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New tourist destinations in the Balkans: how can plan for sustainability in advance of international tourist invasions?

Mr. Tony TRAVIS - Emeritus Professor Tony Travis, United Kingdom

 

1) Changes: Political and Economic

a) The rapid eastward expansion of the European Union, has now come to include within it much of Balkan Europe. Long term plans  may bring all the  Balkan countries into the EU. Currently, Greece, Slovenia, Romania & Bulgaria are  all part of the European Union. The free flow of peoples now includes those to an expanded range of internal tourist destinations in S.E. Europe. Over 51 million people reside in the Balkan nations. These Balkan countries are potential competitors of France & Switzerland, and your and their futures are inter-connected.

b) Balkan Europe has highly variable internal levels of economic development, ranging from very high levels in Slovenia, N.Croatia, and the capital cities of the other countries, to notable under-development in most of the Balkan interior. Levels of effective town-planning, of control and management-systems for natural resources and environment, also vary enormously across these countries.

c) There are variable stages of tourist development evident in the Balkans. These range from the well-developed coasts of Slovenia, Croatia, Bulgaria, and of the Greek Islands, plus the highly developed ski resorts of Bulgaria, Greece, and Slovenia, to undeveloped coasts – as in Albania, and war-damaged or disinvested ski-resorts in some other countries.

d) The scale of the massive changes to the economic systems in many of these countries: from State-Capitalism/Socialist/Communist, over to mixed market economies, is dramatic and fundamental. The consequent redefinition of resort functions from social tourism over to competitive commercial tourism – both domestic and international has great implications. Variable standards, variable product-quality, service-quality, and pricing, means that the ability of the resorts to compete internationally, is also highly variable! Variable quality in the process of governance, and variable importance of the three levels of  government is a further complication.

To illustrate the variable levels of tourist development, one can see the high levels of ski resort development in countries like Greece, Bulgaria and Slovenia, compared to lower levels of such development elsewhere. High levels of Coastal development in Croatia and Bulgaria are attracting notable re-investment and growth.

2) Tourism Demands and Trends

Consumer demand is critical for tourism, and buoyant international demand now is leading to notable growth in Slovenia, Croatia, and Bulgaria, whilst there is a relative lack of international interest elsewhere. Indicative of the demand side are not only the seasonal international tourist movements, but also phenomena  such as the growth of foreign retirement and second-home demands by foreign nationals. A 2006 study showing 5.5 million UK citizens living abroad, is of relevance. This links closely to points made in Martin Brackenbury’s paper to this congress. Whilst Spain, France & Italy are the prime destinations for UK holidaymakers going abroad, UK retirees and second homers are  shown to prefer Australia, Spain, and the USA. Now property purchasers from the UK are starting to buy on-line, properties in Bulgaria, and Slovenia in noticeable numbers.

The types of foreign property being chosen by UK buyers, range from those in holiday/ retirement golf- resorts in Spain and Portugal, to time-share/ Property-bonds in  the Greek islands, and now- the start of purchase of old rural and coastal house purchases in Croatia and Bulgaria. There is a need to keep a careful balance both of property types, and balanced profile of age-groups in each resort, if it is  to remain a viable and normal community. International free markets in property or real estate, can lead to unequal access for local indigenous residents. This may then need rectifying action.

Dealing with this question of balance within property-stock and its usage, requires Local property policies-which may be of the’ carrot’ (ie incentive) type, or the ‘stick’ (control or tax) variety. Often there is a need to limit the number and location of second homes, especially when there is a danger of the conversion of first homes into second homes.

Cheap access by air to international tourist destinations, whilst generating environmental pollution and excess carbon imprints, has opened up international  tourist opportunities to many more people, and added the Balkans to the regions with cheap & easy air access.

Not only better climates, and lower pricing, but a widening range of cultural attractions have added to the special appeal: events, the arts, food, drink, music, conferences & congresses all attracting niche markets, as well as being add-ons to general markets.

Means for conserving, financing and protecting cultural heritage is a growing problem in the Balkans.

3) Responsive Tourism Supply

Responsive product supply is growing as demand grows, on both the Black Sea and the Adriatic. Speculative development &  property purchase have already been cited.

Therefore increasingly the issue arises as to how to protect local residents’ rights in the competition for access to housing stock.

As long ago indicated by tourism geographers like Lozato-Giotat, & Ashworth, there is a need to monitor the mix of property in resorts. This issue is at the heart of’ balance ’ – involving accommodation-stock, and –quality, indigenous and visitor-populations, plus economic and social viability. Economic viability involves

High occupancy rates, extension of seasons, plus access. The challenge is to try and define templates of what is desirable – economically, socially and culturally.

