The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic brought global tourism to a standstill. Many Swedes altered their travel behaviour by shunning international trips and travel to crowded cities or popular visitor destinations in the southern parts of the country, choosing instead to visit the northern arctic and subarctic regions. The primary visit purpose has been to engage in outdoor recreation and sport-related activities. Ironically, this travel movement over the last two years has led to over-visitation in several remote spots, which lack the facilities to deal with many visitors. Thus, overtourism, which had already begun to appear prior to the pandemic in several increasingly popular nature-based areas, suddenly became a growing headache for many other such places, with visible problems such as conflicts with locals (especially Sami reindeer herders) and environmental effects such as soil erosion. Here, I report preliminary findings from the 4-year project “Mistra Sport and Outdoor” funded by the Swedish Mistra Foundation. This project aims “to generate knowledge and solutions for increased sustainability within sport and outdoor recreation.” Specifically, I explore how, following the pandemic, parts of the northern Swedish countryside emerged as popular destinations for hikers, skiers, mountain-bikers, etc. and what this phenomenon means for the future of increasingly fragile areas. In an era where many tourism-related policymakers advocate dispersal as a solution for overcrowding of popular tourist hot spots, the growing arrivals in areas that are ill-prepared to welcome them raises questions as to the wisdom of such proposed practices. On a broader front, I question how policies can be streamlined to improve the environmental and social sustainability of outdoor recreation in such places. Moreover, I examine whether it is feasible to inspire tourists to embrace greener practices when traveling to and engaging in activities in remote regions.
Mots clés : Over-tourism|Sweden|Outdoor recreation|Arctic & sub-arctic regions|sustainable development
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