Tourism activity as an expression of place attachment–place perceptions among tourism actors in the Jukkasjärvi area of northern Sweden

Abstract

Thus far, the relation between place attachment and lifestyle entrepreneurship has received limited attention in tourism studies. Our study addresses tourism actors' relationship to the place of their engagement, here the Jukkasjärvi area of northern Sweden. Using a qualitative approach, we analyse their place attachment with particular attention to their perceptions of nature. Thereby, we contribute to a deeper understanding of the theoretical linkage between place attachment and lifestyle entrepreneurship in rural nature-based tourism. We find that all actors have strong bonds to the places of their engagement, which we suggest is a key motivator for their professional engagement with tourism. Furthermore, our findings highlight that not only the functional dimension of the environment, but particularly emotional attachment to the environment allows people to perceive places as "ideal" for their activities. All actors speak of their strong appreciation of the natural environment, in particular the climate and seasons, and they embody their attachment through diverse outdoor activities. They claim they wish to "share their lifestyle" with tourists and pursue work-related activities in the same ways and in the same places as their private activities. Hence, we propose that positive perceptions of the natural environment and particularly enthusiasm for different outdoor activities foster as well as promote tourism activity more than other factors do.

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“…Moreover, tourism may be particularly amenable to combining with what is sometimes seen as more "traditional" practices or specific lifestyles. Tourism occupations may generally signify a relatively flexible type of work that can be combined with preferred lifestyle choices, including diverse outdoor activities (Schilar and Keskitalo 2017).…”

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“…However, the literature still has to establish the connection between place social bonding and place satisfaction . Thus, place satisfaction and place attachment in today's competitive market are viewed as being key to the achievement of nature-based attractions (Schilar & Keskitalo, 2018).…”

“…Thus, in relation to particular settings, they may shape their identity (Shamsuddina & Ujangb, 2008). The attachments concerned may occur on various scales, such as a neighbourhood, a certain landscape, a village, or a bigger region than the aforementioned (Schilar & Keskitalo, 2018). As far as tourism actors are concerned, individuals are possibly connected to the built tourist 'location', or make sense of location alongside other geographical scales (Schilar & Keskitalo, 2018).…”

“…The attachments concerned may occur on various scales, such as a neighbourhood, a certain landscape, a village, or a bigger region than the aforementioned (Schilar & Keskitalo, 2018). As far as tourism actors are concerned, individuals are possibly connected to the built tourist 'location', or make sense of location alongside other geographical scales (Schilar & Keskitalo, 2018). Connections, or bonds, between people and sites are conceived as site attachments (Line et al, 2018;McDowell, 2018;Woosnam et al, 2018).…”

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