Chinese Tourism in the Arctic North:Opportunities beyond the Economic

• Main Authors: Jørgensen, Matias Thuen, Bertelsen, Rasmus Gjedssø
• Format: Conference Object
• Language: English
• Published: 2019
• Subjects: Arctic; Hemphill; Lasserre; Martyn
• Online Access: https://forskning.ruc.dk/da/publications/4b23289d-9d02-47d1-b097-25ad1d7d6db1; https://hdl.handle.net/1800/4b23289d-9d02-47d1-b097-25ad1d7d6db1

The global shift of power from West to East means that China is concerned with and present in the Arctic like never before (e.g. Hong 2014; Chen 2012). This increasing presence has led to discussions about its pros and cons (e.g. Martyn-Hemphill 2018; Sørensen 2018; Bennett 2018; Lasserre, Huang, and Alexeeva 2017) that are often centred on predictions about potential mining projects, military installations, trade deals, political alliances etc. It turns out, however, that most of these predictions have not yet materialised, which means that encounters between Arctic communities and their future collaborators, investors or partners in China are still rare. There is no doubt that China's presence in the Arctic will increase further in the coming years. This is evident in the sources already cited and particularly in China’s recently released arctic strategy white paper (The State Council Information Office of the People’s Republic of China 2018). Because of this, Arctic communities will have to educate themselves to engage with this new presence in their region, while Chinese actors with interests in the Arctic correspondingly will have to develop their understanding of this unique part of the world and the communities that inhabit it. Tourism represents one of the few sectors where engagement is already happening.The total number of visitors to the Arctic regions is continually rising; this is also the case for visitors from China (Meesak 2018; Yoo 2017; Bennett 2018). Historically, tourism has been used as a tool for diplomacy and in many cases, the first contact between guest and host communities have been through tourism. There are signs that this is currently happening in the Arctic, as tourism is among the first arenas where Chinese and Arctic communities engage. Tourism development in the Arctic requires not only the acquisition of new skills, competencies and understandings, but also establishment of infrastructure, accommodation and other amenities. The challenges and opportunities met in these ...