Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Eastbound Tourism in the Cold War : The History of the Swedish Communist Travel Agency Folkturist

Bechmann Pedersen, Sune LU orcid (2018) In Journal of Tourism History 10(2). p.130-145
Abstract
Millions of Westerners went on holiday behind the Iron Curtain during the Cold War. This article considers the place of Eastern Europe in the international travel industry through the prism of Folkturist, a travel agency owned by the Communist Party of Sweden. By analysing Folkturist's business strategies and interactions with the East European tourist industries, the article shows the competing interests at stake when the market for eastbound leisure tourism expanded. Balancing the quest for profit with political goals was a constant challenge for Folkturist, as it was for the various organisations and institutions engaged in the tourist industry in the socialist states. By analysing Folkturist's advertisement strategies and package tour... (More)
Millions of Westerners went on holiday behind the Iron Curtain during the Cold War. This article considers the place of Eastern Europe in the international travel industry through the prism of Folkturist, a travel agency owned by the Communist Party of Sweden. By analysing Folkturist's business strategies and interactions with the East European tourist industries, the article shows the competing interests at stake when the market for eastbound leisure tourism expanded. Balancing the quest for profit with political goals was a constant challenge for Folkturist, as it was for the various organisations and institutions engaged in the tourist industry in the socialist states. By analysing Folkturist's advertisement strategies and package tour organisation and those of its commercial competitors in Sweden, the article argues that traditional concepts of political tourism fail to capture the pragmatism of political entrepreneurs and the impact they had on the market for leisure tourism to Cold War Eastern Europe. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Cold war, Eastern Europe, Sweden, political tourism, tourism policy, state socialism
in
Journal of Tourism History
volume
10
issue
2
pages
16 pages
publisher
Taylor & Francis
external identifiers
  • scopus:85047497793
ISSN
1755-182X
DOI
10.1080/1755182X.2018.1469679
project
Holidays behind the Iron Curtain: The Politics of Scandinavian Tourism to Communist Europe, 1945–1989
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
d00577f3-da3c-4dc7-b116-702b82710616
date added to LUP
2018-04-23 08:52:19
date last changed
2022-04-25 06:58:43
@article{d00577f3-da3c-4dc7-b116-702b82710616,
  abstract     = {{Millions of Westerners went on holiday behind the Iron Curtain during the Cold War. This article considers the place of Eastern Europe in the international travel industry through the prism of Folkturist, a travel agency owned by the Communist Party of Sweden. By analysing Folkturist's business strategies and interactions with the East European tourist industries, the article shows the competing interests at stake when the market for eastbound leisure tourism expanded. Balancing the quest for profit with political goals was a constant challenge for Folkturist, as it was for the various organisations and institutions engaged in the tourist industry in the socialist states. By analysing Folkturist's advertisement strategies and package tour organisation and those of its commercial competitors in Sweden, the article argues that traditional concepts of political tourism fail to capture the pragmatism of political entrepreneurs and the impact they had on the market for leisure tourism to Cold War Eastern Europe.}},
  author       = {{Bechmann Pedersen, Sune}},
  issn         = {{1755-182X}},
  keywords     = {{Cold war; Eastern Europe; Sweden; political tourism; tourism policy; state socialism}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{2}},
  pages        = {{130--145}},
  publisher    = {{Taylor & Francis}},
  series       = {{Journal of Tourism History}},
  title        = {{Eastbound Tourism in the Cold War : The History of the Swedish Communist Travel Agency Folkturist}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1755182X.2018.1469679}},
  doi          = {{10.1080/1755182X.2018.1469679}},
  volume       = {{10}},
  year         = {{2018}},
}