Foreign second home purchases : The case of Northern Sweden, 1990-1996

• Main Author: Pettersson, Robert
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Published: Kulturgeografiska institutionen 1999
• Subjects: Human Geography; Kulturgeografi; Skoglund; Northern Sweden
• Online Access: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-24747

Peripheral areas in European countries have recently experienced an influx of foreign second home owners. Here, the case of northern Sweden is presented, where Germans and Norwegians have purchased about 100 second homes between 1990 and 1996. It is argued that these second home owners have different motivations for buying a cottage depending on their country of origin, and that this has an impact on the locational pattern as well as the use of the second homes. Moreover, it is suggested that the distance between permanent and second homes should have more significance on location and use than the fact that they are located in different countries. The results of this survey reinforce these thoughts but, nevertheless, underline the importance of the concept of foreign tourism. Both Norwegians and Germans experience certain attractions in Sweden which are not available in their home countries. Awarded the 1998 Gösta Skoglund Prize for the best paper in the field of regional science presented at a department within Umeå University.