Clusters without Content? Icelandic National and Regional Tourism Policy
This paper explores the relationship between Icelandic regional policy and tourism development. It is inspired by the efforts of the Icelandic government to introduce industry clusters in tourism development over the last few years. With tourism gaining increasing recognition as a central pillar of...
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ftunivgoetebojs:oai:ojs.ub.gu.se:article/2755 2023-10-09T21:52:45+02:00 Clusters without Content? Icelandic National and Regional Tourism Policy Huijbens, Edward H. Jóhannesson, Hjalti Jóhannesson, Gunnar Thór 2014-02-19 application/pdf https://ojs.ub.gu.se/index.php/sjpa/article/view/2755 eng eng University of Gothenburg https://ojs.ub.gu.se/index.php/sjpa/article/view/2755/2422 https://ojs.ub.gu.se/index.php/sjpa/article/view/2755 Offentlig förvaltning - Scandinavian Journal of Public Administration; Vol 18, No 1 (2014): Public Administration and Tourism in the Nordic Countries; 63-85 Scandinavian Journal of Public Administration; Vol 18, No 1 (2014): Public Administration and Tourism in the Nordic Countries; 63-85 info:eu-repo/semantics/article Peer-reviewed Article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion 2014 ftunivgoetebojs 2023-09-10T13:35:05Z This paper explores the relationship between Icelandic regional policy and tourism development. It is inspired by the efforts of the Icelandic government to introduce industry clusters in tourism development over the last few years. With tourism gaining increasing recognition as a central pillar of the national economy and clustering being seen as central means to success, the paper presents a critical evaluation of the cluster concept. The introduction of industry clusters in Icelandic regional policy is illustrated through a short case study from North Iceland, where industry clusters have been promoted in general regional development and tourism for the longest and gone through two successive stages. This case underpins the central argument of the paper that industry clusters as promoted by the Icelandic government do not reflect an engagement with regional socio-spatial specificities and the nature of the tourism product. These specificities need to be recognised and worked with in order to establish the necessary foundations for any successful cluster initiative. Thus the paper concludes with questioning the efficiency of top-down governance approach in enhancing tourism. Article in Journal/Newspaper Iceland Open Journal Systems at University of Gothenburg Pillar ENVELOPE(166.217,166.217,-77.583,-77.583) |
institution |
Open Polar |
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Open Journal Systems at University of Gothenburg |
op_collection_id |
ftunivgoetebojs |
language |
English |
description |
This paper explores the relationship between Icelandic regional policy and tourism development. It is inspired by the efforts of the Icelandic government to introduce industry clusters in tourism development over the last few years. With tourism gaining increasing recognition as a central pillar of the national economy and clustering being seen as central means to success, the paper presents a critical evaluation of the cluster concept. The introduction of industry clusters in Icelandic regional policy is illustrated through a short case study from North Iceland, where industry clusters have been promoted in general regional development and tourism for the longest and gone through two successive stages. This case underpins the central argument of the paper that industry clusters as promoted by the Icelandic government do not reflect an engagement with regional socio-spatial specificities and the nature of the tourism product. These specificities need to be recognised and worked with in order to establish the necessary foundations for any successful cluster initiative. Thus the paper concludes with questioning the efficiency of top-down governance approach in enhancing tourism. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Huijbens, Edward H. Jóhannesson, Hjalti Jóhannesson, Gunnar Thór |
spellingShingle |
Huijbens, Edward H. Jóhannesson, Hjalti Jóhannesson, Gunnar Thór Clusters without Content? Icelandic National and Regional Tourism Policy |
author_facet |
Huijbens, Edward H. Jóhannesson, Hjalti Jóhannesson, Gunnar Thór |
author_sort |
Huijbens, Edward H. |
title |
Clusters without Content? Icelandic National and Regional Tourism Policy |
title_short |
Clusters without Content? Icelandic National and Regional Tourism Policy |
title_full |
Clusters without Content? Icelandic National and Regional Tourism Policy |
title_fullStr |
Clusters without Content? Icelandic National and Regional Tourism Policy |
title_full_unstemmed |
Clusters without Content? Icelandic National and Regional Tourism Policy |
title_sort |
clusters without content? icelandic national and regional tourism policy |
publisher |
University of Gothenburg |
publishDate |
2014 |
url |
https://ojs.ub.gu.se/index.php/sjpa/article/view/2755 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(166.217,166.217,-77.583,-77.583) |
geographic |
Pillar |
geographic_facet |
Pillar |
genre |
Iceland |
genre_facet |
Iceland |
op_source |
Offentlig förvaltning - Scandinavian Journal of Public Administration; Vol 18, No 1 (2014): Public Administration and Tourism in the Nordic Countries; 63-85 Scandinavian Journal of Public Administration; Vol 18, No 1 (2014): Public Administration and Tourism in the Nordic Countries; 63-85 |
op_relation |
https://ojs.ub.gu.se/index.php/sjpa/article/view/2755/2422 https://ojs.ub.gu.se/index.php/sjpa/article/view/2755 |
_version_ |
1779315932418539520 |