Multilayered Borders as a Method for Studying Tourism Destinations: A Case of Northern European Border Regions

The article problematizes tourism destination development in the European borderlands of Denmark-Germany, Sweden-Denmark and Sweden-Finland, where border crossing has been relatively free for decades, except for the time of Covid-19 pandemic border restrictions in 2020-2021. The research contributes to border studies and tourism studies by developing a framework for analyzing tourism destinations through the prism of the multilayered border, with a focus on destination images, attractions, and hosts. The reseach complements previous studies on tourism development and cross-border partnership in the European Union territory by investigating multiple tourism destinations in the border regions and by contemplating to what extent borders form a resource for destination promotion in the aftermath of the pandemic. The examination of regional tourism development through the prism of borders informs us about the compatibility of the idea of a "borderless" Europe with border region "realities."