Defying Political Boundaries: Transborder Tourism in a Regional Context

Visions in Leisure and Business Volume 17 Number 3 Article 3 1998 Defying Political Boundaries: Transborder Tourism in a Regional Context Walter Leimgruber Institut de Géographie Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.bgsu.edu/visions Recommended Citation Leimgruber, Walter (1998) "Defying Political Boundaries: Transborder Tourism in a Regional Context," Visions in Leisure and Business: Vol. 17 : No. 3 , Article 3. Available at: https://scholarworks.bgsu.edu/visions/vol17/iss3/3 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at ScholarWorks@BGSU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Visions in Leisure and Business by an authorized editor of ScholarWorks@BGSU. DEFYING POLITICAL BOUNDARIES: TRANSBORDER TOURISM IN A REGIONAL CONTEXT BY DR. WALTER LEIMGRUBER, PROFESSOR INSTITUT DE GEOGRAPHIE PEROLLES CH-1700 FRIBOURG SWITZERLAND ABSTRACT tional boundaries are to a large extent still viewed as a place where traffic flows can be Political boundaries have traditionally been interrupted and where both people and considered barriers, or obstacles, to all kinds goods have to undergo regular or episodic of communication and interaction. The end checks. The boundary as an obstacle to free of the 20th century has seen a gradual de mobility continues to survive, despite nu functionalisation of many political bounda merous efforts to the contrary. ries and a subsequent increase in transborder cooperation. Among the economic sectors This paper does not contest the facts, rather that benefit from such an opening of borders its purpose is to present examples where is tourism, · particularly on a regional scale. transborder cooperation in tourism works to This paper examines the specific case of the benefit of both local/regional actors and Switzerland, a landlocked country with a tourists. Tourism in this context is under long tradition of regional transborder col stood not simply as linked to recreational laboration. After a general introduction, activities by people coming from other parts four examples are presented to demonstrate of the world but includes any transborder the rich variety of local transborder attrac activity which is not directly related to work, tions that are complementary to each other school or health services. Of course, the and thus help to create a system of regional distinction between these activities is fluid; tourism. shopping trips may be undertaken after work or a patient to a dentist in the neighbouring country may visit the local cinema on the INTRODUCTION same trip. Bearing this in mind, certain in teresting aspects of transborder tourism on a "Representatives of the tourist industry on regional scale can be highlighted. both sides of the border have demonstrated frustration at the border-traffic delays at both border crossings" (8, p. 27). This THE CHANGING ROLE OF STATE quote from a study on transborder relations BOUNDARIES between Mexico and the United States dem onstrates the problems encountered by re An important change in the perception of gional tourism in border areas. Indeed, na- boundaries has taken place in late 20th cen- 8 tury Europe and tourism has certainly played • The ideological function for borders has an important role in this process. While po lost much of its former importance. Un litical boundaries had for a long time been der the impact of modem communica considered as barriers, their dividing role tion technology (especially Internet), the has gradually been reduced, and they have battle to ward offoutside ideas has been lost part of their initial function. Guichonnet lost. The 'Iron Curtain' did divide the & Raffestin ( 4, p. 36) call this process de world into two halves, but it did not suc functionalisation. The outcome of this ceed in shutting the socialist world com change will be a certain degree of homog pletely offfrom the rest of the globe. enisation, including loss of diversity, but it will also facilitate exchange and human in These functions are related to the growth of tercourse. The five roles of political fron the nation-state since the 17th century. The tiers all change somewhat with defunction role of this kind of state is increasingly be alisation. ing questioned, and as a consequence, boundaries are losing their importance. In • The legal role, to mark the periphery of a Europe, this process began with the activi state's jurisdiction, is likely to be the last ties of the Council of Europe in 1949. It has of the five functions to disappear be continued during the years following various cause sovereign states require a perime treaties on economic cooperation (e.g. Coal tre up to which laws and policies can be and Steel Community, Euratom, European enforced. Economic Community), particularly in • The fiscal function relates to the protec terms of communal and regional transborder tion of the national economy and the de collaboration (2, 14). This has culminated fence of the national