Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
larger areas should be affected. It might, how-
ever, be possible to develop some particularly
suitable places and small regions for this type of
tourism. First successful initiatives in this direc-
tion have been taken in the interior of the Istrian
peninsula, where rural tourism partly succeeded
in
Winter (sports) tourism
This lucrative segment, with very high per capita
expenditure, is well-developed in Austria as well
as in the other Alpine countries west of it. In
Austria it grows continuously, compensating
losses in other segments (see Zimmermann,
1998; Wirtschaftskammer Österreich, 2005).
Winter tourism infrastructure in Austria usually
comprises not only accommodation and the
technical means for winter sports like skiing, but
also entertainment and alternative offers in a
wider region. Even the largest and best-equipped
skiing resorts in Central and Eastern Europe, like
those around the Tatra Mountains (Tatry) in
Poland and Slovakia, the Sudeten Mountains
(Sudety) in Poland and the Czech Republic and
the alpine part of Slovenia compare unfavour-
ably even with the smaller ones in Austria and
other Alpine countries. To compete against this
capital-intensive and highly elaborate offer is
practically impossible with a reasonable degree
of effort, at least as far as Alpine skiing is con-
cerned (which, because of its popularity is the
only sector that really matters).
Thus, resorts in Central and Eastern Europe
will depend, almost entirely, on low pricing to
compete in the European market. However, for
domestic tourists they will continue to play a sig-
nificant role, as well as for international tourists
from Eastern Europe, at least locations of excep-
tional appeal (e.g. the Tatra Mountains). Other
winter sports, especially those needing little
specific investment do, however, have a better
chance as these sports become more popular
(e.g. cross-country skiing, skating).
participating
in
the
peninsula's
intensive
summer season.
Nature and adventure tourism
This does not represent a large market segment
and by definition it needs to remain small as it
would otherwise destroy its own sustainability.
This includes 'soft tourism' over large areas for
those seeking individual experiences often in
conjunction with sporting activities such as
walking, mountaineering, climbing, caving,
bicycling, boating, canoeing, kite-flying, para-
gliding, horseback riding, hunting, fishing, etc.
It needs an unspoiled and sparsely inhabited
landscape and natural scenic beauty, not so
much an elaborated tourism infrastructure.
This segment has some importance in
many parts of the Austrian Alps. Central and
Eastern Europe has, in principle, also very much
to offer in this area. Apart from the Slovenian
share in the Alps, there are the Dinaric moun-
tain range and the extremely attractive eastern
coast of the Adriatic with myriad islands, the
Carpathians in Poland and Slovakia, outstand-
ing individual natural attractions like the Plitvice
Lakes (Plitvik
E
a jezera) or caves (especially
in Slovenia and Hungary) as well as many
national parks and other protected areas
(see Jordan, 1999; Österreichisches Ost- und
Südosteuropa-Institut, 2003). Many of these
attractions are well-known and already attract a
substantial clientele, in this way not forming
new competitors in the market. To generate or
widen interest in less prominent attractions it
would also partly be necessary to overcome the
negative environmental image larger parts of
Central and Eastern Europe still have. Another
obstacle is also a legacy of the Communist
period: heavy industrialization, dull uniformity
in land utilization and weekend houses and sec-
ond homes also in remote areas. Nevertheless,
Central and Eastern Europe has a good oppor-
tunity to compete successfully in this market
segment.
Health tourism
In the light of sharply curtailed government con-
tributions to health-care costs, this part of the
tourist industry grows if it can generate in
healthy people the urge to indulge in luxury
beauty services, for example, caring for their
bodies, relaxing and acquiring a general sense
of well-being such as was highly fashionable
before World War I. At that time, it was custo-
mary to frequent health spas using one medical
excuse or another and enjoy the entertainment
and social life offered alongside health-related
regimes (see Jordan, 1998).
