Tourist Clusters as a Factor in Activating Cross-Border Spatial Development

Abstract

Tourism is one of the factors of local economic development and cross-border cooperation on EU borders, reducing the risk of economic recession in those areas. The purpose of the article is to reveal trends in the development of cross-border tourism on the Polish-Belarusian border and to verify the following research issues: 1) whether the economic sanctions introduced by EU countries on Russia after 2014 reduced cross-border traffic on the Polish-Belarusian section of the EU border; 2) to what extent the tourist potential of the Polish-Belarusian region corresponds to the demand in the modern European market; 3) how the new visa-free travel mechanisms activate tourist markets; 4) to what extent tourism stimulates the development of new forms of urban growth in the cultural landscapes of the cross-border region. The process of shaping tourism clusters as a form of the spatial organisation of tourism development in cross-border regions was analysed using analytical and synthetic methods. The research area covers the eastern border of Poland on the section of its border with Belarus. The primary research and empirical materials were obtained from the Central Statistical Office of Poland and the Statistical Committee of Belarus on tourism on the eastern border of Poland in the years 2015–2018. An investigation of the subject literature and source documents, as well as field observations and statistical analyses, were carried out. Particular attention was paid to the creation of a visa-free regime region in the special tourist zones of “Brest” and “Grodno” in the border regions of Belarus.

Cross-border tourist mobility as seen by residents of the Karelian borderlands: COVID-19 restrictions

“…Theoretically, the definitions of the study phenomenon stand out for the flexible use of the terms 'transboundary tourist mobility' [1], 'transboundary tourist migration' [2], 'international inbound/outbound tourist flow' [3] and 'crossborder tourism' [4; 5]. This circumstance points to some specific features of the life of modern society.…”

Trans border recreational tourism complexes (TBRTC) as a result of international collaboration

“…In particular, Livandovschi (2017) studied cross-border tourism and its significance for tourism destinations. Pirozhnik (2020) studied tourism clusters as a factor in activating cross-border spatial development. Summary studies of transborder collaboration in several Eastern European countries are presented in Więckowski (2010), Rudawska and Fedorowski (2016), Żemła and Ziółkowska-Weiss (2017), Dołzbłasz (2018), Więckowski and Saarinen (2019), Korol and Skutar (2019).…”