Tourism and Geopolitics. Issues and Concepts from Central and Eastern Europe

TOURISM AND GEOPOLITICS. ISSUES AND CONCEPTS FROM CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE Edited by: DEREK HALL, CABI (CAB International), Wallingford, Oxfordshire, UK / Boston, MA, USA, 2017, 378 pp., ISBN: 978-178-064-761-6In recent years, tourism development in the post-communist European countries has been characterized by a growing number of international visitors, attracted by the favorable geopolitical evolution.'Tourism and Geopolitics. Issues and Concepts from Central and Eastern Europe', edited by Derek Hall, presents the various connections between tourism and geopolitics and it brings an important contribution to the literature regarding the formerly communist countries situated in this part of the European continent.The book consists of 26 clearly organized chapters, structured in 7 parts (I-VII), representing articles written by 29 contributors from different countries of Central and Eastern Europe. From these 26 articles, 7 belong to Derek Hall, the editor of the book, as an unique author or contributor.The book gathers information on a wide range of post-communist European countries and territories: Romania, Bulgaria, Poland, Czech Republic, Albania, the states that belonged to the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo or Montenegro) or the ex-Soviet countries (Ukraine, Russian Federation, including the exclave of Kaliningrad).The publication can be described as extremely topical and of immediate interest, as it brings to the public attention important recent geopolitical events and changes that took place in Eastern and Central Europe, such as the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, the recent migrations, the Middle East refugee crisis or the growing number of terrorist attacks and their impact on local tourism. What is more, the focus is explicitly on the idea of tourism as a promoter of peace and cooperation.The first part, 'Introduction and Overviews' gathers three chapters, 'Bringing Geopolitics to Tourism' (Author: Derek Hall), 'Tourism and Geopolitics: The Political Imaginary of Territory, Tourism and Space' and 'Tourism in the Geopolitical Construction of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), and it provides a rather theoretical approach of the evolution of the connexions between tourism and geopolitical strategies, interpreted in the authors' view.The second part of the book, 'Reconfiguring conceptions and reality, consists of 4 chapters that bring into focus the concepts of 'post-socialism' and 'post-communism'.These concepts and ideas are illustrated with relevant examples: the Adriatic region, which faces a continuous cultural development, Ukraine and Crimea, whose tourist activities have been highly affected by the unilateral reunification of the peninsula with Russia, or Montenegro, whose tourism expansion may cause difficulties in the European integration process due to the close economic relations with The Russian Federation.'Tourism and transnationalism', the third part of the book, gathers four chapters and it examines the way in which transnational corporations have exerted their economic power in the countries situated in Central and Eastern Europe. Therefore, the articles focus on the large-scale tourism development in Czech rural areas, highly influenced by the great flow of Dutch tourists, the expansion of international hotel chains in the former communist states or cross-border consumption practices, very obvious especially in the case of the Romanian - Hungarian border. Moreover, this part of the book brings into attention important trends, such as the liberalisation of post-socialist markets, the decentralisation, the privatisation processes or the rapid growth of transnational companies. …