EJTHR 2019; 9(1): 3-17 Research Article Doug Ramsey*, Tatanja Thimm, Leonie Hehn Cross-border Shopping Tourism: A Switzerland- Germany Case Study https://doi.org/10.2478/ejthr-2019-0002 Keywords: Shopping tourism; Border tourism; Switzer- received October 12, 2017; accepted January 15, 2018 land; Germany; Retail economies Abstract: Border issues continue to be of interest in tourism literature, most significantly that which focusses on cross-border shopping (e.g., currency values, taxation, 1 Introduction security). Borders as destinations are recognized in this area but the notion of shopping as a destination is perhaps Studies of the relationship between cross-border shop- less acknowledged. Following a review of the relevant lit- ping and tourism activities are not new (e.g., Kreck, erature, including the presentation of a table summariz- 1985; Timothy & Butler, 1995; Wang, 2004; Wachowiak ing key areas of cross-border tourism research around the & Engels, 2006; Sullivan, Bonn, Bhardwaj & DuPont, world, this paper presents a unique example of a border 2012) and studies that specifically focus on cross-border region with two-way traffic for cross-border shopping shopping tourism often take the form of a case study and tourism: the border between Germany and Switzerland. are predominantly framed as two-country cases (e.g., The particular case is where two cities meet at the border: Leal, Lopez-Laborda & Rodrigo, 2010). While the level of Konstanz, Germany and Kreuzlingen, Switzerland. An border restrictions affect levels of cross-border shopping, intercept survey and key informant interviews were con- even in Europe, with the creation of the Euro-zone, has ducted in both communities in the spring of 2015. The not eliminated cross-border shopping due to a range of results indicate high levels of traffic for various products issues such as economic disparities between countries, and services. And while residents are generally satisfied different prices for certain products and services, and dif- with cross-border shopping in their communities, there fering taxation regimes. Stronger economic imbalances are emerging issues related to volume and, in particular, between two countries can often lead to more intensive too many in Konstanz and not enough in Kreuzlingen. exchanges of goods and services (Timothy, Guia & Berhet, The paper concludes with a discussion that includes the 2014). Further complicating cross-border shopping issues development of a model cross-border shopping tourism within central Europe is Switzerland, which while main- that recognizes the multiple layers in space and desti- taining some connections to the European Union (EU), nation. The paper concludes with a proposal to further still retains national control over several factors related investigate the particular issues related to the volume on to cross-border shopping including border security and both sides of borders where cross-border shopping is the currency. destination. This paper examines cross-border shopping tourism at the Swiss-German border of Kreuzlingen, Switzerland and Konstanz, Germany. For many years, Switzerland has been a comparatively expensive country for Germans to visit. With the latest sudden increase of the Swiss Franc against the Euro beginning in 2015, this situation has *Corresponding author: Doug Ramsey, Department of Rural Deve- intensified resulting in significant advantages for the lopment, Brandon University, 270 18th Street, Brandon, Manitoba, German retail economy and a comparatively difficult Canada R7A 6A9, E-mail: [email protected] retail position for the Swiss retail economy along/close Tatanja Thimm, Department of Business, Cultural and Legal Studies, to the border to Germany. Currently, 40% of the turnover HTWG Konstanz (Constance University of Applied Sciences), Alfred- Wachtel-Straße 8, 78462 Konstanz, Germany of German retailers close to the Swiss border is made up Leonie Hehn, European Projects Office, Barcelona Chamber of Com- by Swiss clients with the Swiss Franc revaluation serving merce, Avenida Diagonal 452 - 08006 Barcelona, Spain as an economic stimulus package for them. Switzerland, Open Access. © 2019 Doug Ramsey et al. published by De Gruyter. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Licen- se. 4 D. Ramsey et al on the other hand, remains an ‘island of high prices’ for can, China-Hong Kong, and European case studies. Table most goods and services. Furthermore, shopping tourism 1 provides a summary of the geographies and topics of in Konstanz induces non-shopping tourism activity such study related to border tourism. Together, these examples as visitors frequenting restaurants or cultural institutions reinforce the importance of understanding the complexi- in the old town of Konstanz, stay overnight, or expand ties of border issues through regional case studies. their demand for other goods and services such as well- The research in this paper is rooted in the seminal ness, medical care, car repair and real estate. Even if the works of Timothy (2001) and Wachowiak (2006). Both number of Swiss shopping tourists starts to decrease authors give an overview of former conceptualisations slowly and slightly due to the Euro getting stronger in of tourism and borders and refer to several case studies. 