The hypothesis on which the book is based is that the medieval pilgrim industry was the start of modern tourism. Although triggered by religious motivation, it is argued that pilgrims were equally driven by a desire for adventure, discovery and cultural enrichment. It is argued that much can be...

A study examining how Scandanavians' propensity to engage in cultural tourism during their vacation was influenced by certain aspects of their everday life is presented. A total of 2545 individuals aged 16 and over completed a self-administered questionnaire in Denmark, 2241 in Sweden and 2298 in...

The rise of Hay-on-Wye (UK) as a "town of books" and of Stavanger (Norway) as a cultural centre are identified as two cases in which a single individual's entrepreneurial effort has profoundly influenced a destination's potential for development. These two cases are examined in detail through...

This chapter deals with the revitalization of the Rosendal Barony in Norway as a museum and heritage attraction, focusing on the ubiquitous conflicts inherent in national heritage developments together with their local, social implications. Tensions erupted between the national government and the...

The paper reports from a multiple case study investigating three music festivals located in the Barents region, namely the Festspel i Pite Älvdal (Piteǻ, Sweden), the Festspillene i Nord-Norge (Harstad, Norway) and the Jutajaiset Folklorefestivaali (Rovaniemi, Finland). The aim of the reported...

The diversity of festivals in Finnmark, Norway, was researched with the aim of creating a festival map of the county's Festivalscape. Data were collected by questionnaires to the registered festival managers. It was concluded that Finnmark is a festive county where 72,000 people share close to 60...

Attempts have been made to make traditional local foods a part of the tourists' experiences, but few have caught great interest among the tourist and leisure consumers. An exception is the Norwegian traditional Sheep's-head meal. This article focuses on driving factors behind this success. Sheep's...

New cultural buildings are justified via reference to a range of objectives including city image enhancement, national identity, tourism development, cultural engagement, economic development and physical regeneration. This paper examines the role envisaged for the Opera House in Oslo, which opened ...

The growing attention placed on experiences can be regarded as a mega-trend, and has given currency to the proposition that experiences function as a personal source of information for the stories people tell about their lives and are important for their self-perception. This view implies the...

The importance and definition of festival size is first considered. Then data on whole festival populations in three Norwegian counties are analyzed. The analysis reveals a clear pattern in all three counties that is termed the "festival size pyramid" in which the base consists of a large number of ...