Frontiers in Nature-based Tourism

Nature has been a key attraction factor for tourism in the Nordic countries for decades.
The demand for nature-based tourism has steadily grown and is one of the most
rapidly expanding sectors within tourism across Europe and elsewhere. This demand
has created opportunities for nature-based tourism to develop as an economic diversi-
fication tool within regions rich in natural amenities. But nature-based tourism is not
only about tourism businesses and tourists visiting nature. The natural environment as
a basis for tourism involves many challenges related to local communities, public
access, nature protection and the management of natural resources.
This book covers a broad set of topics in contemporary nature-based tourism from
Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. Areas discussed are innovation, fishing rights
and supply of angling, recreation experience preferences, national park attractions, the
cultural clash between established outdoor recreational use and new tourism activities,
the Right of Public Access as opportunity and obstacle, preferences of tourism land-
scapes, controversies around wilderness development, management of hiking trails, eco-
tourism certification, and financing of recreational infrastructure.
This book was published as a special issue of the Scandinavian Journal of Hospitality
and Tourism.

Peter Fredman is a Professor in nature-based tourism at the European Tourism

Research Institute (ETOUR) and Mid-Sweden University, Campus Östersund. His
main research interests are studies of outdoor recreation demand, visitor monitoring,
planning, economic analyses and studies of the nature-based tourism supply.

Liisa Tyrväinen is a Professor in nature-based tourism at the Finnish Forest Research

Institute (METLA) and University of Lapland. Her main research interests are nature-
based tourism demand, landscape research, participatory land-use and natural resource
planning and economic analysis of landscape and recreation values of nature.
This page intentionally left blank
Frontiers in Nature-based Tourism
Lessons from Finland, Iceland, Norway
and Sweden

Edited by
Peter Fredman and Liisa Tyrväinen

Routledge
1 Taylor &. Francis Group

LONDON AND NEW YORK

First published 2011
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2011 Taylor & Francis
This book is a reproduction of Scandinavian Journal of Hospitality and Tourism, vol.10, issue 3. The
Publisher requests to those authors who may be citing this book to state, also, the bibliographical details of
the special issue on which the book was based.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any
electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and
recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the
publishers.

Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used
only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN13: 978-0-415-66974-0
Typeset in Times New Roman
by Taylor & Francis Books

Disclaimer
The publisher would like to make readers aware that the chapters in this book are referred to as articles as
they had been in the special issue. The publisher accepts responsibility for any inconsistencies that may have
arisen in the course of preparing this volume for print.
Contents

Preface from the journal editors

Jan Vidar Haukeland, Anette Therkelsen, Trude Furunes
& Reidar J. Mykletun 1

1. Introduction
Peter Fredman & Liisa Tyrväinen 5

2. Innovative Processes in a Nature-Based Tourism Case:

The Role of a Tour-operator as the Driver of Innovation
Martin Rønningen 18

3. Fishing Rights and Supply of Salmon Angling Tourism

in Mid-Norway
Stian Stensland 35

4. Understanding Recreational Experience Preferences:

Application at Fulufjället National Park, Sweden
Jana Raadik, Stuart P. Cottrell, Peter Fredman, Paul Ritter
& Peter Newman 59

5. Turning National Parks into Tourist Attractions:

Nature Orientation and Quest for Facilities
Jan Vidar Haukeland, Berit Grue & Knut Veisten 76

6. Cultural Clash: Interpreting Established Use and

New Tourism Activities in Protected Natural Areas
Kerry Wray, Stephen Espiner & Harvey C. Perkins 100

7. The Right of Public Access – Opportunity or Obstacle

for Nature Tourism in Sweden?
Klas Sandell & Peter Fredman 119

8. Differences in Tourists’ and Local Residents’ Perceptions

of Tourism Landscapes: A Case Study from Ylläs, Finnish Lapland
Marja Uusitalo 138

v
 CONTENTS

9. Tourism Struggling as the Icelandic Wilderness is Developed

Anna Dóra Sæþórsdóttir 162

10. Stakeholder Consensus Regarding Trail Conditions and Management Responses:

A Norwegian Case Study
Jon Martin Denstadli, Kreg Lindberg & Odd Inge Vistad 186

11. Eco-tourism Certification – Does it Make a Difference? A Comparison

of Systems from Australia, Costa Rica and Sweden
Hanne Haaland & Øystein Aas 203

12. Financing Recreational Infrastructure with Micropayments and Donations:

A Pilot Study on Cross-country Ski Track Preparations in Sweden
Tobias Heldt 214

Index 223

vi
Preface from the journal editors

It is with great pride and pleasure that the Scandinavian Journal of Hospitality and
Scandinavian
10.1080/15022250.2010.502364
SJHT_A_502364.sgm
1502-2250
Original
Taylor
02010
00
Jan
jvh@toi.no
000002010
VidarHaukeland
&
and
Article
Francis
(print)/1502-2269
Francis
Journal of Hospitality
(online)and Tourism

Tourism (SJHT) presents, as part of its 10-year anniversary celebration, this jubilee
issue devoted to nature-based tourism. This topic has also been the most published one
in the 10 years that the SJHT has informed the world about a substantial part of Nordic
hospitality and tourism research. From a strictly empirical point of view we may say
that in hindsight, nature-based and rural tourism are compelling characteristics defining
the tourism and hospitality sector in the North.
The SJHT was launched with champagne and speeches at the 9th Nordic Sympo-
sium in Tourism and Hospitality Research on Bornholm in the year 2000. It was
initiated by the Norwegian School of Hotel Management as a contribution to the
transition of the regional university college in Stavanger into the University of
Stavanger. Hence, from the outset the Norwegian School of Hotel Management
became the owner of the journal, and has subsidised its work up until now. Since 2007
and upon evaluation, a significant contribution has also been provided by the Nordic
Board for Publication in the Humanities and Social Sciences (NOH-PS), and from
Aalborg University since 2008.
One of the aims of the journal was to publish Nordic tourism research from Nordic
researchers. However, at the outset it was not clear what Nordic tourism issues were,
and attempts were made to define what could possibly be the unique features of Nordic
tourism and hence the context of our research agenda. We then thought of tourism and
hospitality as phenomena and businesses based upon the natural, cultural, social,
political and economic resources that an area can provide, but also as being restricted
by the same factors. A strong advocate of the uniqueness issue was Associate Professor
Øystein Jensen who argued that:

