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Spotlight
Glimpses beyond the Iron Curtain
A new world of culture emerges as Eastern Europe grapples
with economic reforms post the fall of Communism, providing visitors with glimpses
of its historical, architectural and natural beauty. By Gayatri Vijaykumar
Photo credit: bigfoto.com |
Not long ago the thought of visiting Eastern Europe conjured
images of poverty, war, and rigid communist governments that lagged way behind
the rest of the continent in the Human Development Index. However, in the last
few decades, countries in this region have worked hard to shed off this image
and emerge from behind the Iron Curtain. With the imaginary line dividing the
continent, many countries belonging to the Eastern region such as Poland, Hungary
and Czech Republic prefer to be termed as Central European countries.
Ever since the end of the Cold War in 1989, Eastern Europe
has been emerging as a viable tourist destination competing with its more developed
neighbours - the Western European countries. Sachin Bhatia, co-founder and CMO
of MakeMyTrip, explains, "Following the collapse of state-socialism a decade
ago, Central & Eastern European Countries (CEECs) opted for democracy and
market economy." According to him, the fact that many countries in Eastern
Europe have joined the European Union has helped advance their economy and,
in turn, boost tourism.
The recent decades have seen a spurt of tourist activities
mainly in cities like Prague in the Czech Republic and Budapest in Hungary.
"All these destinations are famous for their immense natural beauty and
historical monuments including castles and churches," says Bhatia. With
architecture of historical and religious value that rival cities in Western
Europe, Prague is slated to be one of the most visited destinations in Eastern
Europe. The historical city was also included in the UNESCO list of World Heritage
Sites in 1992.
Many Eastern European countries like Latvia, Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic
joined the European Union in 2004. This year saw the entry of Bulgaria and Romania
into the Union. Despite the fact that most Eastern European countries are a
part of the European Union which follows the uniform Schengen Visa format, countries
in Eastern Europe have their own visa procedures. This, however, would change
from December 31, 2007 when Eastern European countries such as Czech Republic,
Hungary and Poland would adopt the Schengen visa.
According to Geeta Prabhu, deputy manager (Leisure) for Travel Corporation India,
the Eastern European region has a lot of history, which attracts tourists who
are keen to learn. "Eastern Europe, especially Prague, can be marketed
as a pilgrimage destination to Christians as the church in Prague is one of
the must visit holy places. The Infant Jesus Church which is a Gothic/Baroque
Church in Prague attracts a large number of pilgrims," adds Prabhu.
Budapest in Hungary became known in India after the Hindi movie 'Hum Dil De
Chuke Sanam'. Prabhu explains that earlier Indians preferred spending their
holidays in Central and Western Europe. However, now many are moving beyond
these destinations to explore the unconventional attractions that Eastern Europe
has to offer.
Despite the challenges
The road to progress in terms of tourism is unfortunately filled with challenges
for most of the Eastern European countries. "There are a few factors which
make marketing the European Union as a destination a challenge. Language is
one of the main problems. Secondly, tourists who have been to Europe would prefer
going to the more famous destinations in Australia, Africa and USA rather than
the offbeat Eastern Europe. Also there is a popular belief that these countries
are not well developed," explains Prabhu.
To add to these challenges, Bhatia feels that there aren't too many airline
options, which coupled with the visa restrictions for these countries, make
marketing these tours quite tough. "There is a wrong perception among travellers
that these relatively unknown destinations would be cheaper than the more popular
trips," he adds. Most countries in the region have acceded to the European
Union and adopting the Euro as the currency of transaction has led to an increase
in prices. "At MakeMyTrip.com, we are trying to incentivise destinations
on our own but with little or no support from the countries' tourism boards,
embassies, etc," Bhatia laments.
He believes that the share of Eastern Europe in the travel market is low when
compared with travellers to mainland Europe; the figure rests somewhere around
10 per cent. However he feels that Eastern Europe could evolve as an alternative
destination after Europe. According to him, the region holds good future as
more Indians are now keen to explore more. "Also, another growth driver
for these destinations will be the MICE segment which is growing in double figures,"
he adds. All this goes to prove that despite its struggle for survival in the
previous century, proper planning and development would ensure that there are
opportunities galore for the development of tourism in this region.
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