Nordia Geographical Publications Volume 49:4 Rethinking Arctic tourism: tourists’ practices and perceptions of the Arctic in Rovaniemi Alix Varnajot ACADEMIC DISSERTATION to be presented with the permission of the Doctoral Training Committee for Human Sciences of the University of Oulu Graduate School (UniOGS), for public discussion in the lecture hall L10, on the 4th of September, 2020, at 15 afternoon. Nordia Geographical Publications Volume 49:4 Rethinking Arctic tourism: tourists’ practices and perceptions of the Arctic in Rovaniemi Alix Varnajot Nordia Geographical Publications Publications of The Geographical Society of Northern Finland and Geography Research Unit, University of Oulu Address: Geography Research Unit P.O. Box 3000 FIN-90014 University of Oulu FINLAND [email protected] Editor: Teijo Klemettilä Nordia Geographical Publications ISBN 978-952-62-2691-0 ISSN 1238-2086 PunaMusta Tampere 2020 Rethinking Arctic tourism: tourists’ practices and perceptions of the Arctic in Rovaniemi Contents Abstract vii List of original articles x Acknowledgements xi 1 Introduction 1 2 Purpose and structure of the research 5 2.1 Aim of the research 5 2.2 Structure of the thesis 6 2.3 Situating the thesis and the articles 8 3 The Arctic in tourism 11 3.1 A quest for defining the Arctic and Arctic tourism 11 3.2 The state of tourism in the Arctic 17 4 Research materials and methods 25 4.1 Case study: Rovaniemi 25 4.2 Research method inspired from multiple ethnographies 30 4.3 Data analysis 38 5 Framing Arctic tourist experiences: crossing the Arctic Circle 41 5.1 The tourist experience and the tourist gaze 41 5.2 The Arctic Circle as a border and an attraction 51 5.2.1 Borderwork and the Arctic Circle 52 5.2.2 The Arctic Circle: from a border to a symbolic tourist attraction 55 6 Examining the nature of Arctic tourism in Rovaniemi 65 6.1 Arctic tourism in the context of Rovaniemi 65 6.2 Reconceptualizing Arctic tourism 70 v 7 Implications and conclusions 79 7.1 ‘Post-Arctic’ regions and time: the future of tourism in Rovaniemi 79 7.2 Concluding remarks and future research on Arctic tourism 85 References 91 Original articles vi Abstract Rethinking Arctic tourism: tourists’ practices and perceptions of the Arctic in Rovaniemi Varnajot, Alix, Geography Research Unit, University of Oulu, 2020 Keywords: Arctic tourism, Tourist experience, Tourist gaze, Borders, Arctic Circle, Ethnography, Cryospheric gaze The Arctic is facing rapid and significant social, cultural, economic and environmental changes. In recent years, due to ongoing and forecasted climate change impacts, policy- makers’ and the research community’s interest in the region has increased dramatically within and outside of Arctic countries. This is reflected in increasing public visibility and in the amount of attention the Arctic region has gained in the media. In parallel, tourism in the Arctic has undergone considerable growth and the Arctic is emerging as a popular destination, although tourism in the Arctic has existed for over two centuries. Nevertheless, Arctic tourism is a concept that has been substantially used in academic literature, policy documents, and tourism promotion materials, although there is no current consensus on its definition. The term, often taken for granted, generally refers to tourism in and about the Arctic, wherein the Arctic is characterized by static and external views, overlooking its rich diversity in terms of cultures, landscapes, climates and environments. In this study, my interest is in the (re)conceptualization of Arctic tourism, based on studies about tourist experiences at the Arctic Circle in Rovaniemi, the capital of Finnish Lapland. This thesis contributes to literature on tourist experiences in the Arctic, a topic that has not received a lot of attention in the past, but one that has significant relevance in terms of tourists’ decision-making in response to Arctic communities’ efforts to attract visitors and stimulate regional tourism development. By addressing tourist experiences and border literature, this study also contributes to conceptual discussions on Arctic tourism. This dissertation focuses on the Arctic Circle both as a tourist attraction and as a border for the Arctic region. It aims to shed light on tourists’ practices and experiences of the Arctic in Rovaniemi and to understand ‘how Arctic’ this important destination is. The chosen case study did not consist of a simple location, but of a specific ritual performed and reproduced by tourists: the crossing of the Arctic Circle. In the tourism industry, Arctic Circle landmarks are commonly represented as gateways to the Arctic, and crossing the line signifies entering the region. As such, this particular performance crystallizes tourists’ representations of the Arctic. This study aims to investigate these crystalized representations and is based on empirical materials consisting of qualitative data gathered from multiple ethnographies and secondary materials comprising academic literature, policy documents and promotional tourism materials. Traditional on-site ethnography