their tourism industries. However, the Cuban tourism context is also very unique, making it a potentially rich area of study in furtherance of this existing research. Cuba is unique in terms of the history of its people and its politics, as well as its tourism industry. After several decades of remaining closed to international tourism, the Cuban government only reopened its borders to tourists in 1989, and tourist relations with the United States were only normalized in 2016. The situation is currently in flux and the future is uncertain. But researchers agree that the reopening of Cuba’s international tourism industry may have profound consequences for the country and its citizens. Many researchers have focused on the potential downsides of tourism for Cuba’s people, places, and identities. Others have expressed optimism that Cuba is uniquely well situated to control its tourism industry and to ensure positive outcomes.

This study aims to learn more about the strategies and consequences of Cuba’s tourism industry, as seen through the lens of its marketing materials and the visual representations of Cuba, Cubans, and Cuban tourism they contain. First, this study conducts an extensive review of the literature on the unique Cuban context. Content analysis is then used to examine the images produced by Cuba’s official destination marketing organization (DMO), as featured on Cuba’s electronic tourism portal (Cubatravel.cu) and the website of the official tourism agency (Infotur.cu).

The results affirm the difficulty postcolonial tourism destinations have in representing their people and places without engaging in stereotypes and essentializing discourses that perpetuate the social, economic, and power imbalances associated with colonialism. However, the results also provide some reason for hope. In comparison with other third world tourism destinations and marketing campaigns subjected to similar analysis, Cuba manages to achieve some progressive outcomes in its promotional materials. The visual representations of Cuba and Cubans assert Cuba’s diverse and unique culture and heritage. They also go much further than other third world destinations in depicting the subjectivity of the destination’s own people. It is recommended that further research look more closely at the racial and gender politics at play in Cuban society and Cuban tourism promotion. In addition, further research might examine the feelings of actual Cubans about the ways Cuban tourism promotions represent them and negotiate identity on their behalf.

Nostalgia is an important concept in the study of heritage tourism, especially as a push factor, but less attention is devoted to how nostalgia influences place attachment and vice versa, especially in relation to both individual and collective community experiences. While place attachment has been discussed in the context of second homes, nostalgia has received little attention, with none directed specifically at historic second home communities or those which had recently experienced a disaster. Therefore, this paper presents an analysis of semi-structured interviews conducted among second homeowners in Ocean Beach, New York, which is a century-old second home community with a rich local heritage that was hit by Hurricane Sandy in 2012. The findings show that the respondents display different aspects of nostalgia, in particular endo- and meso- nostalgia. This work conceptualizes meso-nostalgia as an umbrella term for the previously discussed nostalgias which focus on the gray area between personal and collective memories. The findings also show the respondents’ deep connection to the second home landscape, but there was a marked difference between respondents with inherited second homes and those who had purchased them wherein inherited homeowners’ nostalgia was closer to those of permanent residents in previous studies.

This study examines into how tourists in Sweden engage in sustainable tourism by analysing the impact of personal norms and environmental knowledge on their purchasing decisions, with an emphasis on eco-friendly options for accommodation. The goal of the study is to ascertain how much sustainable tourism practices are considered by visitors in Sweden when making vacation choices. To do this, a survey was given to visitors (both domestic and international) to Sweden, and statistical analysis was done on the data gathered. The study's conclusions show a strong relationship between individual norms, environmental knowledge, and environmentally conscious purchasing practices among Swedish travelers. This shows that more environmentally conscious travelers are more likely to choose sustainable travel options, especially when it comes to choosing eco-friendly lodging. Policymakers, stakeholders in the tourist sector, and marketers wanting to promote sustainable tourism practices in Sweden can all benefit from the knowledge provided by these insights. The development of tailored measures to promote eco-conscious tourism behaviors among visitors to this Scandinavian destination can be aided by an understanding of the interaction between personal norms and environmental awareness.

