Authoritarian Tourism

Abstract

Abstract Authoritarian tourism emerged in the interwar period as an expression of systemic competition between the liberal democracies of the West and the fascist and Soviet dictatorships. Despite their differences, Fascist Italy, Nazi Germany, and the Soviet Union saw tourism as testimony to their ability to increase productivity, deliver social benefits, and offer a higher standard of living. In the post–World War II period, the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact nations continued to support tourism for the same reasons, but their inability to satisfy tourist expectations contributed to the collapse of the Soviet bloc. Yet since 1990 the People’s Republic of China and other authoritarian regimes, consistent with their acceptance of neoliberal capitalism, have succeeded in marketing tourism for their citizens and foreign visitors.