Målkonflikter i fjällen - en fallstudie om besöksnäringens tillväxt i Abisko

• Main Author: Wahlbeck, Ella
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: Swedish
• Published: Lunds universitet/Institutionen för kulturgeografi och ekonomisk geografi 2019
• Subjects: Critical geopolitics; kritisk geopolitik; tourism; turism; tourism sector; besöksnäring; Abisko; Kiruna; Social Sciences
• Online Access: http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/8978103

The purpose of this thesis is to examine the tourism development in Abisko, Kiruna, highlighting the conflicting strategies and land-use conflicts. Abisko is used as an example of how tourism development is not only about attracting more visitors to the destination, it’s also about developing the services that the visitors, local population and companies need and, in that way, create opportunities for growth. Tourism is a growing activity on already heavily contested land, and Kiruna municipality faces barriers in creating these opportunities due to the land use regulations and conflicting interests. An increase in visitors and tourist companies means that the municipality needs to establish more infrastructure, housing, schools and accessible health care and other social services whilst maintaining and increasing the destination’s attractiveness and preserving the values that make the destination special. Through a critical geopolitical framework, the conflicting views on the development are analysed as parts of a larger discourse, reflecting the actor’s identities and geopolitical imaginaries. Unresolved territorial claims and a struggle for power over the environment can be identified as underlaying themes affecting the development, making it hard for the municipality to develop Abisko as a destination sustainably.