Impact of Tourism on National Soft Power

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Impact of Tourism on National Soft Power V. Jureniene, S. Jurene 468 ISSN 1648-4460 Trends and Impact of Services Sector Development ---------TRANSFORMATIONS IN -------- Jureniene, V., Jurene, S. (2019), “Impact of Tourism on National Soft BUSINESS & ECONOMICS Power”, Transformations in Business & Economics, Vol. 18, No 3C (48C), pp.468-484. © Vilnius University, 2002-2019 © Brno University of Technology, 2002-2019 © University of Latvia, 2002-2019 IMPACT OF TOURISM ON NATIONAL SOFT POWER 1Virginija Jureniene 2Skaiste Jurene Institute of Social Sciences and Institute of Social Sciences and Applied Informatics Applied Informatics Kaunas Faculty Kaunas Faculty Vilnius University Vilnius University Muitinės Str. 8 Muitinės Str. 8 LT-44280 Kaunas LT-44280 Kaunas Lithuania Lithuania E-mail:[email protected] E-mail: [email protected] 1Virginija Jureniene, PhD, is a professor at the Department of Philosophy and Cultural Studies at Kaunas Faculty, Vilnius University. Her areas of research include: culture management, culture/creative tourism and gender issues. 2Skaiste Jurene, MBA, works at the Department of Business Economics and Management at Kaunas Faculty, Vilnius University. Her main research areas: creative industries, culture management, creative clusters, creative economy. Received: September, 2018 ABSTRACT. The article presents and analysis of the concept of st 1 Revision: January, 2019 soft powerand cultural tourism and Lithuania tourism situation in nd 2 Revision: April, 2019 2017-2018. In order to analyse the influence of tourism on soft Accepted: August, 2019 power in the case of Lithuania, a comparative statistical analysis method and qualitative research (interview) was carried out. Results shows that Lithuania carries out the following three types of cultural tourism: local, inbound and outbound. All these three types of tourism are seen as growing throughout the period of 2014-2016. Hovewer, the research did not reveal the fact that cultural tourism had a direct impact as art on the country’s soft power. But, cultural tourism uses cultural heritage, cultural events (festivals), art exhibitions, etc., by creating tourism products; therefore, it can be stated that cultural tourism can be a channel (carrier) of the country’s soft power. Thus, tourism has an indirect impact on the country’s soft power. KEYWORDS: impact, tourism, soft power, values, Lithuania. JEL classification: Z3. TRANSFORMATIONS IN BUSINESS & ECONOMICS, Vol. 18, No 3C (48C), 2019 V. Jureniene, S. Jurene 469 ISSN 1648-4460 Trends and Impact of Services Sector Development Introduction In this age of globalisation, recreational and cognitive travelling is becoming an inseparable part of human existence. There is a diversity of travelling goals, duration and destinations. In the 21st century, cultural tourism is defined as one of the most rapidly growing areas of tourism (Holloway, Humphreys, 2012, p.283; Blagojevic et al., 2018). However, there are arguments that make one question the prosperity period of cultural tourism, and human desire to travel using non-traditional motifs is explained in the context of “post-modernism”: Reasoning that cultural tourism is a growing market is based on speculation and indirect indexes rather than direct proof; there are not systemic analyses in this area. The situation is usually explained in terms of “post-modernism” which, from the sociological point of view, is particular of societal democratisation, growing education, authenticity, search and other features rather than specific numbers (Armaitienė, 2006). Armaitienė (2006) agrees with Wynne (1992) that during the post-modernist period, the differences between not only elite and mass culture, but also between the concepts of “culture”, “tourism” and “daily life” become vague. Nevertheless, according to Dapkus (2008), in the beginning of the 21st century, cultural tourism takes up one fifth of the entire new tourism market (Dapkus, 2008; Yalçinkaya et al., 2018). Agreeing with Dapkus’ statement it is important to see whether tourism can be a channel of transferring soft power into another culture. In scientific literature, this is a new and unexplored topic. There are studies on the power of art (music) in the end of the “cold war”. Problem of the research: Is cultural tourism a channel for the spread of soft power into other cultures/societies? Aim of the article: to analyse the impact of cultural tourism on national soft power. Methods: Secondary data collection and systematisation, analysis of scientific literature, synthesis and comparative methods were used to implement the research. 