Emerging post-Arctic tourism in the age of Anthropocene: case Finnish Lapland

ABSTRACT

Climate change is often considered as a looming apocalypse in the media and its impacts on the cryosphere are increasingly visible in the Arctic region. This apocalyptic future of the Arctic relates to a set of narratives associated with the Anthropocene, wherein snowy landscapes, glaciers and polar bears have disappeared. This has led to a trend called last chance tourism, which has become an evolving economic opportunity for tourism operators and local communities. In this conceptual article we propose an alternative vision for Arctic tourism development referred to as “post-Arctic tourism”. In order to illustrate the idea, we utilize Finnish Lapland (Arctic Finland) as an example based on existing literature. It is argued that post-Arctic tourism may be based on so-called dark tourism practices if the used and circulated hegemonic representations of the Arctic remain locked in cryospheric- and traditional winter-based imaginaries. This scenario is supported by a social spatialization process called “Arctification”, associated with active attempts to maintain the cryospheric gaze. It is therefore critical for tourism businesses, regions and tourism-dependent communities to rethink and re-invent their Arctic narratives, through “de-Arctification” strategies, allowing for a plurality of tomorrows and for Arctic tourism to become more sustainable and ethical.

KEYWORDS:

• Post-Arctic tourism
• De-Arctification
• Finnish Lapland
• Anthropocene
• Sustainability

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the reviewers for their careful and supportive consideration of our manuscript. The reviewers’ thoughtful comments helped us develop the manuscript, especially the future implications of the post-Arctic thinking. Furthermore, we acknowledge the support of the Academy of Finland for funding the Arctic Interactions (grant number 318930) and Biodiverse Anthropocenes Research Programs (grant number 339423) at the University of Oulu.

Disclosure statement

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