‘Made in Airbnb’: Sense of Localness in Neolocalism: Tourism Dynamics on Heimaey, Iceland

Neolocal expressions where inhabitants promote distinguishing community characteristics through tourism have become increasingly popular in remote cold-water islands. Although scholars primarily discuss neolocalism in the context of microbreweries, evidence has emerged of tourism-neolocalism dynamics. Airbnb rentals, for instance, can be considered as neolocal playgrounds where inhabitants and tourists immerse themselves in and promote a destination's localness. Through a qualitative case study, this paper examines how these traits play out on Heimaey, Iceland. It investigates whether distinct Airbnb hostings, ranging from locals cohabiting with visitors to more professionalised services exhibit divergent neolocal forms. Findings demonstrate that Airbnb delivers a form of neolocalism stemming from inhabitants' living spaces whereby hosts construct localness either in the name of conservation or innovation. In this process, the boundaries between the local(isms), the global, and cosmopolitanism are blurred, thus complicating people's sense of localness. Here, neolocalism becomes more than a mere commercial tool that automatically leads to sustainable outcomes. This study enriches our understanding of new intersections of modern tourism trends and their impact on a community's sense of localness. Further research is needed to unravel the implications of these dynamics for community wellbeing from a community sustainability and resilience perspective

Greenland's tourism policy making and the risk of overtourism.

This chapter explores recent steps that Greenland has taken to develop its tourism industry as part of a nation-building exercise following its proclamation of self-rule in 2009. The main premise is that the measures adopted to promote tourism on the island are ill-conceived and potentially could lead to major overcrowding problems, at least in certain key destinations. It is argued that if Greenland embarks on a tourism development trajectory that regards Iceland as its role model, serious negative repercussions are likely to arise, especially if policy makers fail to adopt an integrative planning approach that takes into account tourism's complexity both as a system and in terms of its interaction with other elements of community development.</p

Is Over-tourism the Final Straw? : A Long Tale of Warnings not Heeded

These days, whether in the newsroom or the halls of academe itappears that the term overtourism has become de-rigueur. Journalistslament the loving of places to death while researchers scrambleto unravel ways to describe the problem and reach workable solutions. In this presentation, I argue that the way we tend to use theterm overtourism is naïve and uncritical. Unfortunately, it reflectsthe ongoing inability of many players (including public officials) toconceptualize tourism holistically. The laissez-faire attitude towardstourism that has become increasingly dominant in a global regimeof neoliberalism has meant that planning for and regulating varioustourism-dependent activities is almost always reactive. Lessonsfrom one place are sadly almost never heeded while proposedsolutions are often ill-conceived. In my talk I unpack the termovertourism and offer suggestions for the future. I also explore theimplications for overall community resilience in destination areas.Finally, I admonish the scientific community that it is time to stoppreaching to the choir and adopt a more proactive stance when itcomes to matters of destination management.</p