The term NC (Nordic Context) does not refer to the geographical origin of data
just in a literal sense, but indicates rather that a considerable amount of the
contributions should reflect a main trend within the Nordic countries (Jensen:
Unpublished note 10 January 2001)

There was an extensive discussion about perspectives and whether it was possible and
of any value to attempt to describe what Nordic tourism was really about.
In our first editorial (vol. 1 (1), p. 2) we stated that:

The Nordic context is assumed to be partly unique with regards to tourism and
hospitality issues, and thus providing a unique base for communication on
1
 FRONTIERS IN NATURE-BASED TOURISM

research and development in this field… the Nordic context will in this journal
include the Scandinavian Peninsula, Finland, the countries surrounding the
Baltic Sea, Denmark and the North Sea region, and also Iceland and the arctic
areas around Svalbard. Although varied in climate and topography, the area has
its strength in the type of nature- and culture-based resources it provides, with
its unique history, high latitude, cold climate and changing seasons, which are
also the limitations of the area when it comes to tourism. Regarding content and
topics of interest, we are encouraging contributions of various kinds, including
conceptualisation, discussion and research that are relevant to the Nordic region
in terms of location, topic, or theoretical approach. For example, this includes
tourism topics such as the relationship between tourism and the right of
common access, adventure and sports-tourism, nature-based tourism, tourism in
rural communities, accessibility and tourism development in peripheral regions,
and culture and heritage related to tourism in the Nordic area. Moreover, the
area raises partly unique conditions for the hospitality business and operations,
which are relying much upon chaining of hotels and internationalisation of the
industry. Hotels and restaurant operations also face certain operational issues on
how to recruit and develop staff with demands on services that vary with
seasons, and also in competing in a rather strict labour market. Interesting new
technologies also apply to this sector and the Nordic region, which is known for
high IT-skills and level of computerisation in private homes. Other technolo-
gical issues also apply, as for food production, and with regards to travel in the
partly extreme Nordic conditions. A great Nordic cuisine is appearing, combin-
ing tradition and modern tastes, as well as food safety and quality demands, and
building upon the local resources from land- and sea-based food production.
Nature, as well as ways of travel and social environments, creates unique safety
features for the industry. The resources used for tourism may be quite
vulnerable, and sustainability issues including visitor management are of
highest relevance both to tourism and hospitality operations.

While the above applies to both incoming and domestic tourism, it should also
be stated that the Journal also addresses the traveller leaving for destinations
elsewhere in the world.

Some of these visions came true. As stated by Dieter Müller in his keynote at the
18th Nordic Symposium of Tourism and Hospitality Research in Esbjerg, September
2009, the SJHT has contributed significantly to defining Nordic tourism research.
According to Müller’s mapping of published research in refereed academic journals,
the SJHT has published one third of all Nordic tourism and hospitality research, and
hence contributed significantly to the development of such research in the Nordic
region. In hindsight it is interesting to see that the SJHT, the first Nordic tourism and
hospitality journal published in English, was met with both scepticism and optimism.
The latter fraction was the stronger one, probably due to good networking by central
Nordic researchers.
Decisive for the success has been the close relationship with the annual Nordic
Symposium in Tourism and Hospitality Research, and support from its organisers.
2
 FRONTIERS IN NATURE-BASED TOURISM

We are especially happy to see that we have also contributed in return by presenting
an annual seminar on journal article publishing since 2006, with main speakers
including Jafar Jafari, Donald Getz, Mike Robinson, Dieter Müller, and John Tribe.
From the outset, Taylor & Francis (Routledge) have been the publishers and have
contributed to the increasing success of the journal. Hence, in 2008 the journal had a
total of 752 institutional sales agreements worldwide, and almost 12,000 full article
downloads were reported the same year.
The first volume was published in 2001 with two issues of 80 pages each. Since then
the journal has developed into a quarterly journal (from 2006) with 112 pages per issue,
and had published 116 scientific articles and 16 other contributions by the end of 2009.
Among these contributions, 21 full papers focus on nature-based tourism. Other popu-
lar topics have been: hospitality and restaurant management (21 papers), marketing and
branding (19 papers), festivals (13 papers), tourist experiences (10 papers), second
homes (9 papers), and destination development (7 papers). In addition to ordinary
issues with multiple topics, the SJHT has published several special issues including
“Research Methods” (Guest editor: Mehmet Mehmetoglu), “Sami Tourism” (Guest
editors: Arvid Viken & Dieter Müller); “Second homes” (Guest editor: Dieter Müller),
“Tourist experiences” (Guest editors: Svein Larsen & Lena Mossberg), “Strategy in
hospitality management” (Guest editor: Einar Marnburg), “Festival Management”
(Guest editors: Tommy Andersson & Donald Getz), “Tourism policy and the European
Union” (Guest editor: Henrik Halkier) and the present “Frontiers in nature-based
tourism” (Guest editors: Peter Fredmann & Liisa Tyrväinen).
Several scholars have contributed to the development of the journal. The first chief
editors have been Jan Vidar Haukeland and Reidar J. Mykletun, and Anette Therkelsen
joined the editorial team in 2008. Qadeer Husain was the first managing editor and was
later replaced by Trude Furunes in 2006. The first editorial board was “manned” (no
women accepted the invitation) by Wolfgang Framke, Tommy Andersson, Peter Björk,
Svein Larsen, Einar Marnburg, Mike Robinsson, and Geoff Kearsley. Over the years
the board has been strengthened with new members from various disciplines and
geographical regions, by including Raya Kompola, Liisa Tyrväinen, Anne-Mette
Hjalager, Anette Therkelsen, Lena Mossberg and Peter Fredman. We thank the board
members for their strong support and very helpful advisory role in developing the
journal. The main resource in the work has been the more than 200 authors who have
contributed with high quality manuscripts, and the 130 reviewers world-wide who
assist us in increasing the quality and relevance of the journal, and through this work
also get acquainted with Nordic tourism and hospitality research.
Some other indications of growth should also be mentioned. The SJHT is indexed
by ISI, available at SCOPUS, abstracted by CIRET, and recently accepted for inclu-
sion in the Thomas Reuter’s Social Science Citation Index (SSCI). Consequently it is
hard not to be discovered by fellow researchers if one publishes an article in SJHT
today. And since the quality of the journal has been assessed to be high by external
evaluations, its contributions become increasingly cited in international research,
although it is too early to present reliable figures for these achievements. Conse-
quently the journal’s aim of contributing to increased communication on tourism and
hospitality between the Nordic countries and the larger community of international
research is about to be realised.
3
 FRONTIERS IN NATURE-BASED TOURISM

