- Department of Geography
Po Box 3000
FI-90014 University of Oulu
Finland
Europe - +358 40 48 40 777
Jarkko Saarinen
University of Oulu, Department of Geography, Faculty Member
- Uppsala University, Civil engineering and built environment, Faculty Memberadd
- Tourism Studies, Environmental Studies, Area Studies, Human Geography, Cultural Geography, Indigenous Studies, and 7 moreSustainable Tourism, Tourism Community Development, Tourism Strategy, Policy And Planning, Geography, Tourism Planning and Policy, Wilderness (Environment), and Tourism Geographyedit
- Professor of Human Geography (Tourism Studies) at the University of Oulu, Finland, and Distinguished Visiting Profess... moreProfessor of Human Geography (Tourism Studies) at the University of Oulu, Finland, and Distinguished Visiting Professor (Sustainability Management) at the School of Tourism and Hospitality, University of Johannesburg, South Africa.
His research interests include tourism development and its socio-cultural and economic impacts and sustainable and community-based tourism, global environmental change, wilderness studies and the construction of the ideas of nature, culture and indigeneity in tourism.
Before moving to the University of Oulu in 2003 he worked at the Finnish Forest Research Institute (Metla) as a researcher and director of the Pyhätunturi National Park and Professor of Nature-Based Tourism at the Metla and the University of Lapland.
He is a past Vice-President of International Geographical Union (IGU) and past Chair of the IGU’s Commission on Tourism, Leisure and Global Change. Currently he serves as the Chair of the National Committee of Geography.edit
The tourism industry is often seen as a beneficial activity for destination communities, and tourism is widely promoted as a tool for development and local well-being by policy-makers and regional developers. However, good intentions and... more
The tourism industry is often seen as a beneficial activity for destination communities, and tourism is widely promoted as a tool for development and local well-being by policy-makers and regional developers. However, good intentions and plans do not always materialize in practice. Instead, the tourism industry and its growth ideology can result in negative changes and challenges for communities. This chapter focuses on tourism and community relations in the context of sustainable development. The aim is to gain an overview of the role of tourism in community development and discuss the complexities of local benefit creation in tourism. The chapter outlines the idea of sustainable tourism from a community perspective and discusses the characteristics of tourism impacts for communities, with a specific emphasis on elements that influence benefit creation in tourism and community relations. Future research needs are highlighted in relation to a quest for sustainability in tourism planning and development in community contexts.
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In 2000 United Nations adopted the Millennium Development Goals (UN MDGs), committing the member nations to a new global partnership to reduce extreme poverty and setting out a series of specific targets with a deadline of 2015. Related... more
In 2000 United Nations adopted the Millennium Development Goals (UN MDGs), committing the member nations to a new global partnership to reduce extreme poverty and setting out a series of specific targets with a deadline of 2015. Related to the UN MDGs tourism is increasingly seen as a promising tool for poverty reduction, ensuring environmental sustainability and developing a global partnership for development, for example. Thus, the industry has become an important policy tool for community and regional development in many developing countries and the expectations for tourism and its social and economic outcomes have evolved to a high level. However, there are still many challenges to overcome in the relationship between tourism industry, development and poverty reduction.
This book aims to discuss the promises, challenges and outcomes of tourism in development with a specific aim of drawing together research related to tourism and UN MDGs. The papers discuss what lessons can be learnt and conclusions drawn from the utilisation of tourism for development and poverty reduction. What emerges from this collection is a set of interesting results and notions which both support and challenge the connections between tourism and development and the new role of tourism in global development.
This book aims to discuss the promises, challenges and outcomes of tourism in development with a specific aim of drawing together research related to tourism and UN MDGs. The papers discuss what lessons can be learnt and conclusions drawn from the utilisation of tourism for development and poverty reduction. What emerges from this collection is a set of interesting results and notions which both support and challenge the connections between tourism and development and the new role of tourism in global development.
