How border tripoints offer opportunities for transboundary tourism development

Abstract

Borders have significant potential as tourist attractions, and there are many aspects of unique border locations capable of attracting people's attention. One such attraction would be the tripoint, i.e. a place where the borders of three different countries meet physically at a single point. One of the newest such features in Europe where the borders of Poland, Slovakia and Czechia meet in the Beskid Mountainsprovides an example of far-reaching borderrelated changes in the EU, the creativity of local authorities as supported by EU funds, and the creation of a new transboundary meeting space with a strong integration-related identity. It also exemplifies the concept of a new tourist space beyond traditional tourist destinations. The development of tourism at tripoints is modelled ideographically. Spatio-temporal analysis with scalar dimensions shows the spatial relationships between tripoints and tourism development: the central point, the immediate vicinity, the proximal neighborhood (or local zone) and the regional zone. The tripoint examined here supports a proposal for a spatial planning model at tripoints in Europe.

Historical heraldic symbols as a marker of reproducing and transforming regional identity: The case of Ukraine

“…Transformation of perceived territorial shape (boundaries) may be studied based on (1) directly investigated individual perceptions using Lynch-type mental maps (Lynch, 1960), when respondents are asked to draw their perceptions of a region at the map (Siwek & Kaňok, 2000;Semian, 2012;Šerý & Šimáček, 2012;Chalupa, 2015;Marek, 2015;Markeliuk, Gomaniuk, & Sarkisov, 2019;Marek, 2020b), (2) regional consciousness of population, asking people about their identification with the region, their knowledge on the region and attitudes to the region (Siwek & Kaňok, 2000;Šerý, 2014;Vaishar & Zapletalová, 2016;Melnychuk & Gnatiuk, 2018), and (3) markers of identity of a region -regional features (symbols and institutions) (Więckowski, 2021).…”

The border as a resource – new places for tourism development. Evidence from two Carpathian tripoints

“…There is broad discussion of differences in tourism patterns and cross-boundary sites, including as regards the growth of cross-border cooperation and transboundary destinations [14,15]. Cross-border cooperation is not easy [16,8], but it offers the potential to tap into EU funds, allows for the creation of cross-border tourist space [2], and increases the symbolism of space within trilateral settings [17]. The European Union policy on transboundary integration and regions is being pursued via the Interreg programmes, whose aim has been to promote regional development and cross-border cooperation.…”

“…Currently the development of tourism in borderlands is increasingly important. It has been facilitated by recent border openings and the changing role of borders since the widespread geopolitical and socioeconomic transitions of the past quarter-century in many parts of the world [1,2].…”

“…The most attractive borders, ancient walls, and boundary curiosities have started to play more significant roles in tourism. It is thanks to attractions being associated with the boundary itself, a peripheral location, differences between sides, and the creation of crossborder space, that they tend to become tourist attractions [2]. Borders interest tourists as curiosities, symbolic elements, items of heritage and sources of education and learning [2,3,4].…”

“…It is thanks to attractions being associated with the boundary itself, a peripheral location, differences between sides, and the creation of crossborder space, that they tend to become tourist attractions [2]. Borders interest tourists as curiosities, symbolic elements, items of heritage and sources of education and learning [2,3,4]. In Europe, they also symbolise cooperation, while potentially attracting with unique marking, history and narration.…”