Some of the initial intentions have, however, not yet been fulfilled. The SJHT has
not been able to attract a sufficient number of manuscripts on issues like organi-
sational and human workforce aspects of hospitality and tourism, and on food, bever-
ages, restaurants and meal issues. Furthermore, remarkably few papers have
addressed the role of technology except the use of GIS and tracking systems. Experi-
ence, adventure, snow and winter tourism, and cruise tourism is still under-
researched. Corporate social responsibility and ethical issues should also appear more
often as topics of academic interests for our disciplines, and the whole new world of
social media is waiting to be investigated in the context of SJHT.
In line with Nordic research traditions, the SJHT will still welcome research based
on quantitative and qualitative methods on equal terms. Illuminating case studies
presenting detailed outlines of a particular topic will also be of great interest.
Moreover, the SJHT is open for theoretical approaches and conceptual articles. Also,
papers addressing relevant comparative issues between the Nordic region and other
geographical areas are of special interest as such studies may throw new light on
Nordic tourism research. Thus we foresee that the journal will stick to its geographical
niche and be open to a wide range of themes. The flow of manuscripts to the SJHT is
good and most likely we will see a volume growth in published articles in the future.
Finally, as editors we would like to extend our gratitude to all of you who have
been and are participating in the Scandinavian Journal of Hospitality and Tourism
“project”. The increasing success of the journal is, indeed, a function of networking,
tenacity, fortitude, competence, and trust from both an individual and organisational
level. The future growth and prosperity of this project rests with those same nodes,
relationships, and structures. Cooperation and involvement is the secret of future
success of our journal. And maybe in 10 years from now we will see even clearer
what the Nordic Context is all about.

Jan Vidar Haukeland, Anette Therkelsen, Trude Furunes & Reidar J. Mykletun
Editors, Scandinavian Journal of Hospitality and Tourism

4
INTRODUCTION

PETER FREDMAN* & LIISA TYRVÄINEN**

*Mid-Sweden University and European Tourism Research Institute (ETOUR), Östersund, Sweden, and
**Finish Forest Research Institute (METLA), Vantaa, Finland and University of Lapland, Rovaniemi,
Finland

Nature has been a key attraction factor for tourism in the Nordic countries for
Scandinavian
10.1080/15022250.2010.502365
SJHT_A_502365.sgm
1502-2250
Original
Taylor
02010
00
peter.fredman@miun.se
PeterFredman
000002010
&
and
Article
Francis
(print)/1502-2269
Francis
Journal of Hospitality
(online)and Tourism

decades. The demand for nature-based tourism has steadily grown and is the most
rapidly expanding sector within tourism across Europe and elsewhere (Bell et al.,
2008; UNWTO, 2009). This demand has created opportunities for nature-based tour-
ism to develop as an economic diversification tool within regions rich in natural
amenities such as northern Europe. In Finnish Lapland, for example, tourism is
already the most important economic sector providing more job opportunities than the
forest industry (Council of Lapland, 2008). Nature-based tourism is also a growing
land-use activity and economic sector involving different types of entrepreneurs,
many of which are relatively small, located in rural regions and may only work part-
time in tourism combined with agriculture, forestry or other rural means of livelihood.
Many of these businesses are also challenged by seasonality in tourism demand and
conflicts with other natural resource uses.
But nature-based tourism is not only about tourism businesses and tourists visiting
nature. The natural environment as a basis for tourism involves many challenges
related to communities and the management of natural resources. As such, landown-
ers, management agencies, other resource users (e.g. forestry, agriculture, fisheries)
and nature protection organizations also become an important part in the supply of
nature-based tourism opportunities. In many cases, decisions on natural resource use
feature public good considerations and are mostly beyond the control of the private
tourism industry. In the Nordic countries the state is a key landowner besides local
municipalities, which provide most of the protected or other nature areas with
infrastructures for outdoor recreation and tourism provision. And such areas may
function as attractions in the tourism system (Wall Reinius & Fredman, 2007).
Figure 1 is a basic model of tourism used to illustrate the principles and operation
of the nature-based tourism system. First, looking at the demand, nature tourists are
visitors to nature areas, often as participants in various forms of activities

5
 FRONTIERS IN NATURE-BASED TOURISM

EXTERNAL FACTORS

Tourists Visitors Consumers Participants

HOME REGION / MARKET

INFORMATION
MARKETING TRANSPORTS

DESTINATION

Resources Attractions Products Services

LOCAL COMMUNITY
Environment Culture Economy Services Infrastructure

Figure 1. Principles of the nature-based tourism system.

(e.g., hiking, skiing, swimming, boating) and as consumers of commodities. Since

tourism by definition involves travel away from home, the home region of the tourists
is also the target market. Looking at the supply side of the system, fundamental to the
nature-based tourism destination are natural resources (e.g. mountains, lakes, rivers,
forests, beaches) attractive enough to be significant pull factors to trigger travel.
Access and attractiveness of these resources are often supported by products and
services provided by private tourism providers, public agencies and land owners
(e.g. accommodation, visitor centres, guides, trails). In nature-based tourism, the local
community is often highly integrated with the tourism supply at the destination.
Natural resources used by tourists are a subset of the natural environment of the local
community, which are often highly integrated with local traditions and culture. The
presence of service and infrastructure (e.g. shops, outfitters, parking, local public
transportation) define the tourism supply and affect how visitor spending contributes
to local economic impacts. As for all types of tourism, there is a need for transporta-
tion systems to get people to the destination, for the local community to have strong
incentives to provide information, and to do marketing to attract more visitors and
increase sales. Many small entrepreneurs are working in remote rural areas and are
encouraged to use (or try to use) networks in marketing and cooperatively provide the
services together. Finally, the nature-based tourism system is affected by a multitude
of external factors such as rules and regulations (e.g. right of access, environmental
protection), other competing resource uses (e.g. forestry, fishery, farming), climate
change, economic recessions and safety. From Figure 1, it becomes apparent that
6
 FRONTIERS IN NATURE-BASED TOURISM

nature-based tourism is characterized by having many stakeholders – not just those

traditionally involved in tourism, but also those associated with the protection,
management and utilization of natural resources.
Nature-based tourism in the Nordic region is framed and strongly flavoured by
Figure 1. Principles of the nature-based tourism system.

