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- Convenors:
-
Irena Weber
(UP, Faculty for tourist studies)
Tom Selwyn (SOAS)
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- Format:
- Workshops
- Location:
- 012
- Sessions:
- Thursday 28 August, -, -
Time zone: Europe/Ljubljana
Short Abstract:
The workshop addresses a broad range of ideologies and practices of tourism in Central and Eastern Europe in the socialist and post-socialist period. Comparative anthropological and historical approaches are particularly encouraged while perspectives from other disciplines are also welcome.
Long Abstract:
Histories of tourism in Central and Eastern Europe reveal diverse and complex practices of tourism during the socialist period not only between different countries but also within them. Socialist ideologies that have 'guided' tourists and prescribed the forms of socialist tourism were coupled with rather flexible practices that reflected the economic, social and political changes during different decades. When facing economic crises, for instance, tourism demonstrated great adaptability, not least by applying the principles of mutuality (eg between tourist agencies and clients or between tourists themselves).
The political and economic transition brought some abrupt and radical transformation yet this does not imply complete eradication and no continuities. The workshop thus proposes to address a broad range of ideologies and practices of tourism in Central and Eastern Europe both in the socialist and post-socialist period. Some of the pertinent issues raised may be: How does mutuality of the socialist period reflect in contemporary tourism practices? The role of privatisation and foreign investment that influence structural inequalities? In what way are heritage sites being constructed or appropriated by the local, national and global authorities? How do coastal areas (Adriatic, Baltic and the Black sea resorts) navigate the construction of new identities? How is socialist and post-socialist tourist imagery constructed in travel guides, travelogues and fiction writing?
Comparative anthropological and historical approaches are particularly encouraged while perspectives from other disciplines are also welcome.
Accepted papers:
Session 1 Thursday 28 August, 2008, -Paper short abstract:
The paper draws on involvement by the author in two programmes of work, one in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) funded and initiated by the European Commission (EC), the other in Montenegro (MNE) funded and initiated by the British Council (BC), in the field of regional tourism development. The aim of the paper is to identify and analyse the anthropological and political contexts and points of interest in the two cases.
Paper long abstract:
The paper describes and analyses two programmes of research, curriculum development, and institution building work concerned with development of tourism in the Central/East European region. The first was an EC TEMPUS project in BiH designed (a) to train 25 mid career professionals in tourism and economic development and (b) to advise local, entity, national, and international institutions in how appropriately to respond to and encourage tourism. The second is a (continuing) BC project in Montenegro aiming to raise the tourism profile of the city of Cetinje and to explore the regional (including MNE, BiH, Serbia, Kosovo, Albania) tourism of which Cetinje is set.
The ways in which tourism enters economies of the region raises several questions pertinent to the present panel. The first follows from the fact that it is positioned by many authoritative voices (associated with governments, consultants, and international institutions) within a world that is said to be going through economic "transition". Ways of organising tourism, it is commonly argued, needs to respond to new regional and global "market" conditions - in the process leaving behind all traces of socialist modalities of organisation. The second follows. What, precisely, is the nature of this "post-socialist" "capitalist" world into which tourism development, and other kinds of development, are encouraged to take place? Thirdly, coming to the heart of the paper, where do anthropologists fit into the framework of relations between governments, the private sector, international agencies, and the "heritage" that forms the capital upon which the tourism industry is based?
Paper short abstract:
The paper will outline key ideologies and practices of tourism in „closed“ socialist Czechoslovakia – particularly „weekend-housing and/or cottaging tourism“ - that will be confronted with a new phenomenon of incoming tourism - „Dutch villages“.
Paper long abstract:
The past two decades have been marked by rapid transformations in tourism in ex-socialist countries. The paper attempts to outline key ideologies and practices of tourism in "closed" socialist Czechoslovakia that brought about unique, unparalled forms of domestic tourism. Special attention is paid to one of the most widespread forms- so-called "weekend-housing and/or cottaging tourism" that has expanded in the country since the 1950s. An analysis of its sociocultural, political and geographical aspects will be confronted with the inquiry into the post-socialist period that has been characterized by the unprecedented development of tourism that brought a number of new tourist practices that compete with the older ones. In particular, the paper will focus on a recent tourist project called "Dutch village", i.e. the emergence of closed communities of Dutch tourists that have been built throughout the Czech Republic, mostly within the weekend-house built-up areas. Analytically, one can observe three distinctive social categories in such areas: local residents, domestic weekend/holiday makers, and foreign (Dutch) holidaymakers. Our research that is being conducted in one of the recreational areas (Lake Lipno in Southern Bohemia) aims to explain the following issues concerning this complex encounter: What cultural image do the new tourists have about the Czech Republic as a whole, and about the region in particular? What are the relations between the "guests" and the "hosts"? (How can local population be defined?) How is interculturality produced and reproduced? What is the role of local strategies of mutuality and policies of cultural diversity?
