Emergent Vikings: The Social Ordering of Tourism Innovation
During the last three decades, Iceland has experienced a rapid growth of tourism, both in regard to international tourist arrivals and in domestic terms. Tourism has increasingly been taken up as an option for economic development not least at regional levels where innovation in the area has been promoted by public actors. This article focuses on the accomplishment of a particular tourism innovation project, the Gísla Saga project, in the small fishing village of pingeyri. The article follows how the project emerges through the networking practices of key actors. Particular emphasis is put on exploring how the local village festival, Dýrafjarðardagar, has been related to the innovation project and how that connection plays a part for its accomplishment. Inspired by relational materialism in the form of Actor-Network Theory, the article argues that it is important to follow the enactment of diverse styles of ordering for gaining insight into the emergent cultural economy of tourism. By tracing the practices through which the project is established, the article illustrates some of the ways in which tourism innovation relates to the social ordering of local communities.
Keywords: ACTOR-NETWORK THEORY (ANT); CULTURAL ECONOMY; ICELAND; ORDERING; TOURISM INNOVATION; VIKING FESTIVAL
Document Type: Research Article
Publication date: 01 December 2010
- Event Management, an International Journal, intends to meet the research and analytic needs of a rapidly growing profession focused on events. This field has developed in size and impact globally to become a major business with numerous dedicated facilities, and a large-scale generator of tourism. The field encompasses meetings, conventions, festivals, expositions, sport and other special events. Event management is also of considerable importance to government agencies and not-for-profit organizations in a pursuit of a variety of goals, including fund-raising, the fostering of causes, and community development.
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