specific socio-economic and environmental features of each respective country. There

are of course large variations between the agricultural parts of southern Sweden and
Denmark compared to the large forest lands of the interior north and the mountainous
arctic of Sweden, Norway and Iceland. We can, however, observe some characteristics
valid for large parts of this region. Firstly, there are large amounts of rural and periph-
eral areas with decreasing amounts of job opportunities and population numbers.
Secondly, there is an increasing rate of urban population with a high standard of living
demanding recreation opportunities in the proximity of the cities, but also in the coun-
tryside. Thirdly, several of the Nordic countries have a high proportion of forest land
(up to 69%) intensively used for timber production, particularly in Finland and
Sweden. Fourth, there is a large number of private landowners making resource use
decisions according to their own multi-objective ownership motives that may discour-
age tourism use. In contrast to many other countries where nature-based tourism often
takes place in designated areas (e.g. National Parks or protected areas), in Finland,
Norway and Sweden the Right of Public Access allows access for recreation and tradi-
tional use of nature including berry picking and mushroom collecting (Emmelin et al.,
2010; Fredman & Sandell, 2009). These rights are often considered of the utmost
importance by the general public and they cause both challenges and opportunities to
nature-based tourism business operators.

Defining Nature-Based Tourism

One of the fundamental problems in studying nature-based tourism is in defining both
the consumers and the producers within its fairly complex system. Based on a
thorough review of the literature, no scientifically defined and universally agreed on
definition for nature-based tourism was found. One of the reasons for the lack of a
consistent definition is that from a national perspective, it is difficult to separate tour-
ists from outdoor recreationists, or the specific activity from the broader services
associated with that activity. For national research purposes, for example in Finland,
nature-based tourism has been defined to cover activities that people do while on
holiday and which focus on engagement with nature and usually includes an over-
night stay (Silvennoinen & Tyrväinen, 2001). Typically this means travelling to and
staying overnight in locations close to protected areas, forests, lakes or the sea or the
countryside and participating in activities compatible with the location’s natural
qualities. While studying the supply side, the key problem is the difficulty of getting
information specifically from nature-based tourism entrepreneurs as they are not
classified as a separate category or a statistical unit within national or regional statis-
tics. Moreover, assessing the economic benefits from tourism is also difficult as the
benefits are scattered in various economic fields such as transportation, restaurant and
accommodation services (Huhtala et al., 2010; Tyrväinen et al., 2008). Although it is
the natural features that attract people to participate in nature-based tourism, in
practice the largest share of the economic impact is generated through traditional
7
 FRONTIERS IN NATURE-BASED TOURISM

tourism services such as travel, lodging and food while nature experiences directly
generate less money.
Having said this, however, looking into the wider scientific literature a multiplicity
of descriptions of nature-based tourism are presented (e.g. Dowling, 2001; Hall &
Boyd, 2005; Laarman & Durst, 1987; Lang & O’Leary, 1997; Mehmetoglu, 2007;
Müller, 2008; Valentine, 1992). These scientific definitions often include environ-
mental awareness or nature conservation motives as an inherent target while in
practise, less sustainable practices such as motorized activities are often among the
services offered to clients. Using motorized vehicles as part of a product to more
easily reach the sites within the tourism destination is common today and motorized
safaris (e.g. snowmobiling) often bring economic income to entrepreneurs. In spite of
the positive image of the term nature-based tourism, it need not necessarily be sustain-
able, although it is an important goal to strive for both in theory and practice. Looking
at nature-based tourism from a sustainability perspective will inevitably take us to the
concept of ecotourism, which can be seen as a normative sub-category of nature-
based tourism. The concept of ecotourism is heavily studied and after much debate,
some sort of definitional consensus in the literature has been reached. For example,
Donohoe and Needham (2006) reviewed 42 definitions and concluded that ecotour-
ism is characterized as nature-based, preservative, educative, sustainable, responsible
and ethical tourism. It addition to the nature-based component, these are all normative
features guiding us how ecotourism should be performed. Taking the lessons learned
from ecotourism, in terms of nature-based tourism, most of us inherently have an
image about what it is, but no one has really told us what it should be.
In Finland, the definitions used in policy documents and scientific work have tried
to capture the current practices within nature-based tourism and at the same time
bring in the demand for sustainability in developing the sector (Hetemäki et al., 2006;
Koivula & Saastamoinen, 2005). Tyrväinen and Tuulentie (2009) discussed the
nature-based tourism definitions used in Finland and concluded that nature can have
various roles depending on the client’s needs, expectations and motives. The nature
experiences offered within program services may contain motorized or non-motorized
activities and include various types of natural environments, often combined with
knowledge of local cultures. The general trend until now has been to relatively openly
accept various features within the economic sector (including non-motorized activi-
ties) to fully involve the different stakeholders in policy discussions. One of the key
objectives, however, is to improve sustainability of the nature-based tourism services
together with the key actors. A pioneering example of this is a set of guidelines from
2004 of how sustainable nature-based tourism is promoted in national parks and
protected areas in Finland (Högmander & Leivo, 2004).
We believe that most scholars interpret that nature-based tourism is associated with
leisure activities taking place in nature areas, and that key components are the visitor
(being away from home) and experiences of, or in, nature. In an international review
of nature-based tourism definitions and statistics, Fredman et al. (2009) identify four
recurrent themes; (i) visitors to a nature area, (ii) experiences of a natural environ-
ment, (iii) participation in an activity, and (iv) normative components related to e.g.
sustainable development and local impacts. The human nature nexus was elaborated
by Valentine (1992) who proposed three types of relationships – experiences
8
 FRONTIERS IN NATURE-BASED TOURISM

