What smart tourism in post-conflict cities follows a urbicide process? The role of new technologies in urban tourism in the western Balkans

Abstract

The 1990s marked the end of Yugoslavia and the height of conflict and urban destruction (Dubrovnik, Mostar, Sarajevo and later Belgrade). Bogdanovic (1993), an architect and former mayor of Belgrade, coined the neologism ‘urbicide’ to designate an enterprise of urban destruction which goes beyond the simple strategic objective of the physical destruction of the city, but that of the annihilation of memories, identities, and cultures associated with the city in question and its urbanity, that is to say, of the ‘ritualized murder of the city’. At the end of these multiple conflicts, the cities and the related tourism had to be rebuilt. Over the last twenty years, information technologies, the creation of peer-to-peer digital platforms (Booking, Airbnb, Expedia) and virtual reality for museum and heritage visits have boosted the attractiveness of the destination and tourism projects. The emergence of tourism projects based on digital and new technologies is booming in the Balkans, particularly the capitals like Belgrade or Sarajevo. By looking at different technological and digital projects for tourism purposes, we will see how local, private, transnational and citizen actors have taken up this project and if this projects contribute to the touristic destination.