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Research Interests: Marketing, Geography, Climate Change, Tourism, Arctic, and 3 moreGlacier, The Arctic, and Commercial Services
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This Special Issue is set up to commemorate Professor Anssi Paasi and his academic work on his 60th birthday. Anssi Paasi’s research on regions, territoriality, borders, identity and power-knowledge relations in neoliberalizing academia... more
This Special Issue is set up to commemorate Professor Anssi Paasi and his academic work on his 60th birthday. Anssi Paasi’s research on regions, territoriality, borders, identity and power-knowledge relations in neoliberalizing academia has had a wide influence in human geography and beyond. His robust body of work has made him the most internationally well-known scholar in Finnish geography and has charted the path for internationalizing human geography in Finland. He has achieved the highest honours in Finnish academia, including the nomination and employment as Academy Professor (2008-2012) and the establishment and leadership of the RELATE Centre of Excellence in Research in Oulu and in Tampere (2014-2016)1. In addition, he is Honorary Professor of Human Geography at the University of Wales (2006–) and recipient of prestigious Ashby Prize that was given to him based on the most innovative article published in the journal Environment and Planning A in 2005. Yet his work has contr...
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The effects of climate change have become increasingly evident, and have been the subject of discussion in the Southern African context recently. How climate change impacts on the tourism sector is an issue that can no longer be ignored... more
The effects of climate change have become increasingly evident, and have been the subject of discussion in the Southern African context recently. How climate change impacts on the tourism sector is an issue that can no longer be ignored because the industry is the mainstay of many developing economies, including Botswana. Adaptation strategies are necessary if the industry is to be sustainable and continue to benefit the host regions, communities and the tourists. This paper investigates the adaptation strategies that Botswana tourism operators have, or are planning to put in-place, in order to cope with or benefit from climate change. Surveys and interviews were conducted on local tourism operators in Tshabong and Maun. The findings indicate that most of the operators did not have any adaptation strategies in place, even though the majority believed that climate change was a reality. This led us to conclude that the industry will be reactive rather that proactive in dealing with cl...
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Tourism has grown in many Arctic peripheries of northern Europe and North America, particularly among international markets interested in unique Arctic nature and culture-based assets. In this cont ...
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In this chapter, the impact of producing, performing and consuming northern Europe as Arctic is discussed by illustrating the linkages between “Arctification” and seasonality. The Arctification of the European North has altered the... more
In this chapter, the impact of producing, performing and consuming northern Europe as Arctic is discussed by illustrating the linkages between “Arctification” and seasonality. The Arctification of the European North has altered the preconditions for tourism by providing greater media attention and by triggering touristic demand. At the same time, Arctification entails a number of challenges, such as stereotypical images of the North as cold and snowy, which have implied a neglect of the distinct environmental seasons of high latitudes. This applies to marketing of the region but also to the expectations held by tourists and seasonal workers. Arctification also leads to a greater accentuation of the winter season as the main season.
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In this chapter, employment and workforce issues are discussed from the perspectives of labour availability, capacity building and income security. The seasonal characteristics of Arctic tourism have created an imbalance in operations and... more
In this chapter, employment and workforce issues are discussed from the perspectives of labour availability, capacity building and income security. The seasonal characteristics of Arctic tourism have created an imbalance in operations and delivered a huge challenge in relation to the workforce. Employers highlight that it is both difficult to recruit skilled employees and retain them while employees face difficulties in building up long-term careers within the sector. Local tourist companies face fierce competition from national or international operators that are better placed to hire skilled workers and relocate them as suitable for their business according to seasonality. Seasonality is a central barrier to develop tourism’s ability to provide meaningful employment as well as opportunities for advancement in the Arctic region.
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The hospitality industry is one component of tourism that has adopted sustainable tourism principles. However, limited knowledge exists about what motivates hospitality establishments to adopt sustainable practices and the barriers they... more
The hospitality industry is one component of tourism that has adopted sustainable tourism principles. However, limited knowledge exists about what motivates hospitality establishments to adopt sustainable practices and the barriers they face, especially in the Global South. The purpose of this study is to analyze the drivers and challenges of the implementation of sustainability in the hospitality sector. The research investigated 125 hospitality establishments from different tourist locations in Zimbabwe using proportional stratified random sampling. In addition, a structured questionnaire was used to collect data from respondents from each hospitality establishment. The findings revealed that the main drivers of sustainability practices include regulatory compliance, improving the organization’s reputation, new market opportunities and professional ethics. On the other hand, the hospitality sector's significant challenges in adopting sustainability principles include employees...