dependent on nature (e.g. safari), experiences enhanced by nature (e.g. camping), and
experiences where nature has a subordinate role (outdoor swimming pool). Intensity,
social context and duration are additional factors affecting the experience of nature. A
similar approach was elaborated by Karlsson (1994) who studied the relationship to
nature among nature-based tourism entrepreneurs using two dimensions: (i) focus on
nature and (ii) nature as arena (degree of authenticity). He argues that three of the four
possible combinations of these two dimensions define nature-based tourism – the only
one not considered nature-based tourism is when tourism does not have a nature focus
and does not take place in an authentic nature environment (e.g. urban area or indoor).
Fredman et al. (2009; pp. 24–25) proposed a minimalistic definition based on the
official Swedish definition of tourism for methodological consistency and compara-
bility with other sectors of the economy (cf. Blamey, 1997): “Nature-based tourism is
human activities occurring when visiting nature areas outside the person’s ordinary
neighbourhood”. From this then follows that “the nature-based tourism industry
represents those activities in different sectors directed to meet the demand of nature
tourists”.
The advantage of such a definition is that it connects to other types of tourism and
there is a high degree of flexibility to identify sub-categories of nature-based tourism.
There are, however, still some critical issues to be solved regarding what activities
should count and what is a nature area. Depending on purpose and context, nature-
based tourism can then be sub-categorized into form (domestic, international), when
(leisure, work), motive (e.g. nature, social, physical), activity (e.g. consumptive, non-
consumptive), where (nature types or regions), and how (e.g. organized, commercial,
sustainable, motorized, artificial).
The examples above illustrate how nature-based tourism has been elaborated
rather than defined in the tourism literature. However, if nature-based tourism is to
be considered an identifiable sector in the national and regional economies it needs
to be measured, and measurements require a definition. Defining nature-based tour-
ism will not just help the estimation of the magnitude of the industry, it will help
reduce conflicts with other resource users, identify market segments, contribute to a
more sustainable development and monitor changes over time. In addition to the
topics raised above, we also stress the importance of systematic measurements of
nature-based tourism across different countries, including vertical integration of
European, national and local levels (Sievänen et al., 2008; Yuan & Fredman,
2008).

Researching Nature-Based Tourism

The tourism literature provides ample support for the significance of nature-based
tourism, often considered to grow faster than the tourism industry in general (Buckley,
2003; Fallon, 2000; Hall & Boyd, 2005; Mehmetoglu, 2007; Newsome et al., 2002;
Page & Dowling, 2002). According to the World Tourism Organization, approximately
10–20% of all international travel is related to nature experiences (www.unwto.org).
The share of nature tourists is, however, larger in northern Europe. The National Tourism
Board of Finland estimates that a third of all foreign tourists participate in nature
activities (MEK, 2009).
9
 FRONTIERS IN NATURE-BASED TOURISM

Looking at the demand side of nature-based tourism in North America, there are
arguments for a shift away from nature-based recreation (e.g. Pergams & Zaradic,
2006, 2008), while others claim the opposite trend (e.g. Cordell, 2008). A study of the
number of visitors to 280 protected areas in 20 countries show increases for most
countries, except the USA and Japan (Balmford et al., 2009). Other observations
indicate that nature-based recreation is increasingly becoming specialized, diversified,
motorized, sportified, indoorized and adventurized.
In Norway, Odden (2008) identified an increased participation in outdoor recre-
ation activities between 1970 and 2004, but the demand became more specialized and
diversified, especially among younger people. An increase in motorized activities was
also observed from several sources (e.g. Cordell, 2008; Fredman & Heberlein, 2003;
Odden, 2008). There is also a trend towards nature-based adventure activities and
excitement, as well as wilderness experiences – however, often in combination with
high service and comfort levels (Wall Reinius, 2009; Wheeler, 2008). Such changes
are related to the direct and indirect consequences of underlying social, technological,
environmental, economic and political shifts in society (Nordin, 2005). For example,
Buckley (2000) argues that the commercialization of outdoor recreation (including
the growth of the retail sector) and increasing urbanization (more people with less
everyday contact with nature demanding products and services when visiting nature)
are two major factors for economic growth in the nature-based tourism sector.
Another example of a trend driven by economic and technological factors, which
may, or may not, imply a shift away from nature-based recreation is the increasing use
of artificial recreation environments and indoorization of outdoor activities (van
Bottenburg & Salome, 2010).
Understanding the contemporary changes described above calls for more research
specifically targeted at the challenges nature-based tourism faces in the future.
Research on nature-based tourism does to a large extent originate from the longer
tradition of studies in outdoor recreation, which started in the Nordic countries in the
late 1960s and early 1970s (Jensen 1985; Sandell & Sörlin, 2008). At the present time
the two fields are still closely interconnected as they use similar methods and
approaches in analyzing, for example, the demand and supply of recreation and tour-
ism as well as their economic, social and ecological impacts to the surrounding envi-
ronments and societies. This interrelationship is expected given that an outdoor
recreationist away from home will be defined as a nature tourist. As an area of
research in the Nordic countries, nature-based tourism has established a more system-
atic knowledge base only during the past 15–20 years. As an illustration of this, we
notice that the first Nordic professorships in this field have been established in
Finland, Norway and Sweden since 2003.

Frontiers in Nature-Based Tourism Research

Asking the scientific community to address the key issues in providing new knowl-
edge on nature-based tourism we received 41 abstracts for the first review of this
special issue. Of these 15 were selected for full paper submissions, and with the final
printed copy in your hand, nine articles and two research notes made it all the way
through. During the editing process a broad geographical representation across the
10
 FRONTIERS IN NATURE-BASED TOURISM

topics identified in the call for papers were prioritized, and research applied to the
Nordic countries was given precedence, but we also welcomed studies from other
countries if they were relevant to Nordic conditions.
In one of the relatively few contributions examining the supply side of the nature-
based tourism system, Martin Rönningen has developed four propositions regarding
the role of a tour-operator as the driver of innovations. He finds that small and medium-
sized firms are relatively satisfied with the tour-operator as a competence provider and
distributor of services, while more professional firms have a more critical opinion. The
study concludes that the innovation system works best for entrepreneurs still in the
founding stage – which is believed to characterize the nature-based tourism industry in
many parts of the world.
Besides the entrepreneurs, land owners make up an important part of the supply of
nature-based tourism in the Nordic countries. Private landowners are often encour-
aged by government authorities to diversify into tourism instead of agricultural or
forestry activities. The development of salmon fishing tourism, for example, is highly
dependent on landowners’ decisions about use of their fishing rights and their interest
and ability to commercialize this resource by providing attractive angling products.
The paper by Stian Stensland investigates the objectives of landowners regarding
their rights for salmon fishing, including landowners’ supply of fishing services to the
tourism market in the Trondheim Fjord region of Norway. The results show that the
landowners are a heterogeneous group and a successful cooperation in salmon fishing
management and conservation of salmon stocks is best based on an understanding of
the multiple objectives of the different landowner groups.
Another form of land ownership of increasing importance to nature-based tourism
is land protected for nature conservation such as national parks. When the first
European parks were established in northern Sweden 100 years ago, they repre-
sented remote wilderness areas, accessible only to a small elite group of travellers.
While national parks still represent one of the more powerful tools to preserve
nature, more recent policies in the Nordic countries have emphasized their roles for
outdoor recreation opportunities and tourism development. Increasingly national
parks are seen as drivers for economic development through growth of nature-based
tourism. Understanding tourism in protected areas do, however, require a much
better understanding of the visitors looking for the kind of experiences such areas
can provide so that supply can meet demand. This topic is addressed by Jana
Raadik, Stuart Cottrell, Peter Fredman and Paul Ritter in their study of recreational
experience preferences (REP) of visitors to Fulufjället National Park in Sweden.
Their aim was to examine motivations of visitors in a Northern European national
park using REP items from a North American context and to examine the potential
for cross-cultural use. Four primary REP dimensions were identified including self-
discovery, experience of places, seeking solitude and challenging self. A similar
approach was used by Jan Vidar Haukeland, Berit Grue and Knut Veisten in their
paper about foreign tourists’ quests for facilities in Norwegian national parks. This
study, based on German, Dutch and Danish visitors, reveals quests for facilities vis-
à-vis nature orientations in order to identify national park development potentials.
Results do, however, indicate relatively weak relationships – the strongest being the
quest for infrastructure and services, supported by tourists primarily looking for
11
 FRONTIERS IN NATURE-BASED TOURISM

