Marine tourism in the Canadian Arctic is a rapidly growing industry. The discovery of two shipwrecks, the HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, in 2014 and 2016 was a monumental and historic moment in Canada. It is anticipated that their discovery will stimulate tourism demand and development opportunities in and around Gjoa Haven, Nunavut - the community that is nearest to the wreck's sites. The community of Gjoa Haven played a critical role in the discovery of the shipwrecks by participating in explorations and offering historical Inuit knowledge of the region and of relevant oral histories. The community will be co-managing the Wrecks of the HMS Erebus and HMS Terror National Historic Site (WET NHS) with the federal government agency, Parks Canada and as such will have an influential role in the site's development and management. This study examined Arctic tourism development through various perspectives (i.e. residents' of Gjoa Haven and potential tourists) to achieve the overarching research aim of better understanding the current and potential future state of tourism within the region. This research sought to address several important research and knowledge gaps including: 1) a lack of baseline data on the current state of the marine tourism industry and marine tourism patterns and trends in the Canadian Arctic; 2) the absence of a comprehensive collection of community perspectives on Arctic tourism development; 3) in-depth understanding of the factors that influence, are contributing to and/or acting as a barrier to Arctic tourism development; and 4) a complete absence of information on potential tourists' desired visitor experiences, and motivations for visiting the region and the Franklin Wrecks. This thesis achieves four key research objectives, including: 1) Identifying temporal and spatial marine tourism trends in Inuit Nunangat; 2) Exploring Gjoa Haven residents' perspectives on tourism development around the Wrecks of the HMS Erebus and HMS Terror National Historic Site; 3) Understanding the underlying factors influencing tourism development around the Wrecks of the HMS Erebus and HMS Terror National Historic Site; and 4) Exploring visitor experience desires for the Franklin Wrecks sites. To achieve these objectives, several mixed methods were utilized including GIS and spatial analysis, semi-structured interviews, and surveys. Key results of the research efforts reveal that the there is potential for the Franklin Wrecks to become a tourism destination as there is a growing cruise industry, demand from highly motivated potential tourists and a strong desire from the community of Gjoa Haven to engage in tourism development. Marine tourism voyages and related shore activity has been steadily increasing in the region; however, the results indicate that the industry is still in its infancy as 150 unique on-shore locations have been advertised to tourists from 2008 to 2019 with a minimum of 44 different on-shore locations advertised each season. Further, there is demand from highly motivated potential tourists to visit the region and engage in Franklin related tourism experiences but the current cost, access to the region and available infrastructure were acknowledged as potential limiting factors. Residents of Gjoa Haven who participated in this study recognized that there are significant benefits and opportunities associated with tourism related development but also understood that there are factors influencing this development (e.g., tourism resources, access, infrastructure, and capacity). It is paramount that any tourism development in the region is community driven and sustainable with clear residual benefits to the community itself. Inuit and Northerners' must be involved in the entire tourism planning process and be at the forefront of any management plans. Ensuring tourism development is realized in a sustainable and self-determined manner and examining the potential of the Franklin Wrecks as a tourism destination requires a significant understanding of tourism patterns, community perspectives, factors influencing tourism development and potential tourists' desired experiences. This research achieved this by contributing to the academic literature on tourism development but by also providing the community of Gjoa Haven and the region of Inuit Nunangat with comprehensive baseline data. The findings from this thesis can be utilized by the region (i.e., Inuit Nunangat) and community (i.e., Gjoa Haven) to ensure self-determined and sustainable tourism development.

Today, more people have the opportunity to travel which means that more places need to raise awareness that they exist. In the global world that we live in today, competition among places are growing. This means that places need to work on their marketing to create a unique and special image that reaches out through all the noise. This study aims to investigate why a special image is chosen, in this case why the destination Swedish Lapland have chosen to market a region in north of Sweden as an artic destination. The study also aims to investigate what is included in the concept of an artic destination and what is comprehended in an artic lifestyle, which also is a theme that is used in the marketing of the region. Are there any challenges by using the artic and artic lifestyle concept in the marketing and what consequences can it entail? To answer these questions interviews where made with informants that have a professional work connection to the area. The result showed that the arctic region is complex phenomena to define also for those who use the expression in marketing. What is included in the artic concept and the lifestyle is connected to a lot of conceptions of the nature, culture, climate and experiences. The informants gave different viewpoints about challenges when marketing a large region and the consequences that can be registered. The hope with this study was to get a deeper understanding about the area and especially why a specific theme as the artic was used in marketing purpose for a region in north of Sweden.

The effects of global warming are evident throughout the Arctic, which is warming much more quickly than the rest of the planet and is increasingly being referred to as a fragile environment. The tourism industry in the area, which is built around notions of enchanted wintertime fantasy landscapes, is directly impacted by the effects of climate change. As a result, tour operators in the area are becoming increasingly concerned about their ability to adapt their business practices and maintain the idealized image of a winter wonderland as tourism activities involving snow and ice are threatened by a warming landscape. The literature on Arctic tourism, climate change in the Arctic, perceptions of the landscape, last-chance tourism, and adaptation was reviewed to get a better understanding of the subject. The ten semi-structured interviews with tour operators and guides in Rovaniemi, in Finnish Lapland, and my observations during my time there allowed for the collection of data and the co-construction of narratives reflecting participants’ perceptions of the changing landscape, and how this relates to their methods of adaptation. The findings show that even though changes are being seen in the region, such as decreasing snow cover and increasing temperatures, Rovaniemi is still portrayed and promoted as a mystical winter wonderland, which can cause disappointment and unmet expectations for tourists if there is snow scarcity. Furthermore, tour operators are implementing various strategies to adapt to the changes, such as moving operations further north, offering replacement activities, and implementing changes in their marketing.

One of the main attractions for tourists visiting Svalbard, Norway, are polar bears. The polar bear is a vulnerable species, dependent on sea ice to survive as this is where they hunt, wander and raise their cubs. Ship-based tourism poses a number of threats mainly due to the disturbances caused by the presence of ships, damage of critical habitats and the increasing interactions and deadly conflicts between humans and polar bears. Appropriate and effective legislation based on scientific knowledge of the impacts of ship-based tourism on polar bears is necessary to ensure sustainable tourism and environmental protection. Species protection and habitat conservation is not an issue isolated to Svalbard or the polar bears but rather just one part of the pressing global issue concerning loss of biodiversity, which is one of the greatest threats to humankind. The Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats (Bern Convention) aims to ensure the conservation of wild flora and fauna species and their habitats. At the time of signing, the Norwegian Government excluded Svalbard from the application of the Bern Convention, ensuring that national conservation policies for Svalbard would be promoted. The Svalbard Environmental Protection Act is the main act regulating environmental protection on Svalbard, including both general principles and specific provisions regarding species and habitat protection. This paper explores the various needs of the polar bear population in Svalbard and the impacts caused by ship-based tourism. The Bern Convention’s provisions relating to the identified threats posed by ship-based tourism are examined and compared with the corresponding provisions in the Svalbard Environmental Protection Act. Moreover, this paper analyses the potential benefits that could arise from the application of the Bern Convention to the Svalbard territory. This paper concludes that the protection of the polar bears could, de jure, be strengthened by the Bern Convention, mainly due to the extensive interpretation of the types of activities that should be prohibited by signatory states. However, the Bern Convention can only be enforced by non-binding mechanisms and it is therefore unlikely that the application of the convention would lead to stronger protection of the polar bears than that which is provided by national legislation. The protection of the polar bear from threats caused by ship-based tourism would therefore, de facto, most likely not be strengthened by the application of the Bern Convention.