Tourist images of Greenland and the Arctic: a perception analysis

• Published in: Polar Record
• Main Author: Hübner, Anna
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 2009
• Subjects: General Earth and Planetary Sciences; Ecology; Geography, Planning and Development; Arctic; Greenland; Climate change; Polar Record
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0032247408007936; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0032247408007936

ABSTRACT Within the scope of climate change and the worldwide shift in travel patterns, the Arctic has become a highly favoured tourist destination. However, the literature on studying destination images of the northern polar regions lacks analysis of prevailing perceptions and of corresponding images held by tourists without previous travel experience. Therefore, this research, recently carried out in Germany, attempts to delineate tourists' perceptions of Greenland on the one hand and the Arctic as a whole on the other as destinations. Similarities, positive and negative differences of the cognitive and affective stages are generated and an overview of perceived dimensions and factors influencing the images are given. Although the results strongly coincide with each other, there are minor differences found in favour of Greenland. With the findings it is hoped to provide a better insight into the images held by potential visitors to the Arctic and to help those engaged in marketing Greenland as a tourist destination to identify an efficient strategy.