Defying Political Boundaries: Transborder Tourism in a Regional Context

Abstract

Political boundaries have traditionally been considered barriers, or obstacles, to all kinds of communication and interaction. The end of the 20th century has seen a gradual defunctionalisation of many political boundaries and a subsequent increase in transborder cooperation. Among the economic sectors that benefit from such an opening of borders is tourism, particularly on a regional scale. This paper examines the specific case of Switzerland, a landlocked country with a long tradition of regional transborder collaboration. After a general introduction, four examples are presented to demonstrate the rich variety of local transborder attractions that are complementary to each other and thus help to create a system of regional tourism.