Political (in)stability and its influence on tourism development

Abstract

This paper explores ways in which the context of economic and social renewal in the aftermath ofpolitical conflict affects tourism development. The primary research took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina(B&H) and involved minimally structured interviews, participant observation and researcherreflexivity. The findings suggest that the cumbersome administration and governance introduced inorder to cease political conflict in B&H, needs to be redeveloped in order to become more supportive ofeconomic development and social renewal since it does not enable collaboration between dividedcommunities. Nevertheless, the tourism sector mainly appears to be ahead of other sectors in B&H whenit comes to collaboration between sides which were previously in conflict. Tourism is thus assessed asfertile ground for a more collaborative approach. In B&H, tourism development must go beyondeconomic regeneration and inscribe this collaborative element in its attempts to achieve both economicregeneration, and reconciliation between its people.