How Not to Get Stuck in an Art-Ovrag: Tourism-phobia and Modern Coping Strategies

Abstract

At the post-tourism stage, the attitude towards travel perceived as a way to get a unique experience and associated with a kind of game is changing. Along with this, destinations also begin to be perceived differently – as something modelled in accordance with the expectations of the tourist and their subjective ideas about local culture, which inevitably leads to conflicts with the local population, who do not want to adapt to the needs of “strangers”. The protest against the exploitation of local identity and excessive tourist flow has led to the emergence of tourism-phobia, which takes on various forms – from reflecting a negative attitude towards tourists in various languages to anti-tourist public organisations. Overcoming the fear of visitors who can change the usual way of life and impose a new identity becomes one of the most important elements for the successful development of tourism in a destination. In this regard, cases of cities that are gaining popularity among niche tourists are of particular interest. The article considers the examples of Magnitogorsk and Vyksa, two metallurgical monotowns – leaders of Russian industrial tourism. The author demonstrates that the presence of a historically established image known outside the city can reduce the risk of tourism-phobia, while as a result of the lack of explicit self-representation, inauthentic attractors arise (such as the Art-Ovrag / Vyksa Festival), which are attractive to tourists but rejected by the local community, which becomes an obstacle to the harmonious development of tourism and hospitality in a particular location. Building communication with the locals which helps demonstrate the positive aspects of the inevitable transformation, the search for compromises and the formation of industrial pride is the key to levelling the negative effects of tourism and the successful implementation of creative projects in industrial single-industry towns.