Scuba Diving is a growing sport in Sweden and globally, as the sport continues to grow an understanding of what motivates individuals to participate in this sport becomes more important. This thesis was built upon previous studies in order to identify what push factors motivate licenced Swedish scuba divers to dive and investigate if experience levels had any effect on these push motivational factors. In order to answer these research questions, the author used quantitative research methods to analyse data collected from various dive clubs, dive centres, and Facebook groups targeting Swedish scuba divers. In total twenty different groups and organizations were targeted and a total of 370 responses were collected. Following this, six responses were removed from the sample due to them being blank or not relevant to the research questions. The data collected showed that Swedish scuba divers were mainly males between the ages of 35 and 55 years of age with at least a high school degree but more commonly at least a bachelor’s degree. Furthermore, five main motivational factors were found through the data analysis that involved 24 different motivational variables. Factor analyses of these motivational variables lead to five factors emerging, the most important of which was labelled Experience. The data also found that in four of the five cases, experience levels did not have a significant effect on the motivational factors of Swedish scuba divers. However, experience levels did influence one of the motivational factors found in the analyses. Further areas of research following this thesis may include a look at the pull motivational factors for Swedish scuba divers as well as further research into the relationship between experience levels and motivational factors.

Going from having bought the most essential at the small shops close to home, better communications and an increasingly consumption oriented lifestyle has created a change in shopping behavior and has led to phenomenon such as shopping centres and more. These are constantly being built in Sweden: in the cities, outside the cities and more recently even in small cities -small cities as for one reason or another have access to a larger customer base which can have businesses to flourish economically.

During the first decade of the 21^st century, shopping centres have been established along the Swedish/Norwegian border. Since the Norwegian Krone is much stronger than the Swedish Krona Norwegians save a great deal of money on going to Sweden to shop. During the shopping trips to Sweden, it is mostly alcohol, meat, tobacco and candy that are being bought. However, other products such as clothing, technology, household appliances and more are also being purchased, all to save money on the trip. Together these cross border shoppers spent 11, 6 billion in Sweden during the year of 2010. This gives an average spending of approximately 10 900 SEK per cross border shopper on annual basis.

Nordby, Töcksfors and Charlottenberg (small cities located in southwestern Sweden) are places characterized by Norwegian cross border shopping. Together, they generate billions every year and this only seems to increase. These places are relatively small in size but have prominent attributes such as proximity to the Norwegian border. Apart from these resorts and shopping centres, there are few or none similar places near the Norwegian border in the rest of Sweden. However, a place which is geographically well located and has a relatively large Norwegian and Swedish customer base is the ski resort of Sälen in west central of Sweden.

Sälen is a village located near the Norwegian border, although fairly sparsely populated. The destination has annually about one million official guest nights, based on the 414 000 visitors who stay an average of about 4, 5 days.  Per visit, these tourists individually spend an average of 862 SEK on shopping at the destination.

The expenditure of the mountain tourists together with the Norwegian border shoppers makes it very interesting to explore the opportunities for shopping development in terms of a shopping centre in the region of Sälen.

This report presents on a data collection that took place in the biggest winter tourism destination in Sweden, Sälenfjällen, during week 9-13 in 2020. The study was conducted as a part of the InterReg project MARA_mobility (Mobility and Accessibility in Rural areas). The overall purpose of the InterReg project is to improve the accessibility and mobility in touristic remote areas of the Baltic Sea Region by increasing the capacity of transport actors. One part of the project involves crosschecking the actual mobility demand of tourists with current mobility offers. The specific purpose of this study is to analyse mobility and accessibility for Sälenfjällen as being the Swedish case within the overarching InterReg project. Data collection was made on-site using a questionnaire and Public Participation Geographic Information System (PPGIS) adapted for the Sälenfjällen case area. A total of 162 responses entered the final analysis. Results of analysis findthat the trip characteristics influence the transport mode choice. Also, there are differences in the tourists’ perception of the mobility situation depending on transport mode chosen. Moreover, the perception of the mobility situation has a link to the overall satisfaction visit to the area, however, the relationship is weak.