challenge or sightseeing, while disapproved by those with a traditional outdoor

recreation orientation.
Understanding tensions between local recreationists and tourists is important in
order to maintain long term sustainable use of protected areas. Using Fjordland
National Park in New Zealand as a case study, this topic was studied by Kerry Wray,
Stephen Espiner and Harvey Perkins by looking at local recreationists’ attitudes
towards international wilderness tourism. Their approach draws on data gathered
from in-depth interviews and research diaries, revealing that international tourists
were often viewed as a threat to New Zealanders’ recreation opportunities and
cultural identity. This study concludes that such attitudes appear to be influenced by
widely held values and beliefs about the purpose of protected areas, and consider-
ations of the links between the natural environment and national identity is seen as
crucial when planning for tourism in protected natural areas in the future.
Looking at Finland, Norway and Sweden in the Nordic region, we believe that one
important aspect of such a national identity is the Right of Public Access. This right
can be seen both as a free space for recreation and a way of restricting land ownership,
providing outdoor recreation opportunities for the public. To what extent this is the
case, and the role of the Right of Public Access for nature-based tourism supply, is
however, less known to us. These topics are addressed by Klas Sandell and Peter
Fredman by surveying both the general public and nature-based tourism entrepreneurs
in Sweden. They find that the Right of Public Access has strong support among the
Swedish public while among nature-based tourism entrepreneurs, the Right of Public
Access is considered a success factor to a much higher extent than an obstacle. They
do, however, identify a tension with respect to traditional backcountry activities such
as hiking, cross-country skiing and nature studies. In this case, the Right of Public
Access is important for members of the general public who participate in such activi-
ties while it is an obstacle to many of the companies building their business on these
same activities. This is an important observation given contemporary social changes
and the growth of the nature-based tourism sector. Future land use policies must better
recognize and prevent such conflicts.
As landscape quality is one of the pull factors of Nordic nature-based tourism, it is
important to understand people’s experiences and perceptions of the holiday environ-
ment. The rapid development of tourism centers in Finnish Lapland has, for example,
raised research issues related to landscape structures and how natural features could
be maintained while expanding the resorts. Consequently, the study of Marja Uusitalo
explores a cognitive cartography in revealing differences in the spatial perception of
tourism landscape among three social groups: domestic, foreign tourists, and local
residents. In addition to the evaluation of the study methodology in collecting place-
specific data on important areas for visitors in the region, it was discovered that most
respondents did not include accommodation zones occupied by rental cabins and holi-
day homes in their mental maps of the ski resort, but rather described nature sites with
recreational infrastructure.
Since many stakeholders often have interests in the recreation landscape, careful
planning and management practices are needed in order to avoid land use conflicts
between different interests such as tourism, forestry, reindeer husbandry, nature conser-
vations and energy production. Research information can help planners understand the
12
 FRONTIERS IN NATURE-BASED TOURISM

impacts of land-use changes from the point of view of tourism that is not often well
articulated in land use and natural resource planning. Hence, the article by Anna Dóra
Sæþórsdóttir discusses conflicts that could occur between wilderness tourism and the
power production industry in the Icelandic Highlands. The data were collected at six
highland destinations where power plants were proposed. The results imply that for
most visitors the wilderness experience will be reduced if the plans for power produc-
tion in the highlands are realized.
Yet, other forms of impacts on the recreational landscape come from the recreation-
ists themselves. The study by Jon Denstadli, Kreg Lindberg and Odd Inge Vistad
investigated tourists and residents’ consensus regarding trail impacts and manage-
ment preferences in the Norwegian community of Lom. Results show a fairly high
tolerance for trail impacts across stakeholder groups. The tourists, however, were
found to be more supportive of actions aimed at reducing ecological impacts. Results
suggest that consensus on sustainability objectives may be achieved relatively easily
among the stakeholders, but agreement on management actions is more difficult.
The problems involved when designing nature-based tourism practices according to
the different sustainability criteria should not be underestimated, and more systematic
approaches are recommended. Over the past decade, operators worldwide have
started to certify their products and services as ecotourism or sustainable tourism as a
sign of high product quality and responsible products. This topic is addressed by
Hanne Haaland and Øystein Aas who examined three different ecotourism certifica-
tion and approval systems, from Sweden, Costa Rica and Australia. Their study was
based on a literature review conducted parallel to the planning of the Norwegian
approval system for ecotourism launched in 2008, examining criteria and standards
required in the different programmes as well as the basic principles of how the three
systems are organized, financed and implemented.
Finally, a key challenge for economically viable nature-based tourism in the Nordic
countries that have open access to private land is to find ways to strengthen incentives
for landowners to promote recreation values in resource management and provide
recreational infrastructure or other services. This theme is also relevant in relation to
public lands because many municipalities providing recreation infrastructure have
experienced heavy budget cuts during past years. The lack of a direct pricing instru-
ment makes it difficult to recoup investments in recreational infrastructure such as
trails, bridges, signs and campfire areas. Hence, this special issue concludes with a
research note by Tobias Heldt which presents interesting results from a study looking
at ways to collect payments from users to finance ski track preparations in the
Swedish mountains. His results show that it is not possible to rely on a simple volun-
tary approach when introducing a new system for financing recreational infrastructure
using micropayments and new IT services (donations through mobile phones).

