ABSTRACT
Traditionally, Scandinavia has perhaps been less visited than many other regions of Europe. Much of this has been to do with the perceived high cost of visiting the region, coupled with the cold climate and long, dark winters, particularly in the northern periphery. However, there has been a growth of interest in both the urban and rural areas of Scandinavia in recent years. This has been prompted partly by the growing affordability of air fares to cities such as Copenhagen, Helsinki and Reykjavik, as well as the development of cruises in the region which tend to incorporate visits to Stockholm and Oslo. Copenhagen was European City of Culture in 1996, Stockholm in 1998, and Helsinki and Bergen in 2000, which has helped to raise the profile of these destinations. Some tourists have started to take an interest in specialist tours to the Arctic to see the Northern Lights, or in Christmas tourism to Santa’s Grotto in Finland. Equally, the indigenous Sami people of northern Finland and Lapland are a source of interest for visitors. For example, Miettinen (1999) describes how there is a current move towards strengthening the status of Sami people through textile and crafts heritage tourism. However, it is probably true to say that outside the cities, Scandinavian tourism is perceived to be based more on a rural than a cultural product.