The last decades have seen a rapidly growing interest in foresight methodology. Methods have been developed in corporate and governmental communication exercises often labelled technology foresight. In reality, these foresights have often drifted into processes of social change, since technological change is hard to foresee beyond what is already in the pipe-line. Forecasting of social change, however, must be based on solid knowledge about the mechanisms of continuity and change. Virtually nothing can be said about the future without relating to the past; foresights and futures studies are about revealing the hidden pulse of history. Hence, the answer to forecasting the future is empirical research within the social sciences. Demographic change has been recognised as a key determinant for explaining social change. Population changes are fairly predictable and the age transition can explain a wide range of socio-economic changes. For rural futures, demographic change is a key issue, since age structure in rural areas is often uneven and also unstable due to migration patterns. A number of policy related questions as well as research challenges are raised as a consequence.

Travelling to, from and within the destination area accounts for a high level of tourism emissions. Yet, little has been done to improve and direct the travelling pattern at reducing carbon dioxide emissions. By encouraging visitors to use public rather private transport also limits traffic congestion and increases the use of public space by means of walking and cycling therefore enhancing destination competitiveness. Although there have a number of attempts to encourage the use of public transportation over car use, it still remains a challenge. This paper reports the findings of surveys of tourists who visited Sälen during the peak season of Easter break and projected their travel choice and spending patterns within the destination. The results shows that there is a relationship between location, accessibility and tourist expenditure.

Therefore, understanding the pattern of visitors’ expenditures within a destination can serve as a strategic element in economic sustainability and capturing factors that have a high expenditure at a destination.

В статье подчеркивается значимость учета геоэкологических аспектов в развитии объектов куль-турного наследия на основе концепции устойчивого развития. В качестве основного направления реализации концепции предложены особенности, принципы формирования культурного ландшафта. Определены подходы концепции культурного ландшафта. Предложен и обоснован выбор информационно-аксиологического подхода.

This thesis aims to examine the motivational factors and to explore possible typologies of groundhoppers. Groundhopping as a special form of sports tourism which has grown rapidly over the last couple of decades. Given the fact, that there has been a lot of research in the field of sports tourism it is quite interesting to see that up to this day, there is hardly any in-depth research about groundhopping in particular. Groundhoppers are a very interesting group to both sport and tourism industry. For the latter, groundhoppers might be a potential target group especially when it comes to the promotion and marketing of certain destinations. Just like other types of tourists, groundhoppers bring money to the destinations, spend it at different occasions and hence contribute to the destinations’ development.

Having an exploratory character, this quantitative research wants to contribute to the lack in current literature, focussing on a German groundhopper online community and its members. A web-based questionnaire has been conducted which had a total number of 909 respondents. Demonstrating the outcomes of the survey, this thesis looks into the individual statistics of the questionnaire and visualises the answers with descriptive tables. Furthermore, with the use of an exploratory factor analysis and a two-step cluster analysis, three potential groups of groundhoppers could be explored.

The findings from this study should be seen as a starting point, an inspiration for further research, as groundhopping is likely to keep growing in numbers. While quantitative studies like this thesis can contribute to get an overall picture, qualitative research will also be required to get an insight on the more individual and personal level of groundhopping. This again could lead to new ideas and concepts for advanced quantitative research. Until then, groundhopping will remain a mostly unknown niche in the field of sports tourism.

Creativity and innovation are often associated with big metropolitan cities because the potentia lof creative industries and creative class is concentrated in cities. This study aims to explore the potential of Creative Tourism in small cities and rural areas in the Dalarna region, Sweden and explores the challenges of the municipalities and local creative actors in implementing Creative Tourism in the Dalarna region. Dalarna in Sweden has a rich cultural heritage with a well-developed creative industry, but it is not seen as well integrated with the wider tourism destination mix. For this purpose, a qualitative methodology is used to carry out the research. Data was collected from secondary sources like websites, google scholar, DMO (Destination Management Organisation) followed by semi structured interviews with the local creative actors, municipalities and DMOs. A snowball sampling method was used for the convenience of getting participants for interviews. This study analyzes how Creative activities can be applied to cultural tourism for small cities and rural areas in Dalarna to fully utilize their creative and cultural heritage potential and the challenges associated in developing the creative activities for tourism purposes.

