Master's Thesis
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Master’s thesis Viewing Tourism: Investigating Residents Experiences and Perceptions of Different Forms of Tourism in Ísafjörður, Iceland. James Anthony Regan Advisor: Georgette Leah Burns, Ph.D. University of Akureyri Faculty of Business and Science University Centre of the Westfjords Master of Resource Management: Coastal and Marine Management Ísafjörður, October 2020 Supervisory Committee Advisor: Georgette Leah Burns, Ph.D. External Reader: Pat Maher, Ph.D. Program Director: Catherine Chambers, Ph.D. James Anthony Regan Viewing Tourism: Investigating Residents Experiences and Perceptions of Different Forms of Tourism in Ísafjörður, Iceland.45 ECTS thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of a Master of Resource Management degree in Coastal and Marine Management at the University Centre of the Westfjords, Suðurgata 12, 400 Ísafjörður, Iceland Degree accredited by the University of Akureyri, Faculty of Business and Science, Borgir, 600 Akureyri, Iceland Copyright © 2020 James Anthony Regan All rights reserved Printing: Háskólaprent, Reykjavík, September 2020 Declaration I hereby confirm that I am the sole author of this thesis and it is a product of my own academic research. __________________________________________ James Anthony Regan Abstract Ísafjörður is the largest town in Ísafjarðardjup, and the capital of Ísafjarðarbær, a municipality containing it and the four towns of Hnífsdalur, Flateyri, Suðureyri and Þingeyri. It is a prominent location for the fisheries sector in the northern Westfjords. It has also has recently seen a rapid expansion in its tourism sector, particularly influenced by a growth in cruise tourism, with a growth in cruise tourist arrivals of 45.8% between 2015 and 2017. This thesis investigated the perceptions and experiences that residents of Ísafjörður had towards tourism. This investigation took the form of an in-depth qualitative study utilising 14 semi-structured interviews. Residents generally had a neutral attitude towards tourism, perceiving both the economic and social benefits of tourism whilst also having experienced the impacts of some undesirable tourist behaviours. They placed value in both the role tourism had in sustaining services in Ísafjörður and the positive impacts of social and cultural exchange to both tourists and residents. Residents were particularly aware of the impacts of tourism upon the area’s environment, something they placed significant value in. They were also concerned, yet optimistic, about the future of tourism in the area, general awareness of the tourism area life cycle model having caused concern that continuing expansion may be unsustainable. While tourism is currently certainly within the development stage, participants in the research were cautious about further investment in tourism. The results of this research suggest that as well as a general plan to manage future tourism growth, specific management actions should be taken in order to limit the impacts of problematic tourist and tour operator behaviours with a disproportionate effect on social harmony. Útdráttur Ísafjörður er stærsta byggðin við Ísafjarðardjúp og einnig stærsti þéttbýliskjarni innan sveitarfélagsins Ísafjarðarbær, en aðrir bæir eru: Hnífsdalur, Flateyri, Suðureyri og Þingeyri. Staðsetning Ísafjarðar á norðanverðum Vestfjörðum er kjörin fyrir fiskveiðar. Mikil aukning hefur orðið í ferðamennsku og hafa skemmtiferðaskip haft mikil áhrif á það, með 45,8% aukningu komu ferðamanna á skemmtiferðaskipum á milli 2015 og 2017. Í þessari lokaritgerð verður kannað reynslu og viðhorf íbúa Ísafjarðar gagnvart ferðamennsku. Eigindleg rannsókn fór fram með 14 hálf-formlegum viðtölum. Íbúar höfðu almennt hlutlaust viðhorf gagnvart ferðamannageiranum og nefndu gjarnan fjárhagslegan gróða og félagslegan ávinning sem jákvæð gildi, en aftur á móti var reynsla af slæmri hegðun ferðamanna neikvætt gildi. Þeir töldu að hlutverk ferðamanna í að halda uppi þjónustum á Ísafirði og jákvæð samskipti milli íbúa og ferðamanna hefðu mikið gagn. Íbúar voru meðvitaðir um slæm áhrif ferðamanna á umhverfið, en það er eitthvað sem íbúar telja mikils virði. Þeir höfðu áhyggjur, en voru þó jákvæðir gagnvart framtíð ferðamennsku á svæðinu og að mikil aukning ferðamanna væri ekki sjálfbær. Á meðan ferðamannageirinn er einungis í þróunarstigi eins og er, vildu íbúar fara varlega í að auka ferðamennsku á svæðinu. Niðurstaða þessarar rannsóknar leiðir til kynna að gerð langtímaáætlunar yfir aukningu ferðamennsku í framtíðinni væri góð lausn, ásamt takmörkun á slæmri ferðamennsku sem hefur neikvæð áhrif á samfélagslegt samlyndi. v Vinaka na Siga vi Table of Contents Abstract……………………………………………………………………………….……v Table of contents…………………………………………………………………………vii List of Figures ...................................................................................................................... x List of Tables ....................................................................................................................... xi Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................... xiii 1 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Research Questions ............................................................................................... 4 1.2 Definitions ............................................................................................................. 5 2 Literature review ......................................................................................................... 9 2.1 A Background in Tourism ................................................................................... 10 2.2 The Wider Economy in Ísafjörður ....................................................................... 12 2.3 The Impacts of Depopulation .............................................................................. 14 2.4 Tourism and Sustainability .................................................................................. 17 2.5 Tourism and the Environment ............................................................................. 21 2.5.1 Environmental Issue Specific management- The Precautionary Principle ... 22 2.6 Mass Tourism Impacts ........................................................................................ 24 2.7 Cruise Tourism Carrying Capacity in Ísafjörður ................................................. 26 2.8 Tourism Research in Ísafjörður and the Surrounding Area ................................. 30 2.9 Drive Tourism ..................................................................................................... 31 3 Methodology ............................................................................................................... 33 3.1 Reasoning ............................................................................................................ 33 3.2 Sampling .............................................................................................................. 34 3.2.1 Ethical Considerations ................................................................................... 38 vii 3.3 Interview construction ......................................................................................... 39 3.4 Analytical methods .............................................................................................. 41 3.5 Limitations .......................................................................................................... 43 3.6 Conclusion ........................................................................................................... 44 4 Results and Discussion .............................................................................................. 45 4.1 General Perceptions of Tourism .......................................................................... 46 4.1.1 Overall Perceptions of Tourism .................................................................... 46 4.1.2 Tourism Trends ............................................................................................. 49 4.1.3 Adventure tourism ......................................................................................... 50 4.1.4 Tourism development .................................................................................... 50 4.2 Cruise Tourism, Crowding, and the Behaviours of Cruise Tourists ................... 51 4.3 Perceptions of Visitor Experience and Differences in Forms of Tourism .......... 57 4.4 Road Use ............................................................................................................. 61 4.5 Infrastructure and the Environment ..................................................................... 65 4.6 Conclusion ........................................................................................................... 73 5 Recommendations and Conclusion .......................................................................... 75 5.1 Management ........................................................................................................ 75 5.1.1 Cruise tourism Regulation ............................................................................. 77 5.1.2 Regulation- Road Use ................................................................................... 78 5.1.3 Infrastructure Development ........................................................................... 80 5.2 Limitations and Future Research ........................................................................