Future Challenges
The papers included in this special issue on nature-based tourism certainly show
many interesting advancements in research on nature-based tourism applied to Nordic
conditions. The original call for abstracts, and the process towards final papers, does
however also show that some themes are better covered than other and that the
13
 FRONTIERS IN NATURE-BASED TOURISM

knowledge basis for nature-based tourism is still quite fragmented. In general, we

think that this field has a shortage of studies examining the supply of nature-based
tourism, including topics such as innovation processes, business constraints, and
economic impact. Another theme that needs further exploration is the different forms
of public and private cooperation given the many stakeholders involved. Topics
which have had a much better coverage over the years include tourist’s behaviour and
motivations, as well as ecological and social sustainability. We also found that many
of the research questions were raised from practical needs while more theoretically-
oriented research was quite limited. A common problem for improving the research
gaps is challenged by difficulties of obtaining data targeted to measure nature-based
tourism specifically, which is a major problem for this sector. The increasing demand
of nature-based tourism also stresses the need to foster research in the Nordic coun-
tries as well as enhance co-operation in the field. In practice, nature-based tourism is
squeezed between many public sectors such as environment, forestry and agriculture,
business development, and none of these sectors has fully adopted nature-based tour-
ism as a key development area. This is an obvious problem in receiving attention in
policies as well as in raising research funding.
Looking ahead, there are many important themes for future research to cover –
many more than this quite limited research community can deal with currently. Based
upon experiences from the last 15–20 years in the field, and not the least on the
exciting tasks involved in editing this special issue, the editors would in particular like
to highlight the following topics for future inquires:

● Economic impacts of nature-based tourism, in theory and practice.

● How to promote a more sustainable nature-based tourism covering all its aspects.
● How to ensure that visitors have as minimal an impact on the natural environment
as possible while economic impacts are maximized.
● A better understanding of the individual and social benefits associated with access
to natural areas, including well-being and health benefits.
● Nature-based tourism adaptation and moderation vis-à-vis different climate change
scenarios, for both summer and winter activities.
● Policies and development objectives to better balance an increasing amount
of foreign visitors with a sustained domestic demand for outdoor recreation
opportunities.
● How to link nature-based tourism with traditional rural livelihoods such as agricul-
ture, forestry and reindeer husbandry as well as nature protection and management
of protected areas.
● How payment schemes for recreational services can help the integration of nature-
based tourism with other resources uses.
● Systematic analyses of the international demand for nature-based tourism in the
Nordic countries.
● Better information about the social carrying capacity of destination communities
and regions.
● Commercialization of nature and packaged nature-based tourism products.
● The role of Public Access as a success factor and constraint to nature-based tour-
ism operators.
14
 FRONTIERS IN NATURE-BASED TOURISM

● How protected areas as tourist attractions interact with adjacent communities and
contribute to regional development.
● Conflicts and cooperation between nature-based tourism developments and local
populations.
● The effects on the demand for nature-based tourism, as well as the human-nature
relationship, from urbanization, changing lifestyles and values.
Lastly, we will also stress the need for more comparative research looking at
geographical variations between the Nordic countries on many of the topics raised
above. While the international image of the Nordic region is flavored with impres-
sions of vast forests, far-flung mountains, deep fjords, free access and midnight
sunshine, there is much more to offer beyond these qualities. The Nordic region has
an undiscovered diversity of nature-based tourism supply that still waits to be devel-
oped and researched.

References
Balmford, A., Beresford, J., Green, J., Naidoo, R., Walpole, M., & Manica, A. (2009). A global perspec-
tive on trends in nature-based tourism. PLoS Biology, 7(6), e1000144.
Bell, S., Simpson, S., Tyrväinen, L., Sievänen, T., & Pröbstl, U. (Eds.) (2008). European forest recreation
and tourism: A handbook. London: Taylor and Francis.
Blamey, R.K. (1997). Ecotourism: The search for an operational definition. Journal of Sustainable Tourism,
5(2), 109–130.
van Bottenburg, M., & Salome, L. (2010). The indoorisation of outdoor sports: An exploration of the rise
of lifestyle sports in artificial settings. Leisure Studies, 29(2), 143–160.
Buckley, R. (2000). Neat trends: Current issues in nature, eco- and adventure tourism. International
Journal of Tourism Research, 2, 437–444.
Buckley, R. (2003). Case studies in ecotourism. Cambridge: CABI Publishing.
Cordell, H.K. (2008). The latest on trends in nature-based outdoor recreation. Forest History Today, Spring.
Council of Lapland (2008). Tourism facts in Lapland. Statistical review 2008. http://www.lapinliitto.fi/c/
document_library/get_file?folderId=20782&name=DLFE-603.pdf.
Donohoe, H.M., & Needham, R.D. (2006). Ecotourism: The evolving contemporary definition. Journal of
Ecotourism, 5(3), 192–210.
Dowling, R. (2001). Environmental tourism. In: N. Douglas, M. Douglas, & R. Derrett (Eds.), Special
interest tourism. John Wiley & Sons Australia Ltd.
Emmelin, L. Fredman, P. Sandell, K., & Lisberg Jensen, E. (2010). Planera för friluftsliv – Natur,
samhälle, upplevelser. Carlsson bokförlag.
Fallon, F. (2000). Nature tourism: Managing for the environment. W. Tensie (Ed.). Washington, DC:
Island Press.
Fredman, P., & Heberlein, T.A. (2003). Changes in skiing and snowmobiling in Swedish mountains.
Annals of Tourism Research, 30(2), 485–488.
Fredman, P., & Sandell, K. (2009). “Protect, preserve, present” – The role of tourism in Swedish National
Parks. In: F. Warwick, & C. M. Hall (Eds), Tourism and National Parks. International perspectives
on development, histories and change. Abingdon: Routledge, Contemporary Geographies of Leisure,
Tourism and Mobility.
Fredman, P., Wall Reinius, S., & Lundberg, C. (2009). Turism i natur. Definitioner, omfattning, statistik.
Turismforskningsinstitutet ETOUR, Mittuniversitetet, Östersund. Rapport R2009:23.
Hall, C.M., & Boyd, S. (2005). Nature-based tourism in peripheral areas. Development or disaster?
Clevedon: Channel View Publications.
Hetemäki, L., Harstela, P., Hynynen, J., Ilvesniemi, H., & Uusivuori, J. (Eds.) (2006). Wellbeing form
Finnish forests 2015. Outlook of the Finnish forest sectors development possibilities and alternatives.
Working Papers of the Finnish Forest Research Institute 26.

