| Summary: | This article engages with the notion of the Anthropocene to discuss tourism trajectories in the changing Arctic environment, particularly focusing on how the industry aligns with totalized and harmonized visions of sustainability and growth. Using the example of the Republic of Santa Claus theme park, a mega-project planned to be built at Rovaniemi in Finnish Lapland, this conceptual article speculates and provokes discussion over post-Arctic tourism futures in a region expected to face profound effects from climate change and disruptions to the tourism industry. Using the concepts of pseudo-events, heterotopia, and Arctification, the article points out that to keep the myth of Santa alive, the Arctic environment needs to be increasingly fabricated and staged, leading to the production of “neo-natures.” Finally, the article posits that we should understand the Republic of Santa Claus as an example of neo-nature: a model embodying total Arctification and a simulation of an idealized Arctic environment. This reflection underscores the challenges and dilemmas inherent in reproducing the key elements of nature-based tourism in the Arctic region in the future. Hence, the article explores reactions and visions of expected future changes in Arctic tourism, by examining anticipated changes in Arctic tourism and its globalization in the new circumstances of the Anthropocene.
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