Limits to Sami tourism development: the case of Jokkmokk, Sweden

Abstract

Indigenous populations are frequently used in tourism promotion and marketing. This is also true for the Sami people in northern Europe. In the area, sometimes called Europe's last wilderness, the Sami and their culture are epitomised as a main asset for a growing tourism industry. Previously this has caused problems and irritation among the Sami. Nevertheless, tourism development is indeed also seen as a potential solution to problems affecting the Sami society, offering new sources of income and future employment in situ. Against this background, it is an interesting notion that only few Swedish Sami choose to make a living within tourism. Instead, tourism appears to be a complementary activity to reindeer herding only. Hence, the purpose of this article is to analyse constraints preventing Sami from getting more involved in tourism development. The article mainly draws on a study conducted in Jokkmokk, Sweden. Here, interviews were carried out with Sami tourism entrepreneurs who were also members of local cooperatives for reindeer husbandry. The results of the study indicate that cultural norms and legal obstacles form the main limitation for Sami tourism development.

Keywords:

• indigenous tourism
• Sami
• Sweden
• regional development
• reindeer husbandry

Acknowledgements

Work on this article has partly been conducted within the framework of the research program Outdoor Recreation in Change financed by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency. Moreover referee comments have contributed to improve the article and are hereby acknowledged.