Tourism in European Microstates and Dependencies

Geopolitics, Scale and Resource Limitations

Dallen J Timothy

• Publisher: CAB International
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN: 9781789243109
• eBook ISBN: 9781789243123
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Hospitality, Travel & Tourism Industry
• Index: Business

Tourism in European Microstates and Dependencies carefully examines the nuances and realities associated with tourism, social and economic development, geography, and geopolitics of Europe's smallest microstates and dependencies. Through case study-based material, the book covers the smallest states of Europe, the European dependencies inside Europe, and other unique territorial anomalies and unrecognized de facto states. It looks at how, besides small size and economy of scale, one of the characteristics that connects these unique states and territories is their dependence on tourism, or their desire to develop it, for their socio-economic well-being. This book provides a thorough overview of tourism-related challenges and opportunities associated with smallness/scale, limited population size, economic development, cross-border cooperation (dependency) with larger neighbour states, relationships with the European Union, geopolitical challenges, questions of sovereignty, vulnerability, and touristic importance on the world stage. It provides a comprehensive examination of the smallest states and state-like entities in Europe. It examines the social, economic, and political importance of tourism in some of the smallest countries and territories in the world. It is the first book of its kind to look systematically at small, yet extremely important, areas of Europe from tourism, socio-economic, and geopolitical perspectives. Coverage includes Andorra, Liechtenstein, Monaco, San Marino, the Vatican City, Åland, Akrotiri and Dhekelia, the Faroe Islands, Gibraltar, Guernsey, Isle of Man, Jersey, Svalbard, Llívia, Campione d'Italia, Transnistria, Abkhazia, and South Ossetia, as well as several other enclaves, autonomous areas, and unrecognized 'micro-nations'. This book will be an invaluable resource for post-graduate students and research scholars in the areas of tourism, geography, political science, and European studies.

1

Europe’s Smallest States and Anomalous Geographical Areas

Introduction

To state the obvious, the world is comprised of many places, yet every place is different. The term ‘place’ entails everything from large continents down to microscale localities of individual importance and personal spheres of influence (e.g. home, garden, and workspace). Between these two scalar extremes, the land surface of the earth has evolved through human history into various governed entities, including supranational regions, individual sovereign states, and subnational administrative units such as provinces, states, cantons, oblasts, emirates, counties, parishes, districts, municipalities, and neighborhoods. Each country has its own way of delegating power and authority to subnational polities and ascribing certain administrative and service responsibilities to them. The degree to which nations or local political units are empowered depends somewhat on whether a country is a unitary state or a federated state, or a democracy or an absolute monarchy. Thus, the nature of the state matters in international affairs and power relations in domestic governance.

Although volumes could be written about the geopolitics of tourism at any of these levels— supranational, national, or subnational, this book focuses on the sovereign state level of governance and political geography. It is concerned with how the state manifests in the ordinary lives of people and places, with a particular emphasis on tourism.

This book is foremost about tourism and its multidimensional relationships with some aspects of state geopolitics as manifested on the ground in mini microstates and other anomalous territories in Europe. What they all have in common is their geographical and geopolitical marginality and separateness, their small physical sizes, and their relatively small populations. These characteristics differentiate them from the normative perspective of sovereign states, which receive almost all research and policy attention throughout the world. This introductory chapter provides an initial conceptual grounding for studying irregular territories and microstates and establishes definitions and terms that will be used all through the book, including sovereignty, state borders, state sizes, and the idea that many countries have geographical outliers that do not fit the standard definition of state, region, territory or even tourist destination.

Sovereignty, the State and International Borders

According to international law, sovereignty is the absolute right of an acknowledged entity to govern over itself and its affairs without impediments from outside sources or external bodies. It usually refers to ultimate authority over a physical territory or polity, in most cases a state and its possessions. A sovereign state possesses the legal right to legislate and regulate in all areas of social, political, economic, legal and ecological matters within, and extending up to, its national borders (Dahlman, 2009a; Glassner and Fahrer, 2004; Timothy, 2001c).

Size has never truly been a criterion for statehood, although as shown later, it has been an impediment. Instead, to be a sovereign state, a country must possess four characteristics (Connell, 1991; Glassner and Fahrer, 2004). First, it must have physical territory. To be legally recognized in accordance with Westphalian sovereignty (the basis of current international law), a state must be comprised of physical land. There is today only one sovereign entity (organization) that is not a sovereign state: the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, which will be discussed in greater detail in Chapter 9. Historically, governments in exile, such as those of the Netherlands and Luxembourg during the Second World War, were considered sovereign entities while their territories were occupied by Germany. Second, a sovereign state must have a permanent population. There is no stipulation about population size requirements for sovereignty. Presently, demographic sizes of sovereign states vary from 1.4 billion to less than 1000. Third, a functioning government system is required. A government, in any form, must administer over the people and territory of the state, providing protection and public services (e.g. postal services, utilities, transportation networks, water and utilities), and overseeing a functioning economy. Finally, a country can be regarded as sovereign only if it has the capacity to negotiate directly with other sovereign states. This typically means the power to enter into treaties with other countries or supranational organizations, sign trade agreements, and establish diplomatic relationships. This also includes categorical recognition by a significant majority of existing states (Glassner and Fahrer, 2004).

All sovereign states are independent countries, but not all countries are sovereign states. For example, Aruba, Curaçao, Sint Maarten, and the Netherlands are the four ‘constituent countries’ that comprise the sovereign state of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Similarly, England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland are the four ‘countries’ that make up the United Kingdom (UK), which is a sovereign state, but the four constituent parts of the UK are not sovereign states. The same situation is true of the Kingdom of Denmark, which comprises the constituent countries of Denmark, Greenland and the Faroe Islands. The eleven countries mentioned here do not possess sovereignty, but they do have a high level of autonomy within the states to which they belong.

A nation is not a state or country but a people who share a common culture, mutual values, history, and a homeland. For example, Native American tribes are often referred to as nations. Albanians, in Albania and Kosovo, are the Albanian nation. Nationalism, or a sense of belonging to a specific nation, does not always correspond with the present boundaries of a state. The notion of a broader nation beyond state borders often gives way to the growth of irredentism, or efforts by State A to incorporate certain areas of States B or C that are populated by the same nations and which might have been part of State A at some point in history (Dahlman, 2009b). The idea of a nation without its own state also can result in other situations such as secessionism—the desire of a ‘nation’ to break away from the s...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-title Page
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Table of Contents
• List of Figures
• List of Tables
• Acknowledgments
• Chapter 1 Europe’s Smallest States and Anomalous Geographical Areas
• Chapter 2 Transfrontier Relationships in Europe
• Chapter 3 The Pyrenean Co-Principality of Andorra
• Chapter 4 Europe’s Alpine Mini State: The Principality of Liechtenstein
• Chapter 5 Large Luxury and Tiny Grandeur: The Principality of Monaco
• Chapter 6 More than Just a Mountain: The Republic of San Marino
• Chapter 7 Vatican City: The Smallest Country on Earth but Probably the Most Visited
• Chapter 8 Europe’s Autonomous Regions, Dependencies and Overseas Territories
• Chapter 9 International Exclaves and Extraterritorial Places
• Chapter 10 Unrecognized Polities: The De Facto States and Micronations of Europe
• Chapter 11 Vulnerability, Dependency and Touristic Appeal: The Costs and Benefits of Smallness and Marginality
• Chapter 12 Perspectives on Tourism and Small Polities in Europe
• References
• Index
• Backcover