Seal-based tourism in the Umeå archipelago Its possibilities and problems Marcus Vidberg Abstract Seal-based tourism is something that can be found throughout the world, including Sweden, which led to the question of why there is a lack of it in the region of Umeå. Studying the ecological conditions in the area has led to the conclusion that the Umeå archipelago has all the prerequisites for establishing a seal-based activity, meaning that there are more circumstances surrounding the possibilities of seal-based tourism. To fully understand the topic, one needs to study it from several different points of view, including the ecological, economical and socio-cultural aspects. There are a lot of different opinions surrounding the seals that need to be taken in to account before one reaches a conclusion. Furthermore it is also necessary to study the topic of tourism; globally, locally and its development. With a growing demand for nature-based tourism around the world, shouldn’t it be possible to establish a seal-based one in the Swedish north? The report also studies the already established operations throughout Sweden, to try to understand why the activities are located in some regions but not in others. The conclusion that has been reached in this report is that the ecological circumstances for a seal-based tourism exists in the Umeå archipelago, but a seal-based operation might find its biggest straits to be the economical and socio-cultural conditions.