Nature is the main attraction for tourism in Western Norway, but it also have considerable impact on how attractive areas are for settlement and immigration. Outdoor activities offered by travel companies are also attractive leisure activities for those who choose to live and study in the region. Increased value added in tourism is one of the main goals of the Hordaland and Sogn og Fjordane county, but most municipalities also have a goal of increased immigration as a basis for development and growth.

Development of nature-based tourism can contribute to the tourism development, migration and stabilization of population. There have been no comparisons of value creation from nature-based activities (such as skiing, hiking and water sports) carried by tourists and residents. However, it is unclear what the nature-based tourism products means for value creation, when available tourism statistics are broken down into segments that do not include these activities. There is little attempt to quantify the added value of this activity - either locally or regionally.

The pilot project will therefore develop a method and outline its use, to calculate the direct and indirect value added by the use of nature-based activities of tourists, residents and students.

The project has the following objectives:

• develop a method to analyze the direct and indirect value added by different users of nature- based activities
• conduct a pilot study to test the method
• design an application for a research project that uses the method to document the added value of different users of nature-based activities.