2017, Swiss shoppers remain an important cornerstone of In particular, Timothy’s (2001) classification of the func- the Konstanz retail economy (Homann, 2018). tion of the border in tourism as a barrier, borderland Based on the review and analysis of existing cross-bor- tourism attractions, and borders as modifiers of tourism der literature and the context of the border retail issues landscapes, provide a valuable pattern to analyse the highlighted in media accounts in the Konstanz-Kreuzlin- interdependency of borders and tourism. Wachowiak gen region, four field research questions were developed: and Engels (2006) provide a detailed overview on inter- national research and literature on cross-border issues: 1. What are the specific conditions of the Konstanz-Kreu- cross-border co-operation in tourism, social, geographic, zlingen cross-border shopping tourism? environmental, political, legal and economic aspects of 2. In which way does the current situation of cross-bor- cross-border tourism, and regional and national cases. der shopping tourism in Konstanz-Kreuzlingen Wachowiak (2006), furthermore, provides case study confirm or reject the existing models of cross-border examples on the subject in Europe and North America. shopping tourism? In the Konstanz-Kreuzlingen case, this literature is par- ticularly noteworthy, as Switzerland maintains an auton- 3. Can a new model be derived from the data? omous, regulated border, and yet has close economic – 4. In which way is this model transferable to other including bilateral treaties and trade ties – with the rest of cross-border regions? Europe through the European Free Trade Association, and is a member of Schengen area, which comprises European To place the research in context, this paper begins by states that have abolished passport controls at border reviewing the literature on border tourism generally, and crossings. cross-border shopping tourism, specifically. In doing so, An early model developed by Timothy and Butler a model is presented that illustrates the layers of visitor (1995) examined the relationship between distance and engagement even when the motivating purpose of the both frequency of trips and value of goods purchased. In visit is shopping. Following a description of the research an examination of North American cross-border shopping methods, including intercept surveys and personal inter- tourism, they found that people travelled more to close views, the results of the research are summarized. A destinations but tended to spend more per visit in des- layered model is presented in the discussion section as a tinations farther from the actual border crossing. Other way forward in understanding the overlapping nature of models applied to tourism and borders are also key includ- tourist visits that include shopping. The paper concludes ing Kanbur and Keen (1993) research on the influence of with remarks on the research and suggests future research different taxation systems and the Nash equilibrium, as needs and opportunities. applied by Ohsawa (1999), Lucas (2004), and Dascher and Haupt (2011) on transaction costs and price differentials. Very specific topics of tourism and borders relevant to this paper include cross-border lotteries (Garrett & Marsh, 2 Literature Review 2002), cross-border innovation spaces (Weidenfeld, 2013), cross-border tourism governance (Stoffelen, Ioannides 2.1 Border Tourism & Vanneste, 2017), international border parks (Timothy, 1999), knowledge transfer in tourism collaborations (Mak- Border tourism gained prominence in the tourism litera- konen, Williams, Widenfeld & Kaisto, 2018), border secu- ture beginning in the mid-1990s (e.g., Timothy & Butler, rity and tourism (Dibb, Ball, Canhoto, Daniel, Meadows 1995; Kanbur & Keen, 1993; Di Matteo & Di Matteo, 1996). & Spiller, 2014), cross-border tourism and sustainability This literature has primarily focused on the North Ameri- (e.g., Timothy, 2000, 2001; Gelbman & Timothy, 2011), Cross-border Shopping Tourism: A Switzerland-Germany Case Study 5 Table 1: Sample of the Geographies and Research Areas in the Cross-border Shopping Tourism Literature Region Topic Author(s) Non-European USA-Mexico Discount outlet malls Sullivan et al. (2012) USA-Canada