Border attractions in liminal space. Evidence from Poland.

Keywords: border, tourism, Poland
Abstract Type: Paper Abstract

Abstract

Many researchers have shown that borders possess specific resources, have great potential, and offer conditions favourable to the development of tourism. It is thanks to attractions being associated with the boundary itself, a peripheral location, differences between sides, and the creation of cross-border space, that they tend to become tourist attractions.
Recent years have brought more and more examples of borders serving in the development of tourism. The heritage of places, reconstructed border crossings, etc. are emphasized both as curiosities, as well as deliberately as more and more important tourist attractions - processed even in tourist products. On the basis of them, new tourist places are created, and then the (open) border is capable of acting as a pole or line of growth, and becomes a brand around which planning, strategies, governance and marketing all develop.
The objectives of the research have been: first and foremost, to engage in conceptual analysis of a border role in tourism, with empirical evidence sought along the Polish borders. Many aspects of borders prove attractive to tourists. In this presentation, special attention will be focused on seven aspects of attractiveness to tourism, i.e. a) border markings (stones and obelisks); b) places of border crossings (e.g. featuring gates and border infrastructure); c) special points associated with borders; d) attractions related to defensive lines; e) objects bisected by a border; f) border stories, events and semantics (use of names); g) border trails and paths and borderland greenways.