market. Duties are in the signing of the Schengen treaty by collected on imports, in some rare cases members of the European Union (EU), also on exports, and further taxes can be whereby borders between member states can added. Current processes have begun to now be crossed freely without customs and abolish this barrier, but since it is one of immigration inspections. Whether this lib the major sources of income, there may eralisation will effectively promote tourism, be some resistance fromgovernments. however, remains to be seen. Increased mo • The purpose of the control function is bility and affluence are probably more im the surveillance of goods and people portant influences on tourist movements crossing the border. It is with this func than the absence of passport controls. A tion that a state can act beyond its terri Dutch or a German family, for example, tory, because immigration laws may en who desire to spend their holiday in Spain courage or discourage migration. will go there whether or not they have to • The military or defence function has lost show their passports. Short-term tourism much of its importanceowing to the new ( e.g. day trips), on the other hand, may well technologies of warfare. However, bor receive a boost from freer transborder mo der conflicts are still a reality in many bility. parts of the world; hence, fortifying the boundary still seems to make sense. In recent times, drug traffic and illegal im TOURISM IN SWITZERLAND migration have led to a reconsideration of this function. Switzerland has often been associated with tourism, apart from banks, cheese, and 9 watches. Indeed, in terms of the national and hardly confronted with the problem of economy, international tourism is still of political boundaries, regions do exist where considerable importance, although its con boundaries constitute an obstacle to the de tribution to the trade balance varies over velopment of tourism (17, p. 143). Most time and has even been diminishing gradu obvious may be seaside resorts, where ally in recent years (Table 1). In 1990, 7.9 communication along the coast would oth million foreign tourists spent at least one erwise be easy ( e.g. along the French night in Switzerland. That number declined Spanish border on both sides of the Pyren in 1992 to 7.5 million and in 1994, the fig ees). Other examples include mountain re ure was measured at 7.3 million. Despite gions where a skiing area may be shared by this decline, tourism is still an important two or even three countries. Similarly, na economic sector in Switzerland. tional parks may lie on either side of the boundary and, despite limited access, be of Occupying the central portion of the Alps, interest for transborder 'soft tourism' (e.g. Switzerland is well-known among both hiking, animal watching). The existence of summer and winter tourists. Mountain a barrier to communication may thus reduce climbing, hiking, and water sports are the area's attractiveness and lower the eco popular during the summer, while the coun nomic potential that tourism undoubtedly try's primary attractions in the winter are offers. downhill and cross-country skiing. In creasingly, however, summer skiing on al One can argue that tourism development on titudes above 3000 meters has become one side of a boundary may have a spill-over popular, and the necessary infrastructure effect on adjacent regions in the neighbour (i.e. cable-cars and ski-lifts) has been in ing country. If the boundary can be crossed stalled. freely, transborder tourism may develop to some extent, but if the boundary becomes The principal tourist regions are all situated defunctionalised, at least in part, a truly in in the Alps or along the major lakes (see ternational tourist region will emerge. In Figure 1). The Orisons, the Valais, central ternational parks may be a first step in this Switzerland, the Bernese Oberland, and Ti direction (see the examples in 18, p. 528). cino accounted for approximately 60% of all The road to such regional integration, how bed nights in 1997 (31.98 million). Urban ever, is long because old border stereotypes tourism is of relatively little importance, al have yet to be abolished. The Regio though Zurich as an economic and financial TriRhena (the three-nation region around centre is particularly attractive to some types Basle, including parts of France, Germany of tourists. The number of bed nights in Zu and Switzerland), for example, has taken rich in 1997 exceeded that of the popular roughly one generation (25 to 30 years) to Ticino mountain region, but this is essen become what it is now-a leading tourism tially owing to business travel and conven area in Western Europe. It is a painstaking tion tourism. process that demands a great deal of pa tience and goodwill. TRANSBORDERTOURIST AREAS Basle represents a formalized international conurbation with a variety of flows across Apart from 'ordinary' tourist resorts and re the boundaries.

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