"Few people and the birds". Negotiating tourism development and more-than-human hospitality on the margin.

Rural tourism is regarded as having the ability to contribute to the often much-needed socio-economic (re)vitalization of provincial regions. For that, the sector is dependent on services and sites of leisure to "sell". While valuable research has been conducted at a variety of rural tourism sites, few have focused on tourism at potential destinations. Applying a theoretical approach of more-than-human cohabitation and hospitality, this paper discusses entanglements of tourism development in a peripheral area. The focus is on the remote Melrakkaslétta on the Icelandic northeast coast. Once the setting of wealthy farms and utilization of natural resources, the area has in recent decades faced depopulation and related challenges. The residents have proposed local tourism as one way to counteract these challenges. Melrakkaslétta, currently one of the least visited areas of Iceland, is home to significant bird populations. Indeed, Melrakkaslétta is a place of continuous comings and goings of birds and humans. Introducing findings from ethnographic research conducted in Melrakkaslétta, the paper reveals the paradoxical role of the birds in the area's potential tourism development. For some people, the birds are something to underline and utilize while for others Melrakkaslétta should remain a tranquil place of few people and birds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]