Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to gain a deeper understanding of the concept of shadow destinations. What added value do shadow destinations create for the main attraction in a region? How can a shadow destination create a value of its own?
Methodology - The study was constructed as a qualitative multiple-case study. Five different shadow destinations in Sweden were selected based on stratified selection. Sweden was divided into five regions, and one destination from each region was identified. Data were collected through interviews, observations and written materials during 2019-2020.
Findings - The findings show that shadow destinations are highly dependent on some sort of main attraction in the region. The results also show that there exist different types of relationships between the shadow destinations and the main attractions. The results also show that shadow destinations can create value for tourists in order to become more important for tourism in the region, as well as to become main destinations by themselves.
Contribution - The theoretical contribution from this study shows that the concept of shadow destinations has not been addressed to any great extent in tourism research and that this concept requires further studies. This study makes a contribution to tourism development of shadow destinations.