In this chapter we introduce the section on 'who visits the north' by presenting the characteristics of tourism in northern Sweden, and the various circumstances affecting tourism in different parts of the region. We find that tourism has grown dramatically but that the development has been polarised, and somewhat different between the counties of Västerbotten and Norrbotten. The 'boring bits' between the coast and the resort-based destinations in the mountains have a different and slower tourism development. The future of tourism in the area might lie in the undervalued regional tourism or alternative tourism development.