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Purpose - The aim of this study was to analyse website disclosures of sustainability practices by major hotel chains in Zimbabwe. Design - Five major hotel chains in Zimbabwe were purposively selected for this study. The corporate... more
Purpose - The aim of this study was to analyse website disclosures of sustainability practices by major hotel chains in Zimbabwe. Design - Five major hotel chains in Zimbabwe were purposively selected for this study. The corporate websites of the selected hospitality chains were visited to determine their disclosure of sustainability practices. Methods - Based on the literature and other global best practices in hospitality sustainability, a coding framework was developed to help identify what to look for on the corporate websites. The codes were categorised into four broad areas, namely sustainability leadership, environmental sustainability, social sustainability and economic sustainability. Data were collected from texts, annual reports, and other relevant website materials documenting sustainable practices of each hotel chain. Results - The analysis of website disclosures of sustainable practices adopted by Zimbabwe's five major hotel chains revealed that sustainability prac...
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A vibrant international literature exists around the sustainable practices adopted by accommodation service establishments in the Global North. Literature on sustainability practices by the hospitality sector in the Global South,... more
A vibrant international literature exists around the sustainable practices adopted by accommodation service establishments in the Global North. Literature on sustainability practices by the hospitality sector in the Global South, particularly Southern Africa is still limited. The central aim in this study was to identify the sustainable practices adopted by hospitality establishments in Zimbabwe and to ascertain the advantages of adopting such practices. The research involved a structured questionnaire administered to 125 respondents of hotels, lodges and guest houses. Data analysis involved the application of chi-squared tests to determine the differences in sustainable practices by hotels, lodges and guest houses and an Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) undertaken to analyse the benefits of sustainable practices. The findings revealed that practices that result in regulatory compliance and those that can be adopted at a lower cost are most popular in the hospitality sector of Zimb...
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1. Introduction: borders, ethics, and mobilities Anssi Paasi, Eeva-Kaisa Prokkola, Jarkko Saarinen, and Kaj Zimmerbauer Part I: Borders in a borderless world 2. Borderless worlds and beyond: challenging the state-centric cartographies... more
1. Introduction: borders, ethics, and mobilities Anssi Paasi, Eeva-Kaisa Prokkola, Jarkko Saarinen, and Kaj Zimmerbauer Part I: Borders in a borderless world 2. Borderless worlds and beyond: challenging the state-centric cartographies Anssi Paasi 3. Imagining a borderless world Harald Bauder 4. Borders, distance, politics Paolo Novak Part II: Politics of inclusion and exclusion 5. 'Borderless' Europe and Brexit: young European migrant accounts of media uses and moralities Aija Lulle 6. Everyday bordering, healthcare, and the politics of belonging in contemporary Britain Kathryn Cassidy 7. 'Delay and Neglect': the everyday geopolitics of humanitarian borders Elisa Pascucci, Jouni Hakli and Kirsi Pauliina Kallio 8. Asylum reception and the politicization of national identity in Finland: a gender perspective Eeva-Kaisa Prokkola Part III: Contested mobilities and encounters 9. Tourism, border politics, and the fault lines of mobility Raoul V. Bianchi and Marcus L. Stephenson 10. Commodification of contested borderscapes for tourism development: viability, community representation, and equity of relic Iron Curtain and Sudetenland heritage tourism landscapes Arie Stoffelen and Dominique Vanneste 11. Contested mobilities across the Hong Kong-Shenzhen border: the case of Sheung Shui J.J. Zhang Part IV: Borders, security, politics 12. Trade, Trump, Security, and Ethics: The Canada-US Border in Continental Perspective Heather N. Nicol and Karen G. Everett 13. Ontological (in)security: the EU's bordering dilemma and neighbourhood Jussi P. Laine and James W. Scott 14. An ethical code for cross-border governance: what does the European Union say on the ethics of cross-border cooperation? Elisabetta Nadalutti 15. The role of `nature' at the EU maritime borders: agency, ethics, and accountability Estela Schindel 16. Afterword: borders are there to be crossed (but not by everybody) Noel B. Salazar
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This book explores the nature of climate change in southern Africa, its impacts on tourism and the resilience, adaptation and governance needs in various tourism operations and environments. Previous studies on climate change and tourism... more
This book explores the nature of climate change in southern Africa, its impacts on tourism and the resilience, adaptation and governance needs in various tourism operations and environments. Previous studies on climate change and tourism have mainly focused on the Global North and specific forms of tourism such as snow-based winter activities. Drawing on case studies from a wide range of countries including South Africa, Lesotho, Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe, this book fills this lacuna by describing and analysing the climate change and tourism nexus in the southern African context. The book begins by providing an overview of the current and estimated impacts of climate change to the tourism industry in the region, highlighting the deepening socio-economic inequities, and environmental and social injustices. It focuses on the importance of sustainable tourism in tackling these issues and highlights that resilience and robust governance and policy systems are essential for a tourism destination to successfully adapt to change. By synthesising the key lessons learned through this analysis, Climate Change and Tourism in Southern Africa also draws attention to specific adaptation and policy strategies which have value for other regions in the Global South. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of climate change, tourism and environmental policy and justice.
