Narratives in Finnish Tourism
Author
Kieldsen, Lene Kristina Laine
Term
4. term
Education
Publication year
2017
Abstract
This master’s thesis examines how Finland is represented in Denmark through narratives in Finnish tourism, motivated by the observation that Danes often prefer Sweden and Norway as travel destinations. Using a qualitative, hermeneutic approach, it analyzes articles from Danish national daily newspapers from July 1, 2015 to July 1, 2017 (categorized as politics, society, sports, tourism, and art and culture) alongside materials from Visit Finland’s and Finnair’s Finland Stopover program (website, images, texts, and video). The study addresses three questions: What are the current narratives of Finnish tourism? How is Finland represented in Danish news articles and in the Finland Stopover program? What are future challenges and opportunities for developing tourist attractions in Finland? Findings indicate dominant narratives of nature, art and design, culture, and tourism in that order. The Stopover program presents nature as the most central and unique feature, while Danish articles emphasize culture, sports, and tourism. Challenges include Finland’s geographic location and the lack of a singular signature attraction or overarching “big story,” while opportunities lie in leveraging the stopover program to raise awareness of Finland as a destination with multiple attractions. The thesis concludes that Finland should broaden its narrative beyond nature to include art, design, culture, and tourism.
Denne kandidatafhandling undersøger, hvordan Finland repræsenteres i Danmark gennem narrativer i finsk turisme, motiveret af at danskere ofte foretrækker Sverige og Norge som rejsemål. Med en kvalitativ, hermeneutisk tilgang analyseres artikler fra danske landsdækkende dagblade i perioden 1. juli 2015 til 1. juli 2017 (kategoriseret i politik, samfund, sport, turisme samt kunst og kultur) samt materialer fra Visit Finlands og Finnairs Finland Stopover-program (webside, billeder, tekster og video). Projektet adresserer tre spørgsmål: Hvad er de aktuelle narrativer i finsk turisme? Hvordan repræsenteres Finland i danske nyhedsartikler og i Finland Stopover-programmet? Hvilke fremtidige udfordringer og muligheder findes for udviklingen af turistattraktioner i Finland? Analysen peger på, at de fremherskende narrativer er natur, kunst og design, kultur og turisme i nævnte prioriterede rækkefølge. Stopover-programmet fremstiller naturen som det mest centrale og unikke, mens danske artikler især fremhæver kultur, sport og turisme. Udfordringerne omfatter Finlands geografi og fraværet af en markant, samlet attraktion eller “stor fortælling”, mens en mulighed er at bruge stopoverprogrammet til at styrke kendskabet til Finland som destination med flere attraktioner. Afhandlingen konkluderer, at Finland med fordel kan udvide sin fortælling fra primært natur til også at omfatte kunst, design, kultur og turisme.
[This apstract has been generated with the help of AI directly from the project full text]