Hvað er sjávartengd ferðamennska?

Sjávartengd ferðamennska/ferðaþjónusta á hug minn mestan um þessar mundir. Ég varð þess heiðurs aðnjótandi að fá að skilgreina fyrirbrigðið á vísindavef Háskólans. Það sem ég hlakka þó talsvert til er að ég ásamt öðru góðu fólki og fulltrúum frá Leeds Metropolitan University er að skipuleggja alþjóðlega ráðstefnu um sjávartengda ferðamennsku sem haldin verður við Háskóla Íslands mánaðarmótin febrúar-mars á næsta ári.

Við vitum auðvitað ekki umfang ráðstefnunnar en sem komið er, þar eð frestur til að skila inn ágripum rennur fyrst út um miðjan desember. En í bili er bara að boða fagnaðarerindið og geri ég það hérmeð.

International Conference: Journeys of Expression VII: Celebrating the Edges of the World: Tourism and Festivals of the Coast and Sea

February 29- March 1, 2008

University of Iceland, Reykjavík

Journeys of Expression VII will bring together researchers who share interests in festivals, cultural events and associated tourism in coastal settings. The conference encourages contributions from contrasting but related theoretical and conceptual approaches from Social Science and Humanities disciplinary perspectives.

Communities inhabiting coastal settlements around the world have long celebrated the harvest of the sea and appeased and appealed to the gods of the ocean through festivals and events. The coast has also been the focus of tourist attraction for many years as a liminal space for mental and physical recreation, whether in large scale seaside resorts, as ports of (dis)-embarkation for cruise and liner passengers, or in remote and beautiful coastal areas and fishing harbours. Here tourists may encounter community celebrations and festivities whether incidentally and unplanned or as packaged by tourism and cultural agencies and operators in coastal locations.

The phenomenon of coastal community festivals and tourism suggests a number of areas for research. How do festival and tourism intersect at the sea shore? What are the distinguishing characteristics of festivals of the coast and sea? How do these vary between communities worldwide? What are the consequences of the decline in fisheries for coastal communities and how do tourism and festivals relate to such decline? How may tourism and festivals contribute to ‘regeneration’ in urban ports that have experienced profound social and economic changes? How have festivals and tourism contributed to change in ‘traditional’ seaside, holiday resorts? What are the implications for tourism and festivals of population changes, whether depopulation as a consequence of economic decline or repopulation in second home ‘communities’? Is the cruise industry itself ‘festivalizing’ and what are the links between this growing sector and tourism and festivals of the coast and sea?

In the tradition of the Journeys of Expression conference series, we wish to encourage an interdisciplinary debate on the suggested themes and welcome paper proposals from academics from various disciplinary backgrounds including: tourism studies, festival studies, geography, sociology, anthropology, cultural studies, cultural geography, politics, etc. If you wish to submit a paper proposal, please send a 300-word abstract with full address and institutional affiliation details as an electronic file to Dr. Philip Long ([e-mail]). The deadline for the reception of abstracts is 14^th December 2007.  

Sjá: http://www.tourism-culture.com

Athugasemdir

[Júlíus Valsson, 15.11.2007 kl. 19:15]

Bátsferðir?

[Anna Karlsdóttir, 15.11.2007 kl. 23:22]

Já þær hafa víst verið farnar frá alda öðli!

[Ingólfur Ásgeir Jóhannesson, 17.11.2007 kl. 16:32]

Breiðafjörður er svo merkilegur að um náttúruvernd hans eru sérstök lög eins og Mývatn og Laxá, en veit ekki hvort er eitthvað unnið að því að koma honum eða hluta hans inn á Ramsarskrána.

[Anna Karlsdóttir, 17.11.2007 kl. 17:45]

Já, ég held að sæferðir hafi áttað sig á þessu fyrir margt löngu en held raunar að fleiri aðilar gætu haft af friðuninni gagn. Það væri hægt að halda friðuninni mun meira á lofti en gert er í ferðaþjónustunni.

Ég er líka á því að fulltrúar umhverfisstofnunar hafi unnið að því að koma honum eða hluta hans inn á Ramsarskránna, en veit raunar ekki hvar það mál er statt.