Abstracts for Session 11

 Asian mobilities in the changing Arctic: theory and contexts

 

 

Title: The Northeast Passage – Connecting China and Arctic through Cruise Tourism?

Authors: Minna-Liina Ojala, Juulia Räikkönen, and Tuomas Kiiski

Affiliation: University of Turku

 

The Russian Arctic waters and the Northern Sea Route there have gained relevancy for commercial shipping due to changing ice conditions. At the same time, Chinese cruise and outbound tourism are on the rise. This chapter focuses on analysing the current state of cruise tourism in the Russian Arctic and discussing whether it can meet Chinese cruisers' needs. By combining traffic statistics and information from tour operators' websites, we conclude that the Arctic cruise industry in Russia is currently a niche of the global cruise tourism industry. The current offerings are unlikely to please the majority of Chinese cruisers but suit the more wealthy and adventurous ones. The peripheral and small-scale cruises have potential also in the post-COVID era. With the planned investments and upgrading the fleet, the market and clientele may grow and diversify substantially – thus endangering the sustainable development of the region. 

 

 

Title: Hosting Chinese Tourists in Iceland: The experiences of the Icelandic tourism industry

Author: Vera Vilhjalmsdottir

Affiliation: Icelandic Tourism Research Centre

 

Iceland saw a substantial increase in the arrivals of Chinese tourists to Iceland in the past decade. According to a departure survey conducted by the Icelandic Tourist Board, tourists from China made up 7% of all international tourists in Iceland in 2019. Chinese tourists thereby became the fourth largest tourist group in Iceland, behind traditional source markets such as the United States, United Kingdom and Germany. However, little is known about how the Icelandic tourism industry responded to and experienced this new group of tourists. 

Twelve interviews were taken with thirteen informants with extensive experience in hosting Chinese tourists in Iceland, including tour guides, tour operators and managers of hotels and car rentals during the spring/summer of 2020. The interviews were conducted through the telephone or video calling platforms (e.g. Teams/Skype). The interviewees were asked about their experiences with hosting Chinese tourists, what the main challenges had been and what opportunities lie in hosting this target group in Iceland.  

This presentation will focus on the findings of the interviews and highlight what the industry can learn from past experiences moving forward in post-Covid times. The main findings show that in order for the interactions between tourism service providers and Chinese tourists to run smoothly, it is important for service providers to have basic knowledge about the cultural differences between the two nations. For example, food preferences and social structures. Additionally, it is important that Chinese tourists get accurate information about Iceland, e.g. about services provided, pricing, weather conditions and infrastructures. 

 

 

Title: “When I hear there’s going to be an asian tourist ... ”: the role of asian ethnicity in the planning process of guided tours in svalbard

Authors: Eva Kotašková and Matouš Jelínek

Affiliation: Masaryk University

 

This chapter explores the role of tourists with Asian ethnicities in the process of guided tour planning in Svalbard. The research informing this chapter is based on an ethnography of guided tours and semi-structured interviews with tourist guides. The chapter’s aim is to explore common labels and expectations associated with Asian tourists that are used by tour guides and the role of the former in tour planning. Using a constructivist perspective, Asianness is interpreted as a situational, relational and contextual ethnic category. Tour planning is presented as an analytical process, in which guides create interpretations and assessments of tourists’ abilities drawn upon different sources of information. Expectations and experiences based on the ethnicity of Asian tourists are significant sources of information in the initial phases of tour planning. The significance of ethnicity decreases throughout the planning process. Instead, observations of tourists’ performances become a dominant source of information for guides’ interpretations and assessments.

  

 

Title: Chinese Tourism in the Russian Arctic and Far East Implications of a China-Russia Political Partnership

Author: Mariia Kobzeva

Affiliation: UiT The Arctic University of Norway

 

This chapter presents a study of Chinese tourism to the Russian Arctic and the Far East. Both Russia and the People’s Republic of China, PRC have accumulated rich experiences in tourism cooperation in the Russian Far Eastern region. At the same time, China, interested in developing the "Ice Silk Road" (the Arctic branch of the Belt and Road infrastructure initiative), encourages its people to visit the Arctic. The study aimed to examine the influence of the Sino-Russian political partnership format on the development of epistemic communities engaged in tourism in the Russian Arctic and the Far East. First, the chapter analyses the role of Chinese tourism in the studied areas of the two states, as well as the advantages of the current bilateral partnership for cooperation in tourism. Second, the chapter considers three types of Chinese tourist consumption in the Russian Arctic and the Far East. Third, the chapter discusses key challenges for Chinese tourism in the area, and, the response of Sino-Russian epistemic communities. The author shows that epistemic communities’ development in the tourism sphere benefited from the bilateral partnership.