Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Looking at future perspectives by market
segments and comparing Central and Eastern
European countries with Austria, a number of
competitive advantages may be expected.
Rural tourism
This includes summer vacations in the country-
side and farm holidays (agrotourism). Summer
vacations in the countryside used to be the clas-
sical form of summer tourism in Austria mainly
frequented by German and domestic guests,
but was subject to substantial erosion in
recent decades mainly due to new tourism
trends, the change in demographic structures
and stagnation in the quality of the offer (see
Zimmermann, 1994).
Rural tourism and farm holidays in the
narrower sense can only succeed within a well-
equipped tourist environment. A well-furbished
individual establishment is insufficient; suitably
developed activities and a pleasant environ-
ment in general must also exist to meet the
expectations of guests. This includes a rural
road network, walking paths, hiking trails,
bicycle lanes, attractive inns, benches, shops
and evening entertainment, as well as a culti-
vated rural landscape.
Central and Eastern European countries
invest many hopes in the success of this seg-
ment and a lot of initiatives have been started
aimed at the development of peripheral
regions and the smoothing of spatial disparities
by rural tourism (see Hall, 1991; Verhoeff,
1998). However, they meet several endoge-
nous barriers:
Lakeside tourism
Besides Lake Balaton in Hungary, the Masurian
and Pomeranian lakes in Poland and mainly
artificial lakes in the Czech Republic, the Central
and Eastern European offer in this segment
comprises only a few smaller attractions (like
Blejsko jezero in Slovenia) which compare
to the Austrian lake lands (Salzkammergut,
Carinthia) and a lot of individual lakes in other
parts of the country (e.g. Lake Constance
(Bodensee), Lake Neusiedl (Neusiedlersee)).
Lake Balaton is by no means a new competitor
(see Miczek, 1989) for the Western (German,
Austrian) market. It continued to be a destina-
tion of mass tourism even during the Com-
munist period due to early liberalization in
Hungary (late 1970s); but by quality improve-
ments in tourism infrastructure and the offering
of extra services and attractions (wellness,
cultural attractions and events, conferences),
partly under way, combined with the special
Hungarian flair, it may succeed in detracting
guests from Austrian lakes.
Compared to Lake Balaton, the Masurian
and Pomeranian lakes are newcomers to the
international tourism market. They impress by
their natural beauty and by being embedded in
a mild, unspoiled landscape and offer a variety
of water sports as well as recreation near
to nature (see Jordan, 1999; Österreichisches
Ost- und Südosteuropa-Institut, 2003). Provided
a qualitative tourism infrastructure will further
be developed and the character of recreation
near to nature can at the same time be pre-
served, these lake districts have certainly the
potential to attract Western markets, especially
the German and the Dutch. Nautical tourism is
also advancing in these lake lands and on the
inland waterways of northern Poland with con-
siderable potential to grow. However, being so
different in character from the Austrian lakes
this will very likely not affect Austrian lakeside
tourism. The many artificial lakes in the Czech
Republic have so far attracted just a domestic
clientele and will continue to do so.
the poor infrastructure in rural areas in
general (not only in tourism terms);
●
an inadequate demographic structure in
many regions (depopulation, an ageing
structure, brain drain);
●
the lasting impact of Communist collectivi-
zation (except in larger parts of Poland, in
Slovenia and Croatia) which resulted in
destroying traditional farm structures and
the traditional cultural landscape; and
●
the lack of care for the cultural landscape
(partly a legacy of the Communist period).
●
In the near future, in Central and Eastern
Europe the development of an environment
adequate for rural tourism might only succeed
very gradually. (A possible exception is Slovenia,
which is affected by all the barriers mentioned to
a much lesser extent.) Major public and private
investment would be needed, certainly more
than for most other tourism segments, if really
