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The institutional context of tourism and the perception of tourism by residents who grew up in Communist Europe

Kubistova, Tereza (2021) The institutional context of tourism and the perception of tourism by residents who grew up in Communist Europe. Master thesis.

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Abstract

Tourism is a very complex sector, that can have an influence on destinations and the residents living in these places. Not only there is an inevitable interaction between the residents and tourists, tourism can also change the environment of the destination. This can cause a so-called ‘touristification’ of a destination and the diminishment of authenticity of the local culture. Practically, I studied the perception of tourism impacts among residents of Prague (Czech Republic): a tourism-intensive city with a pronounced communist past and hence with a relatively short but intensive period of touristic growth. Using a qualitative spatial mapping and semi-structured interviews as the main data sources, the results show various impacts on the respondents’ spatial movement. As mentioned before, the environment is very complex due to the fragmentation and path dependency. Therefore, residents can have a feeling that they do not belong into the destination anymore, but still want to keep their freedom as they did not have it prior the fall of the Soviet Union. Hence regulation of tourism can be a very sensitive topic for some residents, but also wanted by some. The overall feeling is that there needs to be balance between the facilities for tourists and residents in order to sustain authenticity but to not lose the positive impacts such as economic benefits. Therefore, the key finding of the thesis is that there is a need for clear regulation in terms of tourism in central Prague in order to establish balance between the interests of stakeholders and through that encourage sustainable development.

Item Type: Thesis (Master)
Degree programme: Cultural Geography: Tourism Geography & Planning (track)
Supervisor: Stoffelen, H.J.W.
Date Deposited: 14 Jul 2021 08:32
Last Modified: 14 Jul 2021 08:32
URI: https://frw.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/3523

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