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In academic reasoning, as well as policy rhethoric, much attention has been drawn to the low thresholds to employment and entrepreneurship in tourism. The purpose of this thesis is to go beyond the simplified images and examine the educational characteristics of the tourism workforce in a way that includes both a geographical and work task related aspect. By employing a sequential mix of methods, two perspectives on competence in tourism are presented. First, the actual presence of formal education within the workforce is mapped and discussed based on descriptive analyses of register data. Thereafter, thematic analyses of interviews are used to allow for a discussion on underlying reasoning of recruitment. The theoretical point of departure is that the workforce is a crucial input factor of the production process in labour intense service sectors such as tourism. However, the access to a suitable workforce differs between destinations. It is therefore imperative to scrutinize its characteristics in order to set relevant strategies for development, as well as education. The thesis contains four individual papers and an introductory section. The first two papers are based on register data on the Swedish national workforce in the years 2000, 2005 and 2010. The results show that the general level of formal education is not exceptionally low in tourism and that it is rather linked to geography than occupational sector. There was also confirmed to be a mismatch between tourism-specific education and work in tourism. In the second part of the thesis, focus is turned to the managerial segment within destination development. The geographical scope includes the northern region of Sweden and one case study area each in Norway and Finland. The empirical material shows that tourism-specific education was not prioritized when recruiting for destination management. The empirical findings are brought together in the concluding discussion of the thesis. It is there suggested that reasoning on the educational characteristics of the tourism workforce needs to  include the diversity of local preconditions and needs relating to geography and work tasks.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate how Huddinge municipality works with destination development and marketing. Method: We have used both quantitative and qualitative method. Data has been collected from primary and secondary sources relevant to the study. Theory: Consists of theories of destination, marketing, development. Result: The result of the study is that a municipality today can do without tourism. / Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka hur Huddinge kommun arbetar med destinationsutveckling och marknadsföring Metod: Vi har använt oss av kvantitativ och kvalitativ metod. Data har samlats in från primära och sekundära källor som är relevanta för studien. Teori: Består av teorier om destination, marknadsföring, utveckling och vem som räknas som turist. Resultat: Studiens resultat är att en Svensk kommun idag kan klara sig utan turism.

Hållbar destinationsutveckling ses idag som en viktig motor för regional tillväxt och utveckling. Trots detta råder en osäkerhet om vad det innebär i praktiken och det saknas en tydlig vägledning för hur destinationer kan utvecklas utan bekostnad på samhällsutvecklingen och den befintliga omgivningen. Genom en diskursanalys av material inhämtad via plandokument och en intervju har vi undersökt hållbarhetsaspekter samt drivkrafter och motsättningar i samband med etableringen av semesterresorten Lalandia i Motala kommun. Vi finner att avvägningar mellan ekonomiska, ekologiska och sociala värden görs till förmån för den ekonomiska tillväxt som är en stark drivkraft i etableringen av Lalandia. Studien talar därmed för att tillväxtdiskursen dominerar i projektet, vilket föranletts av kommunens starka ekonomiska intresse i projektet. Resultaten påvisar även att vad som bedöms hållbart respektive ohållbart beror på den enskilda aktörens tolkning av begreppet hållbarhet, vilket bekräftar vad som återfunnits i tidigare forskningsstudier. / Sustainable destination development is regarded as an important engine for regional growth and development. Despite this, there is an uncertainty about what it means in practice and there is no clear guidance to how destinations can be developed without expense at the development of society and the existing environment. Through a discourse analysis of material obtained via planning documents and an interview, we have investigated sustainability aspects as well as the driving forces and contradictions in the establishment of Lalandia, a holiday destination, in Motala municipality. We find that trade-offs between economical, ecological and social values are made in favor of economic growth, which is a strong driving force in the establishment of Lalandia. The study thus indicate that the growth discourse dominates in the project, which is a result of the municipality's strong economic interest in the project.The results also show that what is considered sustainable or unsustainable depends on the individual actor's interpretation of the concept of sustainability, which confirms what has been found in previous research studies.

