ABSTRACT

The article addresses the broader relationships between seaweed and algae as a marine resource, destination development, and sustainability. In many European countries, an industry around seaweed has emerged, ranging from high-end restaurants that provide their customers with local, seasonal and sustainable ingredients, to entrepreneurs offering “harvest your own seaweed”-tours. In this explorative study, we focus on different ways of experiencing this marine resource in a Swedish context, to better understand its economic and social potential. Taking a consumer perspective, we investigate through an online questionnaire and reviews from an online consumer-to-consumer travel-planning portal how seaweed and algae are validated. By exploring people's notions, the aim is to understand the potential and value of this marine resource better. Where is seaweed encountered and enjoyed? How is it used? What is experienced to be valuable about this resource? We identify possibilities for utilizing algae and seaweed in order to foster future business opportunities for local communities, as well as to integrate the resource more in our society. We show how algae and seaweed are experienced in diverse settings and dimensions, such as at home, while being a tourist, as part of everyday life, as a special treat, within nature, and as food.

摘要

本文探讨了海藻和藻类作为海洋资源、目的地开发和可持续性之间更广泛的关系。在许多欧洲国家，一个围绕海藻的产业已经出现，从为顾客提供当地、季节性和可持续食材的高端餐厅，到提供“收获你自己的海藻”之旅的企业家。在这项探索性研究中，我们专注于在瑞典语境中体验这种海洋资源的不同方式，以更好地了解其经济和社会潜力。从消费者的角度来看，我们通过在线问卷调查和在线消费者对消费者旅行规划门户网站的评论调查了海藻和藻类的验证方式。通过探索人们的观念，目的是更好地了解这种海洋资源的潜力和价值。在哪里遇到和享用海藻？它是如何使用的？这个资源有什么经验是有价值的？我们确定利用藻类和海藻的可能性，以便为当地社区创造未来的商机，并将资源更多地融入我们的社会。我们展示了藻类和海藻如何在不同的环境和维度中被体验，例如在家里，作为游客，作为日常生活的一部分，作为一种特殊的享受，在大自然中，作为食物。