The idea of recognizing the Rights of Nature has emerged as a response and an alternative source of stimulus to tackle today’s environmental problems causing eco-anxiety. This study intends to give insight on how a high level of environmental awareness can contribute substantially to a balanced relationship with Nature. In addition, the study aspires to inspect whether diverse knowledge systems on harmonious development processes can facilitate a new system of relationships between people and Nature. It follows that one of the main aims of this thesis is also to explore how the compound perspectives of different scientific disciplines on the concept of sustainability, especially environmental sustainability, can work together to deliver a strong and unified message to societies: a message at the heart of which is a transformational social change in the way Nature is perceived and treated. The legal recognition of Nature’s intrinsic value is at the centre of this emerging paradigm shift, reflecting a comprehensive people-oriented approach towards Nature. In this light, the study seeks to explore the possible changes which would take place if Fulufjallet National Park embedded in the Scandinavian Wilderness area became a rights-bearing subject of the law. The research is supported by a discourse analysis methodology which has identified a framework of a three-level system of relationships representing a potential shift in the current paradigm of sustainable development in the context of the protected area in the Swedish high mountains. It has been found that acknowledging the legal subjectivity of the national park as a whole, as well as of the natural treasures and the plant and animal kingdoms within it, may encourage people to discover the core value of Nature from an Earth-centered perspective. Furthermore, based on the results of data analysis, the principles and values behind the unique Swedish law called the Right of Public Access may open up a new dimension in the respectful social relations between individuals and Nature by fostering the implementation of the concept of the Rights of Nature and Earth Jurisprudence anywhere in the country. 

Tourism growth on the national level in Sweden is being concentrated to the three main urban centres. The question is if the same trend is discernible within Swedish regions. If so, tourism as a tool in regional transformation and for alleviating spatial disparities has a weak basis. The strategy to strengthen the competitiveness of each region/local community based on the Tourism Led Growth Hypothesis but is questioned. Urban hierarchy and centrifugal forces are often overlooked. Data on overnight stays between 2008 and 2016 are analysed for four regions in central Sweden: Dalarna, Värmland, Gävleborg, and Jämtland. Results indicate that there is an ongoing concentration to regional urban centres and that destination competitiveness is directly linked to an urban supremacy. Thus, tourism growth is primarily a concern for urban areas and, which contradicts the traditional notions of tourism policy in Sweden, where tourism is regarded as a remedy for declining regions.

In the contemporary so-called ‘competition state era’, many rural and peripheral regions are in decline. Tourism is increasingly viewed as being able to alleviate and rejuvenate regions that are facing economic difficulties. The European Union has launched several programmes with the goal of stimulating growth and employment in peripheral areas. These programmes are often used to support tourism development projects. In this paper, a longitudinal analysis of spatial changes in Swedish tourism is conducted. The analysis is based on statistics regarding overnight stays in Swedish commercial accommodation facilities. The aim is to investigate if tourism and tourism policy contribute to the reduction in disparities between regions. Although there are exceptions, the main findings indicate that the potential for creating sustainable rural tourism growth through tourism policy seems to be much less than the popular discourse suggests. © 2016 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Although respective research has proliferated, little attention has been given to the processual nature of festivals. By drawing upon the concept of host event zones, we examine how different spectators perceive the development of the heavy metal festival Wacken Open Air (WOA) with respect to the dynamics between the festival as a temporary place in which visitors enjoy spectacle and ritual, a commercial site and the everyday living space of local inhabitants. WOA has grown in 30 years from an initiative by a few friends for devoted metal fans into an internationally renowned music mega-event. WOA represents a consumption mediated ‘peaceful utopia’ where festivalgoers find social meaningfulness in neo-tribes. However, the accelerating mainstream appeal of Wacken Open Air for a non-metal fan audience, which significantly spurt by the media, challenges both regular attendees’ experience of this idealized space and the relationship between the host community and the festival.

