The State of Tourism in the Baltics

This special issue of the Scandinavian Journal of Hospitality and Tourism is a collection of articles representing authors from Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania as one of the first collective efforts to focus on tourism in the Baltics. The articles present empirical research via qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods approaches.

Tourism is considered an important part of the economy in the Baltic States of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, especially after they regained independence in 1991. The geographical proximity of each and a common recent historical background, yet with different languages and cultures, make the tourism experience unique in the Baltics. The collapse of the Soviet Union and the re-gaining of independence among the Baltic States led to a rapid societal transformation including land use. The departure of the Russian armed forces in 1994 enabled Estonia, for instance, to regain control of 87,000 ha (1.9% of Estonian territory) and revealed the contradictory nature of the Soviet military's (mis)management of nature (Raukas, 1999). During Soviet occupation, a coastal strip of up to 25 km in width running from the Russian–Estonian border towards the west was under strict military control. As only few people and little development were allowed at the border back then, the area is nowadays rich in biodiversity, providing unique opportunities for nature-based tourism, “the Baltic Green Belt” (Pärn et al., 2011). Also, the political period of the Cold War has left many traces not only on the physical environment (e.g., watchtowers and bunkers), which must not be forgotten, in order to prevent similar regimes in the future (Kaur, Palang, & Sooväli, 2004).

Nature protection history in these Baltic countries is tightly related to their fight for independence and freedom. But not only the national parks and protected areas, the traditional semi-cultural and industrial landscapes are part of the local identity as well and an important part of tourism experience. The value and importance of these diverse landscapes altered by human activity through centuries is an important part of local heritage (Metsaots, Printsmann, and Sepp, 2015; Raadik, 2010; Raadik Cottrell and Cottrell, 2015).

The academic discourse in the English written literature about tourism to the Baltics is rather limited. The Baltic States are largely viewed as former Soviet Block countries with fascinating history and untouched nature (Reimann, Lamp, & Palang, 2011). Relevant themes are rural tourism, nature-based tourism, and heritage tourism. Despite this more recent heritage and many other commonalities, the independent countries of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania face unique issues related to tourism development.

Submissions to this special issue explore critical issues in heritage tourism such as dark tourism (Hartmann, 2013; Lennon & Foley, 2000), difficult heritage (Austin, 2002; Isaac & Cakmak, 2014; Poria, Butler, & Airey, 2006), military heritage (Austin, 2002), mobility, and connectedness (Povilanskas, Armaitiene, Jones, Valtas, & Jurkus, 2015) and more in tourism in the Baltic States. Dark tourism, which embraces visiting places of massacre or extremely poor regions of the world, disaster tourism, as well as memory tourism relying on historic events and military heritage in a broader meaning, is gaining popularity (Stone & Sharpley, 2008). Memory tourism as part of the leisure industry is open to development and innovation (Tung & Ritchie, 2011). The last quarter of century has been a relatively long period to re-evaluate the potential of the Soviet past in tourism. Soviet past and its’ materialism (i.e. missile sites, memorials, prisons, and industrial wastelands, to name a few) represent memory sites and difficult identities the Baltic countries struggle with (Velmet, 2011). The painful past has been turned into a successful business opportunity for some, yet continues to be a sensitive and ethical issue for many (Isaac & Budryte-Ausiejiene, 2015). But not only the recent, also the ancient past offers new experience realms for tourism (Shackley, 2001). Ancient burial sites, strongholds and archaeological findings, material and oral folk history still offer new aspects to be discovered and interpreted in the Baltics as well (Grinfelde & Lotina, 2015).

In addition to traditional travel, varied forms of niche/special interest holidays have historically appeared. Relatively untouched nature, clean environment and a long history of curative nature treatments have mapped Baltic countries for spa tourists close and afar (Worthington, 2003). Estonia claims to have the most spa hotels per capita than any other country in the world (Tooman, Tomasberg, & Smith, 2013). Health tourism which includes visits to spas, thermal baths, hot springs, spa and wellness hotels and resorts, hospitals and clinics for surgery and medical procedures, as well as spiritual or holistic retreats has become one of the collaborative trademarks for the Baltic countries (Smith, 2015; Smith & Puczkó, 2009).

The papers that appear in this special issue focus specifically on tourism in the Baltics oriented around mobility issues via ferry routes to Lithuania, ancient sacred sites in Latvia, oil shale mining heritage and its potential for tourism in Estonia, visitor emotions and reactions to unwanted soviet heritage at a museum park in Lithuania, health tourism to the Baltics overall, and sense of place influences on perceived environmental change effects on the holiday experience on an island in Estonia.

In the first paper on “Third-country Tourists on the Ferries Linking Germany with Lithuania”, Povilanskas et al. examine third-country passengers’ travel itineraries on the DFDS Seaways ferry route linking Kiel, Germany with Klaipeda, Lithuania, using a mixed-methods qualitative and quantitative approach, including Geographical Information System (GIS) spatial cluster analysis. Results reveal the predominant third-country passenger groups (i.e. passengers from countries other than Germany and Lithuania) on ferries sailing from Kiel to Klaipeda and back as Latvian, Dutch, British, and Danish nationals. A majority of Latvian passengers used the ferry to travel between home in Latvia and work in Western Europe. Western European passengers comprised a diverse segment of motorised tourists using the ferry in summer to reach the Baltic States faster than by land. The paper highlights the role of the Kiel-Klaipeda ferry route within the Baltic Sea motorised tourism circuit linking the Baltic and Nordic countries with Western Europe and the importance of mobility and connectedness as tourism development issues for the Baltics.