15
 FRONTIERS IN NATURE-BASED TOURISM

Huhtala, M., Kajala, L., & Vatanen, E. (2010). Local economic impacts of national park visitors’ spending:
The development process of an estimation method. Metlan työraportteja / Working Papers of the Finn-
ish Forest Research Institute 149. http://www.metla.fi/julkaisut/workingpapers/2010/mwp149.htm
Högmander, J., & Leivo, A. (2004). General principles for sustainable nature tourism in protected areas
administrated by Metsähallitus, Finland. In: T. Sievänen, J. Erkkonen, J. Jokimäki, J. Saarinen, S.
Tuulentie, & E. Virtanen (Eds), Policies, methods and tools for visitor management. Proceedings of
the second MMV Conference, 16–20 June 2004, Rovaniemi, Finland. Working Papers of the Finnish
Forest Research Institute 2. pp. 336–338. http://www.metla.fi/julkaisut/workingpapers/2004/
mwp002.htm
Jensen, F. (1985). Forest recreation. In: M. Hytönen (Ed.), Multiple use forestry in the Nordic countries.
(pp. 245–278). Vantaa, Finland: The Finish Forest Research Institute.
Karlsson, S-E. (1994). Natur och kultur som turistiska produkter. En början till sociologisk analys.
Högskolan i Karlstad, forskningsrapport 94: 11.
Koivula, E., & Saastamoinen, O. (Eds.) (2005). Evaluation of nature based tourism and its possibilities in
the future. University of Joensuu. Faculty of Forestry Research notes 165. 80 pp.
Laarman, J.G., & Durst, P.B. (1987). Nature travel in the Tropics. Journal of Forestry, 85(5), 43–46.
Lang, C-T., & O’Leary, J.T. (1997). Motivation, participation and preference: A multi-segmentation
approach of the Australian nature travel market. Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, 6(3),
159–180.
Mehmetoglu, M. (2007). Naturbasert turisme. Fagbokförlaget, Bergen. 165 sidor.
MEK (2009). Border Interview Survey: Foreign Visitors in Finland 2008. Finnish Toursim Board MEK
A: 164.
Müller, D.K. (2008). Det kommersiella friluftslivet. En kartläggning av naturturismutbudet på de regionala
turistorganisationernas hemsidor i Sverige. Forskningsprogrammet Friluftsliv i förändring, rapport nr.
7, december 2008. www.friluftsforskning.se
Newsome, D., Moore, S., & Dowling, R.K. (2002). Natural area tourism. Ecology, impacts and
management. Clevedon: Channel View Publications.
Nordin, S. (2005). Tourism of tomorrow. ETOUR U 2005:27. Östersund.
Odden, A. (2008). Hva skjer med norsk friluftsliv? En studie av utviklingstrekk i norsk friluftsliv 1970-2004.
Doctorial Thesis, Gegrafisk Institt, NTNU.
Page, S.J., & Dowling, R.K. (2002). Ecotourism. London: Prentice Hall.
Pergams, O.R.W., & Zaradic, P.A. (2006). Is love of nature in the U.S. becoming love of electronic
media? 16-year downtrend in national park visits explained by watching movies, playing video
games, internet use, and oil prices. Journal of Environmental Management, 80, 387–393.
Pergams, O.R.W., & Zaradic, P.A. (2008). Evidence for a fundamental and pervasive shift away from
nature-based recreation. PNAS, 105(7), 2295–2300.
Sandell, K., & Sörlin, S. (2008). Friluftshistoria – Från härdande friluftslif till ekoturism och miljöpedagogik.
Carlsson bokförlag.
Sievänen, T., Arnberger, A., Dehez, J., Grant, N., Jensen, F.S., & Skov-Petersen, H. (Eds.) (2008). Forest
recreation monitoring – a European perspective. Working Papers of the Finnish Forest Research
Institute, 79.
Silvennoinen, H., & Tyrväinen, L. (2001). The demand for nature based tourism in Finland and environ-
mental expectations of the clients. In: T. Sievänen (Ed.), Outdoor recreation 2000. Working papers
of the Finnish Forest Research Institute 802, 112–127.
Tyrväinen, L., Buchecker, M., Vuletic, D., & Degenhart, B. (2008). Evaluating the economic and social
benefits of forest recreation and nature tourism. In: S. Bell, S. Simpson, L. Tyrväinen, T. Sievänen, &
U. Pröbstl (Eds.), European forest recreation and tourism: A handbook (pp. 35–64). London: Taylor
& Francis.
Tyrväinen, L., & Tuulentie, S. (2009). The future of nature based tourism. Futura, 28(3), 46–54.
UNWTO (2009). World Tourism Organization. Tourism Higlights, Edition 2009. http://unwto.org/facts/
eng/pdf/highlights/UNWTO_Highlights09_en_LR.pdfwww.unwto.org
Yuan, M., & Fredman, P. (2008). A call for a broad spatial understanding of outdoor recreation use. In: A.
Raschi, & S. Trampeti (Eds.), Management for protection and sustainable development. Proceedings
of the Fourth International Conference on Monitoring and Management of Visitor Flows in Recre-
ational and Protected Areas. Montecatini Terme, Italy, 14–19 October 2008.

16
 FRONTIERS IN NATURE-BASED TOURISM

Valentine, P.S. (1992). Review. Nature-based tourism. In: B. Weiler & C. M. Hall (Eds.), Special interest
tourism (pp. 105–127). London: Belhaven Press.
Wall Reinius, S. (2009). Protected attractions: Tourism and wilderness in the Swedish mountain region.
Dissertation. Department of Human Geography, Stockholm University. Meddelande 140. Stockholm.
Wall Reinius, S., & Fredman, P. (2007). Protected Areas as Attractions. Annals of Tourism Research,
34(4), 839–854.
Wheeler, T. (2008). Future Destinations. In R. Conrady & M. Buck (Eds.), Trends and issues in global
tourism 2008 (pp. 200–220). ITB Convention Market Trends & Innovations, Berlin: Springer.

17