Co-constructing “northern” tourism representations among tourism companies, DMOs and tourists. An example from Jukkasjärvi, Sweden

Abstract

ABSTRACTIn tourism, simplified destination representations are often assumed to be a necessity in order to compete in an international marketplace. Consequently, destination dynamics are regarded as characterised by power struggles over these representations, and power is often seen as lying outside of the destination, depriving local tourism actors of agency. In this study, the Jukkasjärvi area in northern Sweden is taken as an example in order to study the complexity of these processes and show whether power also lies within destinations. This study was based on a Foucauldian discourse analysis taking into account different groups (tourism companies, DMOs and tourists) and both interview (local tourism) and online material (tourism websites and TripAdvisor reviews from mostly international tourists). The results illustrate that the different tourism actors in the Jukkasjärvi case discursively co-construct the destination as naturalised/authenticated while also regarding it as packaged and constructed for tourism production. Consequently, our work suggests a more critical approach towards depicting local tourism actors as deprived of power over representations, as well as paying more attention (also methodologically) to the co-constructive nature of destination discourses and how these are packaged in relation to potential tourism market requirements.