Larsson, Lars

Åberg, Kajsa

English

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Thompson Rivers University 
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Tourism Education Futures Initiative (TEFI) Conference 
Jun 28th, 11:00 AM - 11:15 AM 
Landscapes of Tourism Development in Sweden 
Kajsa Åberg 
Umeå University 
Lars Larsson 
Umeå University 
Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.library.tru.ca/tefi 
Åberg, Kajsa and Larsson, Lars, "Landscapes of Tourism Development in Sweden" (2016). Tourism 
Education Futures Initiative (TEFI) Conference. 10. 
https://digitalcommons.library.tru.ca/tefi/tefi9/day3/10 
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Landscapes	of	Tourism	Development	in	Sweden	
Kajsa	G.	Åberg	and	Lars	Larsson,	Umeå	University,	Sweden	
	
Tourism	development	is	entangled	in	the	challenge	of	defining	success.	Although	the	
tourism	industry	is	categorized	as	an	elusive	industry	based	on	experiences	and	with	
consumers	co-producing	the	highly	subjective	products,	productivity	and	development	
in	tourism	is	predominantly	measured	through	quantitative	methods	such	as	number	of	
over-night	stays	and	economic	yield.	More	qualitative	approaches	are	found	both	in	
research	with	studies	regarding	various	impacts	of	tourism	on	the	host	society	and	in	
the	field	of	practice	through	user	generated	reviews.	Either	way,	the	focus	is	on	the	
outcome	of	a	commercial	transaction.	
	
The	work	presented	here	shows	an	approach	to	assessing	the	development	of	tourism	in	
Sweden	that	puts	the	tourism	producer	in	the	centre	of	attention.	The	agency	of	the	
individual	working	within	tourism	is	focused	upon	and	the	research	question	relates	to	
the	longevity	of	tourism	workforce:	does	the	geography	of	individuals	with	their	main	
annual	income	within	tourism	during	the	full	period	of	2000-2010	correspond	with	the	
geography	of	what	is	generally	held	as	the	most	successful	tourism	destinations?	This	
question	is	explored	through	a	spatial	analysis	of	a	combination	of	data.	The	first	data	
set	is	the	official	statistics	on	the	tourism	industry	in	Sweden,	counting	over-night	stays	
and	number	of	companies	classified	as	tourism	in	accordance	with	the	European	Union’s	
recommendations	of	Nomenclature	of	Economic	Activities.	The	second	set	contains	
information	derived	from	a	longitudinal	population	register	that	contains	micro-level	
information	about	all	individuals	in	Sweden.	This	latter	kind	of	information	has	recently	
been	made	available	for	research	purposes	in	Sweden	and	some	other	northern	
European	countries	and	allows	for	creating	global	analyses	of	the	development	in	larger	
geographical	entities.		
	
The	issue	of	assessing	tourism	development	and	outcome	is	in	many	ways	a	question	of	
caring	about	all	factors	within	the	production	chain	of	this	industry.	The	aspect	
addressed	in	this	study	is	the	fluctuation	of	individuals	engaged	in	tourism.	Unless	new	
dimensions	of	success	and	failure	are	added	to	the	prevalent	themes	within	education	
related	to	tourism,	the	assessment	will	continue	to	focus	on	direct	economic	yield.	A	
more	holistic	understanding	of	the	effects	of	tourism	is	vital	as	tourism	development	is	
applied	as	a	means	to	rejuvenation	and	survival	for	regions	experiencing	out-migration	
of	people	and	economic	capital.	An	understanding	that	needs	to	be	present	in	the	
knowledge	creation	on	basic	as	well	as	more	advanced	levels	within	academia	but	also	
and	not	least	among	practitioners	and	planners.		
	
The	results	of	the	study	described	above	will	be	presented	as	A3-sized	colourful	maps,	
creating	a	visual	experience	that	encourages	questioning	of	how	and	why	tourism	
development	is	measured.		


Landscapes of Tourism Development in Sweden

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Landscapes of Tourism Development in Sweden

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