The fundamental premise of social entrepreneurship is to use business knowledge to solve critical economic, social and environmental dilemmas facing a society. Social entrepreneurship is an emerging theme of inquiry in contemporary business, entrepreneurship, marketing and ethics literature. In effect, social entrepreneurs are concerned with making a “mission-related impact” which becomes their central concern. To date, there has been little attention given to the notion of social entrepreneurship in the discipline of tourism. Despite the lack of attention in tourism research there have been a number of significant social entrepreneurial contributions made to various communities in South Africa. Such contributions demonstrate the significance of change makers in the context of rural South Africa signifying progress in the country's new democracy. This paper is a consequence of two phases of field work in South Africa over a 10- month period. The paper discusses the motivational behaviour of six Fair Trade Tourism South Africa (FTTSA) entrepreneurs who have developed businesses with the intention of giving back to their South African communities. However, the study employed critical discourse analysis and in so doing it recognizes some of the inherent contradictions in informants' discourses based on their white privilege experienced during apartheid. Two aims focused on this exploration: 1) to seek information regarding entrepreneurial stimuli for involvement in social action, through FTTSA membership, and 2) to investigate FTTSA members' micro and macro discourses that inform their actions and behaviours.

The academic focus on tourism impacts has raised questions regarding stakeholder responsibility. From a consumption perspective, many ethical consumers, by enacting their political and moral concerns through their consumer choice demonstrate their virtuous qualities and at the same time construct themselves as ethical. Ethical consumption and the consumption of Fairtrade, Fair Trade Tourism and Fair Trade Tourism South Africa (FTTSA) – which derived from Pro-Poor Tourism and ecotourism principles –, are embedded into a cultural context of global consumer capitalism. This macro discourse informs the way people think about the extent of their responsibility, what constitutes a fair exchange, and how they construct themselves as ethical consumers. Ethical consumption, although virtuous can then be described as a form of conspicuous consumption because consumption in its self is a hedonistic act especially when one uses ethical consumption as a mechanism to demonstrate one's ‘ethical self’. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with eleven FTTSA travellers in December–February of 2009 at two FTTSA businesses. The paper employed Critical Discourse Analysis to explore some of the tensions between consumer virtue and the hedonistic behaviours of the informants. The aim of this paper is to investigate the notion of moral selving in the context of ethical travel and in particular FTTSA. Results revealed that motivations for participation in ethical consumption and travel are varied and sometimes influenced by the appeal of moral selving.

Tourism research has highlighted the negative consequences brought on by tourism development. As a way to address such impacts a proliferation of alternative approaches have emerged in the discourse projecting alternative ways to conduct and participate in tourism which provide greater benefits. A by-product of ecotourism and the Pro-Poor Tourism approach has applied fair trade principles to tourism. The aim of this paper is to explore the development and application of fair trade principles to the tourism industry by reviewing secondary data. The key research questions that this paper addresses are: What has been the impetus to identify and apply fair trade principles in the context of the tourism industry? What countries have gotten involved in Fair Trade Tourism? What are some of the implications, issues and concerns regarding the implementation of Fair Trade Tourism? The critical review of the Fair Trade Tourism concept identifies that tourism practitioners, academics and tourists must pause to reflect on this approach as a way to strive for better treatment of people and a way to eradicate poverty. As such, the author raises a number of key concerns regarding the rhetoric of fair trade and its various meanings, the implementation of fair trade as a poverty eradication mechanism, its context and effect.

