Socio-cultural proximity, daily life and shopping tourism in the Dutch–German border region

Abstract

This paper analyses feelings of socio-cultural proximity and distance with a specific focus on the tourist experience in cross-border shopping and everyday life practices in border regions. We examined shopping practices of Dutch border crossers who visit the German town Kleve in the Dutch-German border region. This particular border context has allowed us not only to reflect on a multidimensional approach towards socio-cultural proximity and distance, but also to examine how these different dimensions express themselves in the tourist experience when it comes to people and places that are geographically 'close' but assumingly socially and culturally 'distant' from home. Although some differences prompted feelings of discomfort, in particular, differences in social engagement, feelings of comfort stand out in our analysis of cross-border shopping tourism. Furthermore, our study shows that shopping tourism and exoticism, on the one hand, and everyday routines and the mundane, on the other hand, are closely intertwined in the lives of people living in a border region, resulting in a fluid interpretation of the exotic and the mundane in the cross-border context.

Stretching the Border: Shopping, Petty Trade and Everyday Life Experiences in the Polish–Ukrainian Borderland

“…Over time, however, people may become accustomed to these discontinuities and contradictions in which their cross‐border practices take place, and no longer pay attention to, for instance, different social and cultural norms and values or languages. As a result of frequent interactions and routine repetition of practices, border crossers can develop feelings of familiarity and find spaces of comfort and ease in the borderland and beyond the state border (Szytniewski et al ., ; see also Wise, ; Cresswell, ; Blokland and Nast, ).…”

“…In some cases, people may even feel closer to a particular border region that straddles both sides of a state border than to the state in which they live. This form of regional attachment can, for instance, result from a tradition of daily life practices in the borderland that contribute to the development of shared narratives, regional histories and everyday familiarity with the border (Szytniewski et al ., ). The meaning that border crossers give to a borderland and the presence of the state border is then closely linked to their feelings of belonging within and beyond the state in which people live (see also van Houtum and van der Velde, ; Paasi, ; Konrad, ).…”

Harmonization of socioeconomic policy and institutional set-up for efficient operation on Nepal-India open border small business

“…They observe that good information about market, hassle-free border movements, communication access in the border region are the important influencing aspects for cross border purchase (Schack, 1999;Setnikar et al, 2014). Hence, Szytniewski et al (2017) rightly remarks that feelings of proximity and distance are sensed rather than known, especially in the performance of peoples' movement for cross border purchase. Houtum (2000) believes that effective level of communication makes purchase much better in border area.…”

“…people on both side, (Paudyal, 2014 andAdhikari, 2015) study the historical, architectural and cultural aspects of the subject matter, and Kavitha (2016) highlights problems and prospects of open border development in the region in question. Most of these and other studies argued that open borderss have proved to be beneficial in terms of socio-cultural ties, economic interdependence, and unique bilateral relation between both India and Nepal (Szytniewski et al, 2017).…”

Introduction: proximity and intraregional aspects of tourism

“…Studying cross-border mobility, Szytniewski (2016) analyzes the case of Dutch shopping visitors in Kleve, a town just across the border in Germany. In what could be called an international example of proximity tourism, Szytniewski et al neatly point to the multidimensionality of sociocultural proximity and distance.…”