Tourists’ landscape perceptions and preferences in a Scandinavian coastal region

Abstract

European cultural landscapes have been subject to change since the middle of the twentieth century, and among the most significant alterations are general re-growth, reforestation, and overgrowth. Such changes might lead to landscape loss for locals and deterioration of vistas for sightseeing holidaymakers. This article responds to a lack of academic research on landscape perceptions among tourists. The main objective is to explore international tourists’ landscape perceptions in a coastal area in northern Scandinavia, focusing on three different concepts thought to be important for tourists’ landscape preferences: typicality, vegetation lushness, and degree of human influence. A combination of free and directed sorting procedures was employed. Quantitative and categorical data derived from the multiple sorting methods were subjected to multidimensional scaling analysis. The results indicate that foreign tourists might have an understanding of re-growth in the case area. Preference ratings gave mixed results in relation to vegetation and human influence as important features for landscape preferences, as found in previous studies. The findings emphasise the need for taking into consideration typicality of setting in future landscape research.