New Rural Community? Narratives from Second Home Owners about Everyday Life in a Tourist Region in Finnish Lapland

Abstract

Nowadays, second homes are important for rural development and rural communities in many parts of the world. Second home owners are more committed to the place than tourists and other occasional visitors. However, they are not counted as full members of the local community, which is often seen as a coherent group of like-minded people. This study examines the concept of community in the context of second home owners in a popular tourist region of Finnish Lapland. The study is based on diaries kept for one year by ten second home owners. The diaries are analysed as narratives that record happenings that the writers see as worth narrating. They show that various social contacts as well as media and nature create the entirety of the attachment to the second home place. Social contact occurs in many places, from services to nature environments. Also residents' association seems to be an important forum of social influence. The authors suggest that more spaces for socialising are needed in order to have interaction between permanent residents and second home owners.

Reframing rurality: the impact of Airbnb on second-home communities in Wales and Sweden.

“…While understandably many of these reviews are specifically referring to ease of access to local attractions and leisure activities, there is also a focus on the availability of shops and eateries, spaces which are also of importance to both local residents and second homeowners. Thus, there is a similar level of spatial integration between these guests and the other rural homeowners, both primary and secondary, within the public sphere (Larsson and Müller, 2019;Tuulentie and Kietäväinen, 2020). Integration with the local population is further enhanced by the host/guest relationship apparent in the Airbnb sharing model.…”

“…In both instances, second homeowners are spatially integrated with local permanent residents and may be reliant on similar amenities, such as grocery stores, hardware stores and cafés. (Larsson and Müller, 2019;Tuulentie and Kietäväinen, 2020). However, similarly to rural tourists and the in-migrants in the study by Smith and Phillips (2009), second homeowners' interpretation of the rurality of the space in which their properties are located is framed either as pristine wilderness (Vepsäläinen and Pitkänen, 2010) or through the nostalgic rural idyll, where, in contrast to tourists who are often shielded from the realities of rural life, there is an active avoidance of non-idyllic rural elements (Pitkänen, 2008).…”

“…However, similarly to rural tourists and the in-migrants in the study by Smith and Phillips (2009), second homeowners' interpretation of the rurality of the space in which their properties are located is framed either as pristine wilderness (Vepsäläinen and Pitkänen, 2010) or through the nostalgic rural idyll, where, in contrast to tourists who are often shielded from the realities of rural life, there is an active avoidance of non-idyllic rural elements (Pitkänen, 2008). Nonetheless, rural second homeowners, much like many of their primary counterparts, place significant value on the local community and their situatedness in it (Nordin and Marjavaara, 2012;Vepsäläinen and Pitkänen, 2010), even when this community may only be composed of other second homeowners (Tuulentie and Kietäväinen, 2020). Thus, second homeowners who are more attached to the community, similarly to the majority of primary residents, will mediate their spatial understanding through their interpersonal relationships.…”