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Tourismasaglobalpolicyfactor
Tourismdevelopment
asawayoutofinternationalisolation
Itcanbeassumedthatthestimulationofentrytourismcontributestothe
developmentofdemocracy:themorevisitorsfromdemocraticStates,the
morefreedomintheircountryoftemporaryresidence.Perhapssuchaview
hastherighttoexist,althoughexamplesoftouristStatesintheMiddleEast
hardlyconfirmthis.Anydemocratizationisaprocessofinternalpolitical
transformationbasedontheorganicacceptanceofnewvaluesbysociety.
Touristscanserveasanexample(orantiprimer)ofthebenefitsofcertain
socialandpoliticalmodels.Buttheyarecertainlyunabletochangedomestic
politicalfeatures.Moreover,thetouristflowasanimportantexportitemcan
servetostrengthentheauthoritarianregimeduetotheinflowofcurrency,
sometimesverylarge.China,CubaandtheMiddleEastmonarchies
clearlydemonstratesuchfeatures.ThelegitimizationofunrecognizedStates
mustbementioned.Thepeoplewhocometheredefacto(andaftercrossing
theborderoftendejure)recognizetheindependenceofthispublicentity.
AsimilarstrategyisimplementedbytheTurkishRepublicofNorthern
Cyprus,whichonlyAnkaraformallyrecognizes,whichdoesnotpreventthe
TurkishCypriotsfromacceptingmorethanamilliontouristsayear,not
onlyfromTurkey,butalsofromtheEU,Russia,etc.
Touristflowasaninstrumentofpoliticalinfluence
Itisclearthattourismbecomesaninstrumentofpoliticalinfluenceonlyif
thehost’sincomeplaysasignificantroleinthenationalorregionaleconomy.
Willthissituationhaveanyseriouspoliticalconsequences?Let’strytoseek
examplesfromothercountriesandepochs.Afterthesocialistrevolutionin
CubaonJanuary1,1959,thetouristflowtoCubafromtheUnitedStates
felltoalmostzero.Havetheseandothersanctionsaffectedtheeconomyof
FreedomIsland?Ofcourse,affected!Thetourismindustryhasundergone
amajortransformation.Havesanctionsandareductioninthenumberof
touristshelpedaddressthepoliticalchallengesoftheUnitedStates?No,and
eventuallyWashingtonevenacknowledgedit.ChangesinCuba,atleastnow,
aretakingplacefordomesticpoliticalreasons,notbecauseofpressureon
certainsectorsoftheeconomy.AsimilarsituationwithIran,which,being
asecularpro-Westerncountryinthe1970s,attractedasignificantnumber
oftourists.Afterthe1979Islamicrevolution,thetouristflowdeclined
dramatically,andsanctionswereimposedonIranbyboththeUnitedStates
andtheEuropeanCommunity.
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