Paper short abstract:
A half-century of ‘anthropological tourism’ by amateur and university groups based on the Le Play Society’s analytical troika ‘Place, Work and Folk’ prefigured the normative ‘environment, economy and society’ of sustainability discourse and is manifest in management strategies and governance structures for protected landscapes (such as Solčavsko, the centre of a new Kamniško-Savinjsko Alps regional park) to which ‘sustainable tourism’ is key.
Paper long abstract:
Sir Dudley Stamp's 1932 study of Solčavsko was undertaken under the auspices of the Le Play Society, a body which emerged from initiatives in the early part of last century to promote interdisciplinary regional studies under the slogan 'Place, Work and Folk' - an analytical troika which bears more than a coincidental resemblance to the normative 'environment, economy and society' of present-day sustainability discourse. The 1971-72 Brathay 'Expedition' had a similar (though more explicitly recreational) agenda. Many more 'recreational' field study visits to central and eastern Europe were undertaken by adult amateurs as well as university groups, over the half century from the mid 1920s to the mid 1970s. Although interdisciplinary area studies subsequently became distinctly unfashionable, they have enjoyed a revival, particularly in the context of the preparation of management strategies for European protected landscapes (such as the new Kamniško-Savinjsko Alps regional park) where tourism is perceived as capable of making a significant contribution to the 'harmonious relationship' between people and place.
The early proponents of area studies placed much emphasis on 'civics' - the contribution of 'anthropological tourism' to social well-being for both the visitor and visited, on their outcomes, to a more generalised vision of social progress. We argue that the early aspirations of the Le Play Society can be manifest - in both their practical and conceptual weaknesses, as well as their strengths - in protected landscape management strategies and their preparation. The place of tourism in socioeconomic transition provides a clear illustration.
Paper short abstract:
The paper explains the redevelopment of tourism in the Karst region in Slovenia after its decline in the socialist era. In the post-socialist period local people have encountered numerous problems with the revival of tourism due to a different post-modern economy and globalization processes.
Paper long abstract:
The Karst region in Slovenia has been known worldwide for its natural and cultural phenomena, especially its underground world with numerous caves, ever since the 16th century. Initially of interest primarily for scientists, after the public opening of the caves (1633), it began to attract tourists as well. With the development of larger towns in the near vicinity (Trieste, Monfalcone, Gorizia) in the 19th and 20th centuries, the Karst became a tourist center for the bourgeois, who spent their summer holidays in rural Karst villages.
When Slovenia became part of socialist Yugoslavia, Karst tourism in villages declined. The socialist policy neglected small villages on the pretext of modernizing the countryside and building urban centers. Moreover, with nationalization they gradually reduced or prohibited private tourist infrastructure in villages, and supported tourism in bigger towns, so-called mass tourism.
With Slovenia's independence and ensuing transition problems (many people lost their jobs) the state and local government recognized tourism as an opportunity to solve the inhabitants' social problems. Local people have faced lots of personal and administrative problems with the development of tourism. Firstly, they were not used to a market economy, then, until recently they have not appreciated and valued the cultural and natural heritage of the Karst as an important tourist attraction.
The main aim of my paper is to present the redevelopment of tourism in the Karst region, to analyze local problems which were the consequences of socialist policy or economy and of exposure to the contemporary market economy and globalization processes.
Paper short abstract:
This paper explores the local adaptation to tourism in a village where tourism seems to have appeared as a post-socialism response to the critical economic situation.
Paper long abstract:
This paper explores ambiguities and paradoxes of tourism where host people pretend no continuities and complete eradication with socialist ideology but, at the same time, the principles of mutuality are evident in the practises.
Fieldwork was carried out in Botiza (Romania) in post-socialist period and coincided with time of transformation, in which there were few tourists and local tourism politics were hardly developed, and the current moment in which the tourism demand is growing exponentially.
In a few years people and the administration had to review local social dynamics, in order to organise the village and to deal with the increasing tourism demand. Both local families and the administration invest tourism profit to higher hosting standards and to promote the entrance of Botiza in tourism networks. Therefore, the village has gone through a process of transformation generally recognized as 'modernisation'. Local people are proud of it and see tourism as the major leader of this change. Continuity with socialism is openly rejected and the relationship between hosts and guests seems to avoid completely political issues.
The presence of tourists during the socialist period may only be recollected by few local narratives that tend to minimise or even to forget it. Manipulation of this sort of information is common in areas that have feared laws, which would prosecute those hosting foreign people. However, the adaptation of local people to manage the village for tourist purposes reveals an ability to cope with the "other" and to adjust to diverse practises.