Seasonality in tourism has been present in the literature for decades. It is a universally phenomenon connected to climate and institutional factors which contributes to an imbalance in demand. It can be expressed through numbers of tourists, bed nights and expenditure. Seasonality is most obvious in peripheral destinations and it has generally been described as an issue that needs to be solved. Previous studies have put much attention on macro levels which includes how destinations could mitigate seasonality and create all-year around tourism. This study examines seasonality at a micro level by using Gotland as a case. The aim of the study was to explore perspective of Gotlandic nature-based tourism companies on seasonality, all in order to increase the understanding on seasonality aspects in tourism. The data collection was performed through semi-structured interviews with nature-based companies on Gotland. The results of the study indicate that lifestyle motives are strong for running a nature-based company on Gotland and the short, intense summer-season make it possible. Seasonality is therefore not considered as an issue that needs to be urgently solved. Other themes related to sustainable destination development such as carrying capacity, employment, possibilities of growth and regional strategies are also being deeply discussed in this study.

Idrottsevenemang används ofta för att attrahera turister till en destination. Jönköping har med framgångsrika arrangörer, föreningar och destinationsbolag etablerat sig som en idrottsevenemangs stad. Dessa evenemang har bidragit med olika hållbara effekter till destinatioen. Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur idrottsevenemang har påverkat Jönköpings utveckling. Det har genomförts elva intervjuer med personer som är verksamma i Jönköping och undersökningen har kartlagt hur Jönköping arbetar med idrottsturism samt vilka hållbara ekonomiska, sociala och miljömässiga effekter som idrottsevenemang lämnar kvar på destinationen.

Modern society is faced with an increasing level of environmental degradation. One effect of this is the loss of possibilities for children to interact with natural environments. Children’s interactions with nature come with a wide range of benefits, both physical and psychological, accentuating the need to develop outdoor spaces for children in areas of preserved nature. One way to approach this challenge is by developing recreational and educational nature trails aimed at children. Länsstyrelsen Gotland (the county administrative board) requested a theoretical suggestion for a children’s nature trail in a prospective nature reserve in Gotland and this study was done to bring forth such a suggestion. The study focused on what educational and recreational elements would be suitable to include in a nature trail for children and how to build ecological knowledge among its visitors in effective and creative ways. The material for this study was collected through semi-structured interviews with children’s caregivers and educators in combination with observations at existing nature trails for children using a geosemiotic approach. The results were analysed through a thematic analysis that extracted four main themes from the two sets of data with sub-themes to broaden the results. The themes and sub-themes were used to highlight elements suitable to include at the stations in terms of activities and layout of the trail, and how to get and keep children’s attention along the trail. A suggestion for a nature trail for children with eight stations was put together, steeped in the non-consumptive standards of ecotourism and with a clear focus on getting the visitors to learn about nature, especially through the framework of ecological literacy. Fun and play were seen as essential components to effectively build ecological knowledge and it is argued that perhaps the objects and activities provided at built-up ecotourism sites are necessary to get more people to visit nature in the first place.

Increased travel has led to greater competition between destinations. Therefore, actors in the tourism industry are constantly seeking new ways to remain competitive, in which collaborations have often been viewed as a solution. This study will focus on the collaboration in tourism issues in the Umeå region, Sweden. The aim of this study is to examine, from a producer perspective, opportunities and challenges for collaboration between different actors in the municipality of Umeå and Bjurholm. The study also examines whether and how Bjurholm municipality can be a shadow destination to Umeå. To do this, interviews were conducted with various actors in the municipality of Umeå and Bjurholm. The results show that the differences between the municipalities are both seen as a great opportunity but also a major challenge for the collaboration. Furthermore, the study found that Bjurholm shows some characteristics of being a shadow destination to Umeå.

