Perceived impacts of tourism in the Arctic

ABSTRACT

This research delineates the perceptions of tourism in the Arctic. It deploys a qualitative study to disentangle the complicity of perceived impacts amongst three types of tourism stakeholders: (1) residents, (2) tourists, and (3) tourism professionals working in hotels, tour operations, restaurants, tourist information centers, and tourism planning agencies within the study region. This study transpires in Finnmark, which is one of the most visited Arctic destinations. Sixty-eight personal interviews are conducted in six towns and cruise ships sailing through the study region. Consequently, the study presents six thematic views entailing (1) monetary contribution, (2) cultural proliferation, (3) community vitality, (4) personal enhancement, (5) environmental degradation, and (6) social disturbance surface as the perceived impacts of tourism among the stakeholders. Unlike most impact studies in the existing literature, this research shows that monetary contribution is not necessarily the key perceived benefit of tourism. Instead, social factors, such as achieving a vibrant community life, could also be a valuable contribution of tourism in the case of this region in northern Norway. Lastly, discussions from theoretical and practice perspectives are rendered along with suggestions for future research.

KEYWORDS:

• Norway
• personal interview
• tourism impacts
• tourism stakeholders
• Arctic tourism

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to express their sincere gratitude and appreciation to the National Science Foundation for sponsoring this research (ARC09092890).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by National Science Foundation: [Grant Number ARC09092890]; Ministry of Education Republic of China (Taiwan): [Grant Number Higher Education Sprout Project].

Notes on contributors

Joseph S. Chen

Joseph S. Chen, Ph.D., is Professor at the Department of Recreation, Park, and Tourism Studies, Indiana University, Bloomington, USA. His research foci entail social impacts of tourism, Arctic tourism, tourist experiences and sustainability in hospitality and tourism.

Wei Wang

Wei Wang, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor at the College of Business and Economic Development, The University of Southern Mississippi, USA. Dr. Wang's research interests focus on destination marketing and hospitality innovation.

Oystein Jensen

Oystein Jensen, Ph.D., is Professor at the University of Stavanger and Nord University, Norway. His main fields of research in the last 30 years have included destination marketing, tourist experiences, co-operation in distribution channels and sustainable tourism development.

Hyangmi Kim

Hyangmi Kim, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor and Program Director at the Department of Health Science, Lehman College-City University of New York, USA. Her research undertaking encompasses therapeutic recreation, recreational sports, recreational therapy intervention, destination image, and memorable tourist experiences.

Wan-Yu Liu

Wan-Yu Liu, Ph.D., is Professor at the Department of Forestry, National Chung Hsing University, Taiwan (ROC). She is a forestry economist and eco-tourism researcher. Her research interests range from forest recreation, sustainable tourism, environmental economics to climate change and forest carbon sequestration analysis.