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Desert environments remain largely neglected by the society and their potential to provide benefits to people remain understudied. Hotspots of cultural ecosystem services have been identified in some deserts; yet, knowing which countries... more
Desert environments remain largely neglected by the society and their potential to provide benefits to people remain understudied. Hotspots of cultural ecosystem services have been identified in some deserts; yet, knowing which countries need to strengthen efforts to satisfy people's demand for those services is timely needed. Here, we show the performance of countries within the Earth's largest warm region - the Sahara-Sahel - in managing cultural ecosystem services. Using the most-advanced decision-support tools and updated databases on biodiversity features and constrains to ecosystem services and on socioeconomic indicators, we identified national priorities for cultural services management. We also identified countries that are missing opportunities for local sustainable development. About 34% of Sahara-Sahel is prioritized for cultural ecosystem services, particularly in the main mountains and waterbodies of the region and along the Western and Eastern coastal limits. Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Senegal, and Tunisia are performing better in managing their cultural services given the availability of such services in their territories. Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Egypt, Libya, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Sudan, and South Sudan need to urgently improve their ease of mobility, governance, safety, socioeconomic and health systems to foster ecosystem services demand. Cameroon, Eritrea, and Senegal are receiving far less tourists than what their ecosystems can handle and need to improve their local conditions for better marketing international tourists able to economically contribute to sustainable development through ecotourism programs. The approach developed here serves as a framework for conserving the last world wild ecosystems and is replicable to other contexts where regional planning for ecosystem management is compulsory.
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ABSTRACT Climate change poses significant challenges to the tourism sector, with snow-based tourism particularly threatened. Snow-based tourism is largely dependent on adaptation, including snowmaking practices and product... more
ABSTRACT Climate change poses significant challenges to the tourism sector, with snow-based tourism particularly threatened. Snow-based tourism is largely dependent on adaptation, including snowmaking practices and product diversification. In the global south, the limited snow-based tourism products face similar challenges to the global north, but with significantly higher vulnerability and lower adaptive capacity. By making use of a questionnaire survey and personal in-depth interviews this paper examines adaptation mechanisms and the perceptions held by tourists and managers at Afriski, Lesotho. While Afriski already implements adaptive mechanisms, considering the current global environmental change projections for southern Africa, greater adaptive action is necessary.
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Abstract Human-mediated global environmental change threatens ecosystem services worldwide. Detailed cultural ecosystem services mapping is crucial to counteract ecosystem degradation, but such mapping exercises have been confined to... more
Abstract Human-mediated global environmental change threatens ecosystem services worldwide. Detailed cultural ecosystem services mapping is crucial to counteract ecosystem degradation, but such mapping exercises have been confined to small-scale analyses in developed countries. Additionally, disturbances constraining the supply of cultural ecosystem services transboundary have never been mapped, which hampers the accurate management of ecosystems, particularly in underdeveloped countries affected by human conflicts. The Sahara-Sahel ecoregions of Africa represent an excellent model to map the distribution of transboundary attractions and constraints to cultural ecosystem services due to the many conflicts affecting its drylands. We mapped and analysed the supply of cultural ecosystem services in the Sahara-Sahel, using a multicriteria approach that includes transboundary attractions and constraints playing at broader scales. We wanted to understand where are located the hotspots of cultural ecosystem services and which regions displaying the highest levels of attractions may be simultaneously threatened by constraint features. Overall, 35.4% of the study area displays high (27.9%) to very high (7.5%) levels of attractions to cultural ecosystem services supply, while 8.6% of the area displays high (7.5%) to very high (1.1%) levels of constraints that limit the usufruct of these services in the region. Our findings showed that the main mountains and wetlands of the region are supplying high levels of cultural ecosystem services but are threatened in some parts of their range by transboundary constraints. Some country-borders displayed a high concentration of constraints impacting desert biodiversity and human communities. This highlights the urgency of policymakers to reinforce transboundary strategic actions to halt the ongoing destruction of natural resources in the region. The developed approach is scalable and replicable in any ecosystem, including in those located in data-scarce regions. Including constraints to ecosystem services supply is paramount to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Research Interests: Tourism Studies, Ecotourism, Ecosystem Services, Conflict, Biological Sciences, and 13 moreEnvironmental Sciences, Drylands, North Africa, Sahara, Ecological Indicators, Deserts, CHEMICAL SCIENCES, Sahel, Constraints, Cultural ecosystem services, Tourist Attractions, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and Ecosystem Mapping
