Sälenområdet får luft under vingarna : Hur en internationell flygplats kan påverka den befintliga turismen på en destination

Sammanfattning: A destination must adapt to people's increasingly mobile lifestyle and develop according to the guest's preferences. These are important factors for a tourism area to maintain its appeal. Sälenfjällen as a destination is changing, through the planning and commencement of an airport building. Accessibility is a key factor for destinations to alter and survive in today ́s increasingly harsh competition in the tourism industry. The idea behind developing the airport is that the Sälen area will have the opportunity to receive international guests. Sälen and surrounding areas have previously been relatively difficult for international guests to reach and have largely focused on domestic and Scandinavian tourists. An international tourism flow, with other preferences and expectations of supply, can result in accumulated effects. Since the visitor rate of today's visitors is about 70%, a change in the area may have both negative and positive consequences. This paper examines how an establishment of an international airport in a destination that was previously available only through motorways, may affect the Sälen area and the existing Swedish tourism segment. A survey has been conducted with a randomized selection of 700 respondents. The result shows that only 24% of the respondents in the study were aware of the development that is about to take place through the commenced airport building. 82% of the respondents believe that Sälen may change. Around half of those surveyed responded positively, with an average of 6.53 on a scale 1-10. The study's results also point out that a number of respondents are not preparedto compete with international guests, in terms of accommodation or place in the ski slopes. Since the Sälen area previously focused and relied heavily on returning guests, the ongoing change can result in a negative development of the recognition factor, and the real economy will decrease. This can be the result if the changes are perceived to be too significant. One threat is that today's target group can then move on to less exploited, calmer and quieter areas. Another possibility is that it can lead to a positive development for the area, if the seasonal differences can be leveled off by an even stream of incoming tourists.