Welcoming tourism with trepidation: Exploring local understandings of tourism in Rosendal

Abstract

Tourism can play a significant role for places and people, and can contribute to change how places are experienced. This thesis explores how tourism is understood to shape and change the village of Rosendal by looking at how the past, present and future presence of tourism is experienced and understood from a local perspective. Qualitative interviews with inhabitants and tourism businesses in Rosendal were conducted in order to investigate this. Using historical sources to look at Rosendal´s geographical and historical contexts illuminate how the village has been shaped and reshaped throughout history. The study sheds light on issues such as social sustainability, questioning who belongs in a place, worrying about the future significance of tourism and the matter of where a place belongs in a regional tourism context. On the other hand, the study discusses how tourism can be experienced as a welcome contribution that makes the village a more interesting and attractive place to live. It is evident that tourism is experienced as something that positively contributes to the village, but also as a threatening and worrying element.