Heritage Tourism, Heritage Landscapes and Wilderness Preservation: The Case of National Park Thy

Tourism involving national parks manifests itself explicitly or implicitly as heritage tourism because national parks represent important symbols of the national landscape. This paper traces the journey of the proposed National Park Thy in northwestern Denmark from ordinary landscape to symbolic landscape, to candidacy for national park status and focus for heritage tourism. It is argued that the processes at work in Denmark are similar to those underpinning the creation of national parks elsewhere. Keywords: heritage tourismnational parksDenmarkland reclamation Acknowledgements The authors wish to acknowledge funding from Indiana University's Office of International Programs and West European Studies Center, and thank Pia Tripsen, Lisa Braverman, Søren Kristensen, Martin Søberg, Camilla Juul and Jonna Rasmussen for their assistance. The authors also thank two anonymous referees for their comments. Any errors or omissions are the responsibility of the authors. Notes A heath is an extensive area of rather level open uncultivated land usually with poor coarse soil, inferior drainage, and a surface rich in peat or peaty humus occupied by plant materials of the Ericaceae family (Merriam-Webster, 2006). This includes all tourists both domestic and foreign – the process is reflexive and foreign tourists' identities are solidified even if the heritage portrayed is not theirs–an act of otherness.