Research Interests: Marketing, Geography, Tourism Management, Multivariate Statistics, Ecotourism, and 12 moreWetlands, Clustering and Classification Methods, West Africa, Sustainable Water Resources Management, Tourism, Mauritania, Ecotourism and Sustainable Development, Sahara, Deserts, Sahel, Low Income Countries, and Commercial Services
ABSTRACTThe Arctic and nearby remote areas are attracting more attention than ever before, because of their abundance of physical natural resources as well their wilderness environments which have become a major attraction for tourists.... more
ABSTRACTThe Arctic and nearby remote areas are attracting more attention than ever before, because of their abundance of physical natural resources as well their wilderness environments which have become a major attraction for tourists. But use of land for tourism practices can lead to conflicts with other industries that utilise natural resources. Tourism in Iceland has grown rapidly in recent decades and nature and the wilderness is the main attraction. As well as being an important resource for the tourism industry, wilderness and natural areas are also very valuable for hydro–electric and geothermal power production. During the latter half of the last century several glacier–fed rivers in the highlands were dammed and hydropower plants built. Now there are plans for further exploitation of the natural resources which creates challenges and conflicts as many of the proposed power plants are located in natural areas, some of which are defined as wilderness. The purpose of this pap...
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Research Interests: Marketing, Economics, Scepticism, Climate Change, Climate Change Adaptation, and 15 moreClimate change policy, Climatology, Sustainable Development, Sustainable Tourism, Environmental Sustainability, Sustainable Tourism Development, Tourism, Agnotology, Climate Change Politics, Climate Change Skepticism, Climate change denial, Denial, Climate Politics, Elsevier, and Commercial Services
Research Interests: Marketing, Tourism Management, Scepticism, Climate Change, Climate Change Adaptation, and 15 moreClimate change policy, Climatology, Political Science, Sustainable Development, Tourism Geography, Sustainable Tourism, Environmental Sustainability, Skepticism, Tourism, Climate Change Politics, Climate Change Skepticism, Climate change denial, Denial, Elsevier, and Commercial Services
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Shani and Arad (2014) claimed that tourism scholars tend to endorse the most pessimistic assessments regarding climate change, and that anthropogenic climate change was a “fashionable” and “highly controversial scientific topic”. This... more
Shani and Arad (2014) claimed that tourism scholars tend to endorse the most pessimistic assessments regarding climate change, and that anthropogenic climate change was a “fashionable” and “highly controversial scientific topic”. This brief rejoinder provides the balance that is missing from such climate change denial and skepticism studies on climate change and tourism. Recent research provides substantial evidence that reports on anthropogenic climate change are accurate, and that human-induced greenhouse gas emissions, including from the tourism industry, play a significant role in climate change. Some positive net effects may be experienced by some destinations in the short-term, but in the long-term all elements of the tourism system will be impacted. The expansion of tourism emissions at a rate greater than efficiency gains means that it is increasingly urgent that the tourism sector acknowledge, accept and respond to climate change. Debate on tourism-related adaptation and mitigation measures is to be encouraged and welcomed. Climate change denial is not.
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This final response to the two climate change denial papers by Shani and Arad further highlights the inaccuracies, misinformation and errors in their commentaries. The obfuscation of scientific research and the consensus on anthropogenic... more
This final response to the two climate change denial papers by Shani and Arad further highlights the inaccuracies, misinformation and errors in their commentaries. The obfuscation of scientific research and the consensus on anthropogenic climate change may have significant long-term negative consequences for better understanding the implications of climate change and climate policy for tourism and create confusion and delay in developing and implementing tourism sector responses.
Keywords: Climate change; Global warming; Skepticism; Denial; Agnotology
Keywords: Climate change; Global warming; Skepticism; Denial; Agnotology