Balanced living communities need a spread of age-groups in  the resident population, to generate a full complement of economic, social, and cultural services.

Culture of the host society, and strong identity of a resort, are vital to its continuing appeal  and sustainability.

4) Instruments for Development-planning, and Conservation management

At least four sets of effective instruments are required to plan, manage, and keep resorts competitive over time:

Resort Development Plans/ Master-plans & site-development plans. Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia have  good standards in this field of  town planning.

Tourism Development Strategies- often arising out of National Strategies for Tourism, are Resort Strategies dealing with product-development, investment training, marketing etc.  Serbia is the most recent Balkan nation to have a new National Tourist Strategy, from which resort-strategies are being developed Environmental resource, or conservation –strategies- are critical in dealing With management of resource capacity, and special resource issues- such as Resort relations to National-park management plans eg as at Plitvice in Croatia.

Bio-diversity protection, landscape-quality maintenance are critical elements.

5) Resource Management & Monitoring plans- familiar in Western Europe and N. America, are gradually being introduced in some Balkan destinations. This can be the ideal context for property- monitoring and related policies. Property policies for tourist communities will be a growing issue in the Balkans. They extend the realm of sustainability into new areas.

6) Means for Sustainable Tourism-Planning

There is thus a need to examine as part of sustainability, the additional dimension of property-profiling. Such actions require the knowledge and skills of planners, real-estate specialists and surveyors. In each country one needs to establish who are the key actors controlling and influencing change in the property market at the local level.

Sustainability in this widened context thus requires:

• economic viability of resorts as competitive, commercial destinations, meeting a mix of domestic and foreign demands
• sustainability in environmental terms, now includes how’green’ a resort is, or far is its access from markets sustainable in carbon production terms.

Sustainability in community and cultural terms may require some safeguards in local community access to its own housing stock!

All these requirements may only be achievable in some Balkan countries- such as Croatia & Slovenia, where the control systems and skills are all available. Greece, though in some senses advanced, in other senses is a corrupt Third World nation!

Demand and supply have to be kept in balance: think of the overwhelmed fish in this Canadian fishing competition!

On the ’Cold Bed’-problem, the Balkans, in their communist phase, achieved high occupancy rates, and long seasons- in their hotels, trade union guest houses & the like, but had the same ‘cold bed ‘ problem in second homes, as these tended to be created in prestigious colonies of second homes-used for limited periods by privileged members of government, senior trade unionists, etc. Whilst seasonality questions for hotels in resorts can be dealt with effectively, second homes still cannot, in the Balkans.

7) Heritage Resources in the Balkans

The state of heritage resources in the Balkans is vital in the broader context of quality and sustainability. For built-,cultural-, and natural –heritage, the key variable is the amount of effective resource protection and conservation. Clean waters, clean beaches, virgin forests, unspoilt landscapes are key assets in competitive international tourism.

Conserved built heritage ranges from World Heritage sites in five of the Balkan nations, to conserved World Heritage natural sites in some of them, eg at Plitvice Lakes National Park, in Croatia. However, much built heritage is at risk in 4 balkan nations, and vast forests have been destroyed in Greece and Albania. Croatia and Greece also have some historic towns which are dying.

8) What chances are there for success?

Can sustainable development action be achieved in advance of growth of international tourism in the Balkans? Perhaps the limits of technical resources in some of the Balkan nations, limits of power, and of fiscal means, will reduce greatly the number of resorts which can be sustainable! On the question of accessibility, sustainable rail transport access is available in Slovenia, parts of Croatia, and in Romania especially, but radical improvements in rail lines, more trains, faster and better rolling stock are needed. Sadly the E.U. is still prioritising motorway and air access over rail development. It is France and Switzerland that remain the best European models for sustainable rail access.

High quality Slovene and Bulgarian ski-resorts, and lake-spa resorts like Bled are already competitors for Swiss and French Offers. However, quality-resorts like Chamonix, Courchevel and St. Moritz need not worry re the competition. New Greek spa hotels on the islands, pending renovation of quality hotels in Croatia etc. may be serious challengers.

The new spa programme, and wellness approach of a French Evian-les-Bains, or of an Austrian thermal, tennis, and golf resort – as at Bad Tatzmannadorf, in Austria – will be challenged! The Balkans potentially offers you millions of new customers-as tourists, but there are perhaps 20 or so distinctive and quality resorts in the Balkans, which will competitively challenge your products in France and Switzerland. In the face of such challenges, it would not be wise for you to remain complacent.