In the second paper by Grinfelde and Lotina on “Visitors of Ancient Sacred Sites in Vidzeme Region from the Perspective of Tourist Information Centres”, the authors illustrate how ancient sacred sites in the Baltic States are noted as natural objects representing significant aspects of pre-Christian cultural heritage with a slight potential for tourism. Their paper contributes to the broader discourse about the role of sacred site heritage in tourism development from the perspective of tourist information centres in the Vidzeme Region, Latvia. The central question examines what kind of information about visitors to ancient sacred sites is available at Tourism Information Centres (TICs) and to what extent does that information identify a profile of potential visitors to sacred sites. Results indicate which clients of tourist information centres might be potential visitors to sacred sites and how tourist information centres could balance proper information provision with attractive sales, thereby, illustrating the important role of ancient sacred sites for tourism in the Baltics.

In the third paper, the “Public Opinions on Oil Shale Mining Heritage and its Tourism Potential”, Metsaots, Printsmann, and Sepp examine the valuation of mining heritage and tourism potential for regional development in Ida-Viru County, NE Estonia. The study is based on data from focus groups and a survey involving residents and non-residents. Estonia is the only country in the world that uses oil shale for more than 90% of its electricity, and its industrial district is among the largest in the Baltic countries. Oil shale mining in Ida-Viru County began in 1916 and, over time, resulted in tremendous ecological, economic, social, and cultural changes. A majority of these changes took place during the Soviet-era, causing ambivalent attitudes towards oil shale mining heritage. Landscapes altered by oil shale mining, chemical works, and energy production passed largely unnoticed until the twenty-first century. Findings note that people recognise industrial heritage fairly well and have many ideas on how to use it on behalf of holistic regional development, yet there are shortages in information availability and understanding. The article specifically highlights the role of industrial heritage for tourism development.

The fourth paper by Isaac and Budryte-Ausiejiene examines unwanted soviet heritage in “Interpreting the Emotions of Visitors: A Study of Visitor Comment Books at the Grūtas Park Museum, Lithuania”, a Lithuanian Park Museum featuring recovered Soviet-era artefacts. Their study focused on people's emotions and reactions dealing with an unwanted past, and an undesirable heritage. Visits to sites associated with occupation, death and suffering are considered emotionally laden. This paper highlights the content of visitor comment books from Lithuanians visiting the museum. Visitor emotions were negative and positive after visiting the site, such as unpleasantness, discomfort, surprise, admiration, and delight. This is the first study to examine visitor emotions and reactions to a site related to difficult heritage, an important tourism product mix for the Baltics.

Smith's paper on “Baltic Health Tourism: Uniqueness and Commonalities” examines health tourism by identifying resources and products common to the region as a whole and unique to each country. The Baltic States have collaborated in tourism promotion for many years in attempts to develop a distinct image of the past and to place the Baltics on the tourist map, especially for spa tourism. Partnerships via collaborations and clusters are discussed as approaches for sharing good practice, improving quality and branding as means to improve the competitiveness of health and wellness tourism destinations. A Baltic Health Tourism Cluster was established in 2013 and the research highlighted in this paper was meant to help the Baltic countries identify the unique features of their health tourism attractions, products, and resources while encouraging collaboration and a common regional brand for health tourism. The author gives recommendations for health tourism product development and illustrates the importance of transboundary partnerships for tourism development.

The final paper by Raadik Cottrell and Cottrell entitled, “Sense-of-place influences on perceived environmental change effects on future holiday experiences to Saaremaa, Estonia” investigates sense of place as a multidimensional concept representing emotions, beliefs, and behavioural commitments specific to particular geographic settings. Understanding sense of place and related concepts influencing visitors’ experiences often presents challenges, especially when changing landscapes such as in Estonia inscribe societal change visualised through representation and practice. Tourism echoes such change in perceptions and experiences of visitors who come to a destination with diverse previous experiences and motivations. Tourists, both domestic and foreign, bring their aspirations based on past and present interpretation of landscapes visited, and place qualities deemed important for a desired experience. Using Bott's (2000) sense-of-place psychometric scales, the authors examined the influence of sense-of-place and socio-demographics on perceived effects of environmental change due to a proposed bridge on future holiday experiences. The predictive power of sense of place on perceived environmental change effects on future experience among tourists is highlighted as well as the importance of sense of place in the semiotic discourse for tourism development in the Baltics.

The various papers in this issue provide implications for further research in the Baltics. The Baltic countries lack a distinctive tourist image in many parts of the world with the three countries most often considered synonymous with their capital city or nationalities failing to recognise the differences between the countries. The need for partnerships and transboundary collaborative efforts to develop an image that could focus on the concept of purity, slowing down, the combination of nature, and the sea is prevalent. Although there are many challenges and issues, the potential growth of tourism to the Baltics is positive. This collection of papers provides valuable insights that inform our understanding of tourism to the Baltics, as it exists for this unique region.