Pregledni rad
https://doi.org/10.20867/thm.1.2.10
The "return" of Czechs as tourists to the Croatian coast
Peter Jordan
; Austrian Institute of East and Southeast European Studies, Vienna, Austria
Sažetak
Tourist flows from certain regions of origin to certain destinations display a surprising amount of historical persistence in spite of profound changes in the type of tourism, touristic and transport infrastructure and touristic trends. This might be explained by geographic proximity, complementarity as regards leisure facilities, similarity of languages, cultural affinity etc. One of the most striking examples is the "return" of Czechs as tourists to the Croatian coast. The exceptional in this case is that a traditional flow has regenerated after four decades of almost a break, caused by the global political situation of a Cold War and an Iron Curtain.
Czechs, in the first line inhabitants of Prague and other urban centers of the Czech Lands, used to frequent the spas of the northern Croatian coast before World War I in large numbers. Baska on the island of Krk, e.g., owed its development to a seaside resort mainly to Czech interest and Emil Geistlich, a publisher from Prague, who set the first touristic initiatives there. In 1910 the resort was officially titled "Croatian-Czech seaside and health resort" and 3 out of 4 guests originated from the Czech Lands (Sersic, 1994, p. 83). But there were other "national" Czech resorts too.
In the interwar period the influx from Czechia became less prominent, albeit it was still remarkable. Even in Opatija, although at that time under Italian administration, in 1929 Czech guests ranked second after German tourists. Yet, Opatija hosted more Czech guests than tourists from Austria or even Italy (Statistica delle stazioni di cura .... 1929).
During the communist period the flow of tourists from Czechia to the Croatian coast followed quite closely the ups and downs of political liberalization and rigidity oscillating between figures near to zero in the 1940s, 1950s and early 1960s and relative highs in the late 1960s (Prague Spring) and in the mid- 1980s.
But immediately after the break-down of Communism in 1989 the flow of Czechoslovakian (actually mainly Czech) tourists to the Croatian coast increased significantly taking advantage of the (due to the wars in Slovenia and Croatia) low prices and easily available accommodation facilities. In 1994 tourists from the Czech Republic held the highest share in foreign overnight stays (Croatian Tourism Figures 1995, p. 24). Already in 1992 Czechoslovakian tourists had spent the relative or absolute majority of foreign tourist nights in 14 resorts statistically documented (Promet turista u primorskim opcinama 1992,1993). Among them were Baska, Krk, Njivice, Rabac, Rab, Kampor and Medveja.
Ključne riječi
Tourist flows; Czech tourists; Croatian coast
Hrčak ID:
182626
URI
Datum izdavanja:
30.12.1995.
Posjeta: 1.480 *