Spatial analysis of tourism places in post-Soviet contexts: Tourist destinations of Baltic states
4th International Conference on GIS and Remote Sensing
September 27-28, 2018 | Berlin, Germany

Andris Klepers

Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences, Latvia

Scientific Tracks Abstracts: J Remote Sensing & GIS

Abstract:

The need to understand critical factors for competitiveness of tourist destinations and their temporal changes has grown considerably in recent two decades. This has become an especially relevant issue for tourism places located in the transition economies of post-Soviet space, particulary Baltic States, where different multi-level destination and entrepreneural networking forms are created on the basis of centrally planned economies infrastructure. New tourism system has been created and there have been unprecedented global changes as a result of the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. The recent development of GIS analysis tools has stressed the meaning and role of space, spatiality and contextuality of tourism places in new ways, providing valuable insight about comprehensive structural changes and development factors. This research aims to analyze the historical transformation process of the hospitality industry and destination management in Baltic states: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Spatial contexts and changes are discussed and development directions are highlighted, providing common problematics in relation to path-dependent and path-creative perspectives. Rapid changes in the tourist accommodation sector are mapped with multi-factor spatial analysis method, characterizing new trends of international and domestic tourism demand. Forecasting abilities of spatial development will be discussed in context of tourism flow analyses and possibilities to create sustainable network of three-level destination management system in all three Baltic States.

Biography :

Andris Klepers has completed his PhD from University of Latvia, with International Exchange Studies in the University of Copenhagen and Trier University in Germany, and Post-doctoral Reserach from the University of Eastern Finland. He is the full time Researcher at the Institute of Social, Economic and Humanities Research, Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences, Latvia. He has published 16 scientific papers and is currently working on his research entitled, “Tourism Intelligence Latvia—using advantages of ICT development to create GIS solutions-based tourism intelligence platform providing analyses and forecasts of pan- Baltic multi-destination levels.”

E-mail: andris.klepers@va.lv