Agnieszka Brzosko-Sermak

Tourism and trade in borderlands – an example of Polish eastern borderland

The main objective of the paper is to present Polish eastern border problems in a particular geopolitical context including efforts such as shopping tourism, which helps overcome border problems and associated limitations. National borders serve as a factor of separation between different political and institutional systems, but on the other hand, borders can be a source of contact between different groups of people or different societies. It is important to understand the nature and various types and functions of borders and the related factors that make nearby regions special destinations for tourists. National borders may prove highly valuable to local autonomy as well as tourism planning and destination marketing organizations making border area economics less prone to recession. The paper describes the main motivations for borderland tourism – that is shopping – giving many different reasons to travel across national borders. Shopping tourism close to Poland’s eastern  border is characterized via an analysis of commercial endeavors, the frequency of border crossings, as well as the structure and average costs. National border area tourism plays an important role in local economies, making them more prosperous and/or enlarging the black market zone. The European Union’s Schengen eastern  border is a special example of the occurrence of these problems. This borderland faces serious economic and demographic problems due to the political function of the eastern border as a strong barrier to development. In this situation, it is important to examine relevant trends and observe if tourism is one of the ways for local area residents to deal with economic stagnation.