Over the past century the phenomenon of thanatourism, or dark tourism, has become increasingly popular, with tourists now able to encounter death at a wide range of sites across the world. While much scholarship has focused on tourism at sites of disaster and atrocity, less research has taken place into thanatourism in a museum context. This thesis investigates how Gotlands Museum is offering its visitors a dark tourism experience by adopting thanatourism theming in its exhibitions and programmes. It explores the ways the museum presents Gotland’s dark history, asks how and why the museum has adopted thanatourism as a thematisation strategy, and considers whether this strategy is helping the institution achieve future sustainability. This study is based on in-depth interviews with current staff members at the museum, who have been involved with creating exhibitions and presenting programmes related to Gotland’s dark history. Detailed observation of the exhibitions Medieval Gotland and 1361 – The Battle for Gotland, as well as the guided city tour The Bloody Summer, also provide additional data. The study finds that Gotlands Museum has harnessed the ‘purposeful Otherness’ of death through implementing thanatourism theming in both its permanent exhibitions and public programming in order to reach new and wider audiences. It also finds that this is an example of the museum embracing new museology and adopting the customer-centric focus of the tourism industry by presenting thrilling exhibitions and programmes to attract more visitors. The study suggests that by implementing popular thanatourism-themed exhibitions and programmes, Gotlands Museum has been able to be economically, socially and culturally sustainable by attracting visitors, educating diverse groups, telling diverse stories and preserving Gotland’s history for future generations.

År 2021 fyller Göteborg 400 år som stad. På initiativ av Göteborgs kommun och Göteborg & Co firas detta med en stor jubileumssatsning som involverar ett stort antal projekt. Hela jubileumssatsningen startade år 2010 och sträcker sig fram till självaste jubileumsåret 2021. Under denna tidsperiod har flera projekt genomförts som en del av Göteborgs 400-årsjubileum, och fler projekt kommer att genomföras. Inför Göteborgs 300-årsjubileum, år 1921, grundades flera besöksmål som än idag har stor betydelse för Göteborg och Göteborgs besöksnäring. Denna studie syftar till att att undersöka hur fem projekt inom Göteborgs jubileumssatsning eventuellt kan bidra till att Göteborg blir en mer attraktiv destination för besökare med hjälp av destinationsutveckling och marknadsföring. De fem projekten som har studerats är; “Lisebergs jubileumssatsning”, “Göteborgsvarvet Marathon”, “Göteborg berättar”, “Artscape” samt “Tillgänglig skärgård”.  För att besvara studiens syfte har en kvalitativ metod med intervjuer och dokument-och textanalys använts, med utgångspunkt i kritisk realism och en abduktiv ansats. Den tidigare forskningen har utgått ifrån två huvudteman, vilket är; “Destinationsutveckling och “Destinationsmarknadsföring”. Resultatet och analysen presenteras efter samma huvudteman. Från intervjuerna och dokument- och textanalysen kan det konstateras att projekten på olika sätt bidrar till att Göteborg blir en mer attraktiv stad, detta genom att erbjuda unika egenskaper som särskiljer Göteborg från andra destinationer. Det går även att fastställa att marknadsföringen är en viktig del för att sprida information till besökare, där innehållsmarknadsföring, spridning av information via hemsidor, sociala medier, radio och tidningar är betydelsefullt. Dessutom är samarbetet mellan aktörer oerhört viktigt för att destinationen ska utvecklas och attrahera besökare. / In 2021 Gothenburg is turning 400 years as a city. On the initiative of the Gothenburg municipality and Göteborg & Co, this is celebrated with a large anniversary that involves a large number of projects. The entire anniversary initiative started in 2010 and extends until the anniversary year 2021. During this period of time, several projects have been implemented as part of the Gothenburg 400th anniversary, and more projects will be implemented. Prior to the Gothenburg 300th anniversary in 1921, several visitor attractions were founded, which today are of great importance for Gothenburg and Gothenburg’s tourism industry. This study aims to investigate how five projects as a part of Gothenburg’s 400th anniversary possibly can contribute to Gothenburg becoming a more attractive destination for visitors using destination development and marketing. The five projects that have been studied are; “Liseberg anniversary project”, “Gothenburg marathon”, “Gothenburg tells”, “Artscape” and “Accessible archipelago”.  To answer the aim of this study, a qualitative method has been used, based on critical realism. Previous research from which the study is based upon, are divided into two main themes, which is; “Destination development” and “Destination marketing”. The result and analysis are presented through the same main themes. Furthermore, the study show the projects in various ways contribute to Gothenburg becoming a more attractive city, this by offering unique characteristics that differentiates Gothenburg from other destinations. It is also possible to state that marketing is an important part of spreading information to visitors, where content marketing and information via websites, social media, radio and newspapers are important. In addition, the cooperation between actors is extremely important for the destination to be developed and attract visitors.