Thomas Blom

My research can be said to stand ‘on two legs’, where the common denominator is local and regional development issues.

In the field of education, viewed from a local and regional development perspective, I focus on development-related problems where knowledge and skills are the main focus. Young people's varying propensity to pursue higher education is a central part of this research focus.

My second research track concerns tourism and the hospitality industry. Here, I study, among other things, how different niches within the hospitality industry are developing to attract visitors, where identity and place are important ingredients for creating local and regional development. I have named these niches ‘symbolic tourism’, ‘morbid tourism’, ‘mythical tourism’, ‘sacred tourism’ and ‘tactile tourism’. Gastronomic tourism is another field of research I am involved in.