Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
(Cline, 2003), 92% of Poles are Roman Catholic
(Encarta Encyclopaedia Online, 2005). The
Hungarian language has nothing in common
with those of its Slavic neighbours, belonging as
it does to the Finno-Ugric group of languages,
and although Central European food is often
considered to be of a certain kind (e.g. heavy,
hearty), there are considerable variations in
the gastronomy, and more especially, wine pro-
duction. Each country has its own distinctive
approach to the arts, literature and entertainment.
All of these countries are now keen to join
the euro, but analysts believe that this process
may be delayed until 2012 in most cases,
mainly because of budget deficits (Mehring,
2005). Whilst evidence has shown that there
can be significant problems associated with
adopting the euro, such as increasing unem-
ployment, rising prices, insolvencies and a gen-
eral stagnation of the economy (McNeill, 2005),
these new accession countries remain unde-
terred. Indeed, Schadler
et al
. (2005) suggest
that if certain conditions are met, then euro
adoption is likely to bring substantial net gains
in the long term, and will make these countries
stronger, more self-reliant members of the EU.
Hungary, Slovenia and Slovakia have
already ratified the controversial EU Constitu-
tion in Parliament, whereas the same Constitu-
tion has since been rejected by the French
and the Dutch, who held a national vote
instead. It is thought that many other nations
(especially those from the 'old' EU), would also
be likely to reject it. The reasons for this are not
clear cut, but generally seem to stem from fears
of central control from Brussels and subsidies
being used to fund 'poorer' accession countries,
who will become strong economic competitors
in the future. For example:
regarding the advantages of EU accession pre-
vails in many of the new member states, whilst
many older members are apparently lapsing
into increasing cynicism and mistrust. Neverthe-
less, Steele (2005) suggests that the election of a
socially conservative, nationalist and Catholic
president in Poland in 2005 symbolized the
death of the 'New Europe'.
Politics and economics aside, it seems that
the shift eastwards of the EU has also been a
positive move in terms of tourism development
and cultural integration, and many countries in
Central Europe have seen a recent increase in
tourist numbers. What is clear, however, is that
there is more of a desire to promote national
diversity than to sell a common Central European
heritage. In recent years, many Central European
countries have had similar problems creating
adequate infrastructure for tourism after years
of state neglect, as well as providing service
levels suitable for Western tourists. The 'hang-
over' of state socialist mentalities often makes
service appear to be more of a duty than a plea-
sure. However, tourism and hospitality educa-
tion has become widespread and sophisticated
(see Chapter 5), with both local and foreign
expertise being offered in mixed curricula and
in several languages. Many citizens in the region
were already technically polyglot, with Russian
as an enforced language and others being widely
taught (e.g. German, English and some Scandi-
navian languages). However, many Central
Europeans deny knowing any Russian as a pro-
test against past enforcement, and Hungarians
(along with the British) are currently said to be
the worst linguists in Europe, with only 29% of
the population speaking another language.
When compared to Slovenians at 89%, this fig-
ure is low (EU Business, 2005). Nevertheless, it
is worth re-emphasizing that Hungarian is only
related to Finnish and Estonian, and even then,
only in terms of structure rather than vocabulary.
By contrast, the north and south Slavic languages
of much of Central and Eastern Europe share a
degree of commonality.
In terms of their economies, Central
European countries still have quite a strong
rural tradition, despite declining agriculture.
Although emphasis in recent years has been
placed on the development of cultural cities
(e.g. Prague, Budapest, Kraków), diversification
of
Nowadays the concept of a united Europe is
increasingly synonymous with factories being
moved to Hungary, cheap Polish laborers, and
new guidelines for service industries that
jeopardize jobs in better off countries like
France and Germany.
(Spiegel Online, 2005)
Such prejudices are largely unfounded, but
on a positive note, it is has been argued that the
productivity levels of accession countries would
rise given greater EU support through a Consti-
tution. Overall, it seems that a spirit of optimism
the
tourism product is now
needed,
as