was conducted through methods inspired by participant observation at different Arctic Circle landmarks located in Rovaniemi. Netnography was aimed at investigating post-trip experiences of crossing the Arctic Circle as reported on Instagram, and autoethnography was used for the purpose of self-reflection related to my Arctic experiences as a tourist. Qualitative data were analyzed from an interpretative approach, and especially using vii hermeneutics, in order to understand the meanings behind Instagram posts and specific postures when crossing the Arctic Circle. The results indicate that in Rovaniemi, from the tourist perspective, the Arctic is experienced as a nebulous region with no proper boundaries. Tourists do not perceive the Arctic Circle as an absolute border for the Arctic, despite heavy promotion and the performance of border-crossing postures. Rather, the magical line is considered as one of the many items encompassed by the vague representation of what the Arctic is. Other elements like the presence of snow, reindeer and northern lights are also all part of what a full Arctic experience is supposed to be. This suggests that, from the tourist perspective, proper Arctic experiences should be winter-based, which is the foundation for the ‘cryospheric gaze’ developed in this thesis as the definition for current Arctic tourism. The cryospheric gaze, grounded in Urry’s tourist gaze, is also supported by how the Santa Claus tourism industry, highly present in Rovaniemi, extracts and exploits winter-based elements of the Arctic for its own promotion and development. In order to acknowledge the diversity of the Arctic, I argue for a fluidity in space and time of the tourism segment called Arctic tourism. Toward the end of the thesis, the future of Arctic tourism is discussed in relation to climate change and the development of ‘post-Arctic regions’. It explores challenges in terms of equal access to snow, of stereotypical images of the Arctic becoming burdensome for local communities and how current forms of Arctic tourism can still be offered to tourists in ‘cryosphericless’ regions that have built themselves into Arctic tourism destinations. viii Supervisor Professor Jarkko Saarinen Geography Research Unit University of Oulu, Finland Pre-examiners Professor Emma J. Stewart Faculty of Environment, Society and Design Lincoln University, New Zealand Professor Daniela Liggett Gateway Antarctica, Centre for Antarctic Studies and Research Canterbury University, New Zealand Opponent Professor Dallen Timothy School of Community Resources and Development Arizona State University, United States ix List of original articles Article 1I Saarinen, J. & A. Varnajot (2019). The Arctic in tourism: Complementing and contesting perspectives on tourism in the Arctic. Polar Geography 42: 1, 109–124. Article 2II Varnajot, A. (2019). “Walk the line”: An ethnographic study of the ritual of crossing the Arctic Circle – Case Rovaniemi. Tourist Studies 19: 4, 434–452. Article 3III Varnajot, A. (2019). Digital Rovaniemi: Contemporary and future arctic tourism experiences. The Journal of Tourism Futures 6: 1, 6–23. Article 4IV Herva, V.-P., A. Varnajot & A. Pashkevich (in press). Bad Santa: Cultural heritage, mystification of the Arctic and tourism as an extractive industry. The Polar Journal. I The article was written together with Prof. Jarkko Saarinen. Reprinted with the permission of Taylor & Francis Group. Originally published in Polar Geography, 12 Feb 2019. Available online: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1088937X.2019.1578287 II Reprinted with the permission of Sage Publications. Originally published in Tourist Studies, 20 March 2019. Available online: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/ pdf/10.1177/1468797619836546 III Reprinted with the permission of Emerald Publishing Limited, 14 Nov 2019. Available online: https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/JTF-01-2019-0009/ full/html IV The author of the thesis was responsible for writing the contents on tourism in Rovaniemi and the Christmas tourism industry. Reprinted with the permission of Taylor and Francis Group. x Acknowledgements Sitting in a train, ripping through the French landscape, I’m heading home, and I dive back into these four years spent at the University of Oulu. What an adventure it has been! As far as I can remember geography has been my passion, although I did not know that one day it would give me such a hard time. It took four years to become the geographer I wanted to be, and this would not have been possible without a few persons supervising, supporting and helping during this PhD at the Geography Research Unit. I am greatly thankful to my supervisor, Professor Jarkko Saarinen. Thank you for your valuable support from day 1, for your patience, for all the questions answered, all the helpful suggestions, critics, advices and the knowledge you shared with me. You introduced me to the world of academia, you taught me its rules and its tricks, and I’m proud to have my name next to yours on the first paper of this thesis.