Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 8.1.
Slovakia: travel motives of foreign visitors, 1996-2002.
Year (%)
Motive
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
Culture and incentive
7.6
7.4
7.5
8.0
8.2
6.7
9.9
Stay in spas
1.6
2.7
2.3
2.5
1.9
2.8
2.5
Skiing
-
2.8
2.7
3.5
4.6
3.2
-
Shopping
10.4
9.7
9.9
10.9
10.6
10.1
13.0
Visiting friends and
relatives
16.4
17.8
18.5
17.4
14.4
15.0
13.7
Leisure
16.1
11.6
10.3
9.7
10.5
10.4
16.1
Transit
29.3
25.1
24.0
24.1
25.0
26.7
24.9
Business and other
18.6
22.9
24.8
23.9
24.8
25.1
19.9
Average length of stay,
in days
-
-
3.1
2.3
3.2
2.6
2.9
Sources:
MHSR, 1997-2003.
travel on local and regional economies, culture,
trade and cross-border relations. Some 369
replies were received from 518 questionnaires
dispatched, a response rate of 71%. The ques-
tionnaires addressed three major topics:
at each border. For example, food (63.6%) was
considered to be the main objective of Ukrainian
shopping, while cigarettes and alcohol were
considered the most important foreign pur-
chases by Poles (52.9%), reflecting higher sales
taxes in Poland. For Slovaks' shopping abroad,
food was the main objective in the Czech and
Hungarian border regions (52.5% and 52.3%),
while electronics were relatively important at the
Austrian and Polish borders (28.6% and 23%).
Clothing was also important for Slovaks shop-
ping in the Polish (20.7%) and the Hungarian
(19.9%) regions. These estimates indicate that
trans-border shopping between neighbouring
ECE countries with similar development levels
(Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia)
was mainly determined by price differences for
particular items, while the range of goods on
offer was more important for shopping trips
between states with different development levels
(Slovakia and Austria, Slovakia and Ukraine).
Following substantial recent investment in shop-
ping centres by international retail companies
(e.g. Tesco and Billa), the cross-border shop-
ping flows decreased in importance.
Slovakia's accession to the EU had no dra-
matic impacts on cross-border tourist and shop-
ping flows between Slovakia and the Czech
Republic, Hungary and Poland. There were few
barriers for travel and shopping between these
countries before May 2004. Most variations in
cross-border flows were generated by changes
impacts of the post-1989 border 'opening'
on the districts' economies;
●
employment issues; and
●
the institutional framework of trans-border
cooperation.
●
The first part of the analysis focused on the
practices of the different forms of trans-border
mobility, and especially on arbitrage or the cir-
culation of commodities. The largest proportion
of informants (42.1%) considered that leisure
tourism was the main source of foreign visits to
their area, followed by business and shopping
visits (37.6%) and VFR (20.3%). Trans-border
tourism generates different kinds of inbound
and outbound spending, including shopping.
Shopping has been an important element of
expenditure by Slovak tourists abroad since the
1970s when Hungarian reforms increased the
range
of
imported
goods
available
in
that
country.
The removal of travel barriers after 1989
intensified shopping travel in both directions.
Differences in the shopping practices of Slovak
tourists abroad and of foreign tourists in
Slovakia results from price differentials for par-
ticular goods, and these are expressed differently