1. The Concept of Soft Power In the beginning of the 20th century, politics and academic works began facing increasing discussions on the difference between hard power and soft power. In the last two decades, Joseph S. Nye has been the main advocate for the definition of soft power. According to him, hard power encompasses military and economic potential, whereas soft power includes other, less tangible dimensions of power. Nye (2004, p.1) defines soft power as “the ability to shape the preferences of others”. This ability is directly dependent on the attractiveness of that which holds the power. According to Nye, a country can achieve its goals in global politics when other countries want to follow its example, admire its values and want to copy it in order to achieve the same level of prosperity and openness. This means that to create an agenda in global politics an attract others is as important as making others change by using threats or military and economic weapons. An aspect of this power it to make others want the same things (Nye, 2002, p.9). One of the main aspects of soft power is attractiveness; however, this is not a new idea. In his analysis of power in global politics, Edward E. Carr claims that power over opinion including military and economic types of power is one of the main forms of power (Carr, 1946, p.132). However, Nye and Carr disagree on whether propaganda can be an efficient instrument to ensure power over opinion. Nye denies efficiency of propaganda, whereas Carr claims that propaganda can be an effective tool of governance, at least for a TRANSFORMATIONS IN BUSINESS & ECONOMICS, Vol. 18, No 3C (48C), 2019 V. Jureniene, S. Jurene 470 ISSN 1648-4460 Trends and Impact of Services Sector Development period of time (Carr, 1946, p.145). Even though soft power has caused considerable amount of discussions, researchers and decision makers have started treating it more favourably. Even though soft power became an especially important aspect of discussions on the power of of USA after the Cold War, the conception of soft power has recently been used more in China and Russia (Nye, 2013, p.1). Due to this reason, Nye criticised the ability of these countries to increase and demonstrate soft power because of unattractiveness of these countries to liberal democracies. Nye finds the definition of hard power similar to the initial expression of power (threats and inducement, military and economic potential). Also, an important element of power is the ability to shape the preferences of others (Nye, 2002, p.9). Meanwhile, Lake (2010) focuses on the similarities between soft power and charismatic authority. Lake (2010, p.6) points out that soft power is an alternative for charismatic authority. It can be said that this argument is based on the thought that soft power is mostly based on the attractiveness of a country. For example, cultural attractiveness can significantly increase general attractiveness of a country, which allows shaping preferences of others and increases the desire to follow the example of that country whose culture is attractive to others (Nye, 2011, p.43). The last aspect also emphasises the ability of a government to generate and manage soft power. Even though Nye (2004, p.8) admits that it is often difficult for a government to control and apply soft power, few would have doubts that a government increasingly tries to create its image in its own country and abroad. The European Union is described as a foreign policy agent that lacks hard power. As a consequence of this, theoretical tests that represent the EU external actions have often paved the path in foreign policy with the help of such concepts of non-power as “soft power”, “normative power” or “civil power”. Most of these “ES - adjective plus power” measures represent the EU as a certain agent in international relations. On the other hand, analysis of the EU foreign policy often emphasises the aspect of values. According to this text, as a consequence of European integration factors due to the European history and inherent mixed nationhood, the EU has developed a normative difference, i.e. centrality of peace, freedom, democracy, legal norms and human rights, plus a set of “smaller norms” such as solidarity, anti-discrimination, sustainable government and effective management have structured its internal and external activities together with its specific identity (Lang, 2015, p.33; Eslami et al., 2018, p.183). Therefore, the essential peculiarity that distinguishes the EU from other merely “civil” powers aims at not only its pragmatic interests by non-military means, but also includes normative or even moral aspects in its goals. Using its institutional and procedural tools as well as financial and economic resources, the EU attempts to form an international field, especially its direct environment, on the basis of its axiomatic assumptions. Templates and mechanisms used for this encompass various forms of diffusion, “infection”, persuasion, discourse-forming or example power. While much attention has been paid to make these diffusion and shift channels to work, it is also important to note various inclusion and activity levels that are expressed by these mechanisms to the European Union as a broadcaster of soft power. With regard to this, there are active projections of soft power forms that are based on inducement, conditions, obedience and awarding with games. Passive soft power measures such as attractiveness due to possession of certain skills, success or solutions.
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