Exploring micronations as emerging tourism destinations: factors, policies, and impacts

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to understanding the singularity of the so-called micronations as tourism destinations, identifying some factors that act as inputs (external and internal) of their policies on tourism development, and influencing their outputs (such as number and type of visitors). It finds its justification in the fact that the intersection between micronations and tourism is a field in the academic literature almost fully unexplored. As an inductive research designed based on a multi-case study (the responses of six micronations were obtained), an explanatory model was proposed in line with the aim described above, with the potential to be tested in a future hypothetical-deductive investigation. The main findings were four research propositions connecting the type of population or citizenship in a micronation with its approach to tourism and, subsequently, with its tourism development. In this line, the role of the micronation attributes perceived as attractors by potential visitors and those that play the role of constraints or limitations were also considered in the model as moderator variables. Despite its inductive character, an obvious limitation of this study is its exploratory nature supported by a few cases, which cannot represent the whole universe of micronations.

KEYWORDS:

• Micronation
• tourism approach
• tourism development
• multi-case study

Acknowledgement

My gratitude to Dr Luiz Moutinho for sharing his vision on this gap in the tourism literature and challenging me to research in this field.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 And from unrecognized states, which, despite their geopolitical significance and control over actual territories, lack recognition from the broader international community. Retrieved February 19, 2024, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_micronations, where a list of micronations is also available.

2 From the Principality of Sealand the reply received was: ‘Although trips to Sealand have been temporarily suspended, please rest assured that we are actively evaluating the situation. We remain hopeful that trips to Sealand may become available once again in the future!’

3 They were elaborated from various sources: https://www.westarctica.wiki/index.php?title = List_of_micronations https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_micronations https://www.wikiwand.com/en/List_of_micronations https://travisdmchenry.wixsite.com/microfreedom/distinguished-micronations https://en-academic.com/dic.nsf/enwiki/112947

4 Retrieved February 19, 2024, from https://www.secret-israel.com/travel/discover-achzivland-a-unique-micro-nation-within-israel/

5 Retrieved February 19, 2024, from https://www.molossia.org/calendar.html

6 Retrieved February 19, 2024, from http://www.bardomicronation.eu/

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Alfonso Vargas-Sánchez

Alfonso Vargas-Sánchez is a full Professor of Business Administration, he is a visiting professor at several universities around the world. Particularly recognized for his research in the field of tourism management, he is one of the Spanish tourism researchers in the ‘Ranking of the World Scientists: World's Top 2% Scientists’ published in 2022 and 2023 by Stanford University.