NS34 Session 27

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Title: Pay-Per-View Tourism and the Politics of Parking Fees

Organisers: Ari Martin Laakso, Guðrun Þóra Gunnarsdóttir and Gaute Emil Svensson

Affiliation: University of Lapland, Icelandic Tourism Research Centre, UiT, The Arctic University of Norway

Description

The rapid expansion of parking fees, particularly in nature-based and high-traffic tourism areas, has led to concerns about the emergence of a “pay-per-view” model of tourism, where access to landscapes and public spaces becomes increasingly monetised. While such fees may support infrastructure maintenance, environmental stewardship and public services, they also raise fundamental questions about fairness, legitimacy and the boundary between public governance and private entrepreneurship.

This session examines parking fees as part of a broader landscape of Tourism Revenue Transfers (TRTs), including accommodation taxes, visitor levies and access charges. We explore how these mechanisms function not merely as fiscal tools, but as governance instruments emerging in periods of institutional transition. By requiring registration, enabling data collection, differentiating rates and influencing behaviour, such instruments may reshape how tourism is regulated, financed and legitimised.

At the same time, the politics surrounding parking fees reveal deeper tensions concerning ownership, access and value capture in tourism landscapes. Do parking fees and related revenue mechanisms strengthen public governance and environmental stewardship, or do they facilitate new forms of private value extraction and commodification of access to nature? This question invites critical reflection on whether revenue-based approaches contribute to more equitable and sustainable tourism systems, or risk reinforcing rent-seeking dynamics and intensifying pressure on high-value natural areas.

We invite contributions that engage with the session’s thematic focus from diverse theoretical, empirical and methodological perspectives.

Abstracts

Title: Pay Per View Tourism and the Inauguration of an Annual Pass to Snæfellsjökull National Park
Authors: Guðrún Þóra Gunnarsdóttir, ITRC, and Johannes Welling

In recent years, paid parking has proliferated in Iceland at waterfalls, beaches, canyons, and national parks, usually enforced through automated license plate recognition and app-based payment systems. This development has caused heated debate among Icelanders, with many expressing concern that it hampers the right to roam in their own country.

Snæfellsjökull National Park, located on the Snæfellsnes peninsula and managed by the Nature Conservation Institute, is one of the sites that now charges moderate service fees. As the youngest national park in Iceland, it was established through a locally grounded effort, and park authorities are currently developing a year pass that could play an important role for residents and other benefactors. The pass would provide access at a lower cost than individual payments, encouraging more frequent visits and strengthening connections to the local environment.

This paper focuses on the process of implementing the year pass, which is regarded as a pilot project with potential for adoption in other protected areas. The case is examined in relation to broader Tourism Revenue Transfer mechanisms (TRTs), such as fees, levies, and voluntary payment systems, as explored in the RETURN project. It is argued that the park’s close proximity to local communities has created a strong foundation for cooperation, which is critical for the successful implementation of the pass. The initiative aims to improve the visitor experience and strengthen residents’ connection to their local environment.

By situating this empirical Icelandic case within a broader TRT framework, the paper contributes to ongoing discussions on how tourism financing mechanisms can move beyond cost recovery toward supporting more sustainable and regenerative tourism practices. The insights are particularly relevant for protected areas in the Nordic and Arctic regions seeking to balance conservation, accessibility, and community wellbeing.

Title: From Freedom to Roam to Freedom to Pay: Pay-Per-View Tourism and the Politics of Parking Fees
Author: Ari Laakso, University of Lapland

The rapid growth of nature-based tourism in Nordic and Arctic regions has intensified pressure on landscapes, infrastructure, and publicly funded services. In response, site-specific payment mechanisms, particularly parking fees, have emerged as a widespread but uneven instrument for managing access and capturing value from visitors. This paper conceptualises these developments as a form of pay-per-view tourism, where access to nature is increasingly mediated through spatial pricing infrastructures, reflecting a broader shift from freedom to roam toward freedom to pay.

Building on a structured review of academic and grey literature, the paper introduces a governance-based distinction between two models of parking fees: (1) public-oriented tourism revenue transfer (TRT) mechanisms, where revenues are reinvested into infrastructure, services, environmental management, and regenerative measures, and (2) private revenue extraction models, where fees primarily serve profit generation with limited collective return. This distinction highlights that instruments commonly framed as public funding tools may also function as mechanisms for private value capture.

By making this distinction explicit, the paper contributes to a more nuanced understanding of how tourism revenue transfer mechanisms operate in practice and helps explain the emergence of pay-per-view tourism as a differentiated and uneven development across destinations. It concludes by emphasising the need to better distinguish between different governance logics in the design and implementation of such mechanisms, particularly in relation to their purpose, revenue use, and local impacts.

Title: Selling Secrets: Can Visitor Levy Help Protect Local Hidden Gems?
Author: Gaute Emil Svensson, UiT The Arctic University of Tromsø

In the age of overtourism and the commodification of natural landscapes, the tension between promoting tourism and preserving local hidden gems has become increasingly evident. This paper examines the paradoxical role of tourism revenue mechanisms—such as parking fees, visitor levies, and pay-per-view models—in regulating access to “hidden” nature sites. While these tools aim to manage visitor impact, they risk exposing and exploiting previously lesser-known locations cherished by local communities.

Drawing on Jason W. Moore's (2015) concept of the "Capitalocene," the paper critically explores how these mechanisms contribute to the commodification of nature, transforming local landscapes into economic assets. Are such tools pragmatic solutions for visitor management, or do they exacerbate the pressures they aim to alleviate? By monetizing access, do they erode the cultural and ecological value of natural spaces, reducing them to transactional commodities rather than shared public goods?

This work-in-progress draws on ongoing ethnographic research to provide grounded insights into how local communities perceive and respond to the increasing monetization of their natural surroundings. Combining theoretical inquiry with empirical case studies, the paper investigates whether visitor management strategies can protect local secrets in nature or expose and exploit them under the guise of sustainability.

Ultimately, the paper raises critical questions about revenue-based governance models and their implications for equity, access, and environmental stewardship. By situating these questions within the framework of the Capitalocene, it highlights the structural forces shaping tourism, governance, and environmental justice in the Anthropocene.