Writing a book on tourism in the Nordic countries appeared to be a great idea and a good way to fill a gap in the international literature on tourism. That was at least what we thought in 2005 when a book proposal to Channel View was put on paper. As it turned out, the task was not an easy one at all. Instead, it was a good way to get to know your own limits to knowledge despite being the so-called ‘experts’ teaching tourism classes on issues relating to tourism in the Nordic countries. The problem has proved to be twofold. In certain areas, such as second homes or urban and regional development, there is a great amount of research available, whereas others have hardly been addressed at all. Nordic research has been relatively lacking in international tourism journals although the Scandinavian Journal of Hospitality and Tourism has meant a great deal as an English-language outlet of Nordic tourism research. This made research for this book a jigsaw puzzle work. However, with the help of many colleagues and friends all around the Nordic realm we were able to finalise this volume to highlight the main traits in Nordic tourism.

For this book in particular, many researchers, colleagues and friends deserve our thankfulness. Dieter would first of all like to thank his co-authors Michael Hall and Jarkko Saarinen for getting involved in yet another book and a first common book, respectively. Poor Michael had the ‘rewarding’ task to convert what Dieter thought was English into what is commonly accepted as English. However, we hope that supplying him with Västerbotten cheese is a suitable appreciation of his engagement – but to be honest we would supply it anyway since Michael is the favourite guest in Dieter’s and Åsa’s apartment in Umeå. Besides, the Department of Social and Economic Geography, Umeå University, provided a creative and supportive environment. In particular, discussions with Linda Lundmark, Roger Marjavaara, Malin Zillinger and Bruno Jansson made an impact on this book.