German Second Home Development in Sweden

Abstract

Second home tourism is probably the most researched interface between tourism and migration (Williams and Hall, 2000). The reasons for that are quite obvious. First, research on tourism suffers from a lack of comprehensive and reliable data. In contrast second homes are often covered in national property cadastres and thus well documented and relatively easy to research. Nevertheless, most studies focus on smaller areas or do not provide a comprehensive picture of the entire spectrum of second home ownership (Bohlin, 1982; Halseth, 1993; Halseth and Rosenberg 1995; Wolfe 1951). Alternatively, the level of analysis does not penetrate beyond the administrative levels (Ragatz, 1970; Clout, 1972; Clout, 1977; Löhr, 1989; Buller and Hoggart, 1993). Second, research on second homes addresses land use issues and thus a core topic of geographical research. Most second home buyers as well as other migrants are led by lifestyle considerations and bear a certain positive image of the countryside in their minds, sometimes based more on fictional sources than real experience (Tuan, 1974; Short, 1991; Bunce, 1994; Butler and Hall, 1998; Riley et al. 1998). Hence, the encounter with the rural population and the rural traditions does not occur without tension (see Chapter Ten). Finally, the purchase of a second home in the countryside also entails a long-term commitment to the host community including an increasing involvement into local issues. Several studies show that this process, sometimes labeled rural gentrification (Phillips, 1993), results in newcomers and the local population sharing the rural space but live in separate domains (Halseth 1993; Phillips, 1993; Müller, 1999). Particularly because the second home owners consume the countryside as a recreational resource only, research on second home ownership is tightly connected to research on contested.