ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with tourism in the context of the archipelago of Svalbard, internationally better known as Spitsbergen, which is actually the name of its largest island. It presents Svalbard and its tourism industry, followed by a description of the transformations of the main town, Longyearbyen, from a mining community to a tourist destination. The chapter describes tourist profiles and cruise tourism. It reviews the state of the environment and discusses the management system and its overhaul in view of trends towards governance practices. The chapter argues that Svalbard has not only been quickly conquered by tourism, but also by a, more or less all-encompassing, governance system. The Svalbard tourism development process has followed Page and Dowling most thoroughly in regard to their recommendations on networking and close contacts with the authorities. The Svalbard Tourism Board has been vital for some aspects of the development, particularly for the tourist industry to appear as a responsible actor within the environmental area.