The fundamental premise of social entrepreneurship is to use business knowledge to solve critical economic, social and environmental dilemmas facing a society. Social entrepreneurship is an emerging theme of inquiry in contemporary business, entrepreneurship, marketing and ethics literature. In effect, social entrepreneurs are concerned with making a “mission-related impact” which becomes their central concern. To date, there has been little attention given to the notion of social entrepreneurship in the discipline of tourism. Despite the lack of attention in tourism research there have been a number of significant social entrepreneurial contributions made to various communities in South Africa. Such contributions demonstrate the significance of change makers in the context of rural South Africa signifying progress in the country's new democracy. This paper is a consequence of two phases of field work in South Africa over a 10- month period. The paper discusses the motivational behaviour of six Fair Trade Tourism South Africa (FTTSA) entrepreneurs who have developed businesses with the intention of giving back to their South African communities. However, the study employed critical discourse analysis and in so doing it recognizes some of the inherent contradictions in informants' discourses based on their white privilege experienced during apartheid. Two aims focused on this exploration: 1) to seek information regarding entrepreneurial stimuli for involvement in social action, through FTTSA membership, and 2) to investigate FTTSA members' micro and macro discourses that inform their actions and behaviours.

This article explores an opportunity for the accommodation sector in Ireland to engage in Corporate Social Responsibility. The aim of this article is to investigate the Fair Hotels Ireland scheme and explore its potential to create social cohesion which may then influence the economic and social progress in both theory and praxis. The research question that supports the aim of this study is: has the Fair Hotels Ireland scheme created value and influenced consumer purchasing? To respond to this research question ten interviews were carried out with Fair Hotel managers in Ireland. A content analysis was used to examine the data. The results indicated that hotel managers noticed an increase in business as a consequence of their CSR and becoming a Fair Hotel; and the scheme was described as creating value for their hotel and staff. However, the managers had not noticed a significant difference in the level of employee satisfaction. © 2013 Copyright Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

Heritage tourism is a form of niche tourism which has emerged as an alternative to mass tourism. However the discourses used to market some heritage products generally appeal to an elite group in society who are demanding. Thus heritage tourism is marketed and packaged in a way to appeal to an exclusive group who are interested in tailor-made products that provide some entertainment value. The aim of this paper is to investigate the marketing strategies and goals for tourism development, from the perspective of two World Heritage Sites (WHS) in Sweden including the Great Copper Mountain in Falun and the Old Church Town in Luleå. Accordingly, the discourses used to sell heritage in the context of Sweden are discussed. A mixed-methods approach was used by the authors to carry out this investigation. The results of the analysis revealed that the heritage presented in the two cases are marketed as exclusive and as such, preclude the participation of some individuals. Furthermore, it was established that enhanced communication between WHS products and Sweden and other tourism products would improve visitation.

Mobility planning in rural areas with a high number of tourists is important for creating sustainable destinations. By identifying mobility gaps in the transportation system, measures to improve the situation can be implemented. In order to identify such mobility gaps, decision-makers need a spatial decision support system (SDSS). The aim of this paper is to identify vital aspects of creating such an SDSS and to build a prototype. Two important aspects were identified, data and system design. The result of the analysis of available data shows a lack of data portals with disaggregated socio-economic and intradestination travel data. Further, it shows that data on points of interest (POI) and public transit data are primarily found in company databases. The system design analysis showed that most SDSS today are relying on public data and are not designed to integrate disparate data sources. They are primarily developed to be used by experts. Based on these findings an SDSS that automatically integrates both public and private data was developed. It comprises a self-hosted web mapping system and several geospatial tools. Our main conclusion is that both data and system design are important aspects to consider when building an SDSS for mobility planning. By using the architecture proposed in this article, new data can easily be incorporated in an SDSS. Furthermore, the system design also facilitates the involvement of stakeholders in the planning process. © 2022. by the authors. All Rights Reserved.

Firm entry into local markets has often been studied using administrative areas such as municipalities as the assumed relevant markets. However, administrative areas and the actual relevant markets based on local demand for firms’ products often do not coincide, which could bias the results of studies treating administrative areas as the relevant markets. Based on a behavioral assumption regarding how retailers act when purchasing products from wholesale trade firms, we create alternative markets using Voronoi diagrams. We then compare the empirical results of investigating the determinants of firm entry using municipalities as the relevant markets with the results obtained using Voronoi markets. The results indicate that, in both cases, the same variables are statistically significant in affecting entry, though the estimated effects differ in size.