Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

The Role of Nature in Swedish Ecotourism

Hultman, Johan LU and Andersson Cederholm, Erika LU orcid (2006) p.76-88
Abstract
Our purpose in this paper is to discuss Swedish nature in a specific context, namely that of ecotourism. The wider framework is the concept of cultural economy in relation to nature. Nature is culturally constructed – given meaning – by the actual doings of e.g. ecotourism operators, and this meaning is transformed into cash flows through tourist practices. It is this cultural construction of nature by ecotouristic practices we will focus upon here.



The paper is structured through a set of changes having occurred in Swedish ecotouristic practices during the last few years. We will tentatively define these changes as shifts in focus from nature as thing to nature as experience, from nature as place to nature as... (More)
Our purpose in this paper is to discuss Swedish nature in a specific context, namely that of ecotourism. The wider framework is the concept of cultural economy in relation to nature. Nature is culturally constructed – given meaning – by the actual doings of e.g. ecotourism operators, and this meaning is transformed into cash flows through tourist practices. It is this cultural construction of nature by ecotouristic practices we will focus upon here.



The paper is structured through a set of changes having occurred in Swedish ecotouristic practices during the last few years. We will tentatively define these changes as shifts in focus from nature as thing to nature as experience, from nature as place to nature as universalised locality, and finally changes in the different actorships manifested by ecotourist operators and ecotourists. The material we use is the organisation Nature’s Best, a certifier of quality for Swedish ecotourism businesses. We view this organisation as a mediator/constructor of nature, partly in the way it represents the businesses they certify and partly in the way it represents nature. We also use a number of the actual ecotourism businesses Nature’s Best certify as a source of the cultural construction of nature. We will loosely sketch a development from “traditional” ecotouristic practices and rhetoric to what we perceive as the new cultural economy of nature, but the greater part of the text will be dealing with the new practices displayed by Nature’s Best and to some extent similar ecotourist operators. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Nature's Best, nature, authenticity, ecotourism
host publication
Ecotourism in Scandinavia. Lessons in Theory and Practice
editor
Gössling, Stefan and Hultman, Johan
pages
76 - 88
publisher
CABI Publishing
external identifiers
  • scopus:79957639466
ISBN
1-84593-134-3
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
9d819329-019c-4df0-befa-28bd92013e47 (old id 599742)
date added to LUP
2016-04-04 10:57:11
date last changed
2022-12-13 17:32:55
@inbook{9d819329-019c-4df0-befa-28bd92013e47,
  abstract     = {{Our purpose in this paper is to discuss Swedish nature in a specific context, namely that of ecotourism. The wider framework is the concept of cultural economy in relation to nature. Nature is culturally constructed – given meaning – by the actual doings of e.g. ecotourism operators, and this meaning is transformed into cash flows through tourist practices. It is this cultural construction of nature by ecotouristic practices we will focus upon here.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
The paper is structured through a set of changes having occurred in Swedish ecotouristic practices during the last few years. We will tentatively define these changes as shifts in focus from nature as thing to nature as experience, from nature as place to nature as universalised locality, and finally changes in the different actorships manifested by ecotourist operators and ecotourists. The material we use is the organisation Nature’s Best, a certifier of quality for Swedish ecotourism businesses. We view this organisation as a mediator/constructor of nature, partly in the way it represents the businesses they certify and partly in the way it represents nature. We also use a number of the actual ecotourism businesses Nature’s Best certify as a source of the cultural construction of nature. We will loosely sketch a development from “traditional” ecotouristic practices and rhetoric to what we perceive as the new cultural economy of nature, but the greater part of the text will be dealing with the new practices displayed by Nature’s Best and to some extent similar ecotourist operators.}},
  author       = {{Hultman, Johan and Andersson Cederholm, Erika}},
  booktitle    = {{Ecotourism in Scandinavia. Lessons in Theory and Practice}},
  editor       = {{Gössling, Stefan and Hultman, Johan}},
  isbn         = {{1-84593-134-3}},
  keywords     = {{Nature's Best; nature; authenticity; ecotourism}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{76--88}},
  publisher    = {{CABI Publishing}},
  title        = {{The Role of Nature in Swedish Ecotourism}},
  year         = {{2006}},
}