Contributions to the Theoretical Approach of the Relationship between Tourism and Migration

Abstract

Taking into account that an important feature of the migration process is travelling, certain phases of the phenomenon can be conceived as part of tourism, one of the most profitable and prospective industries of today. In spite of the obvious links between tourism and migration their academic research being pushed to the background might be attributed to the difficulties in an exact distinguishing between the two. Since the change of political regime (1990) there have been 25-30 million crossings of the border in the Republic of Hungary annually, which is a significant number with regard to the territorial extent and population of the country. Scant information is available if the entering foreigners should be considered tourists or migrants. As a consequence of the Trianon Peace Treaty, intentions of Hungarians living beyond the border to resettle to Hungary have never ceased and they are maintained by tourist visits to relatives and by living contacts. Moreover, Hungary presents an attraction to foreigners arriving from the European Union or overseas who have got acquainted with the attractions of Hungary and decided to settle here. Inland migration is motivated by pull of labour force, push by intense tourism turnover and by conversion of second homes to permanent housing. The study presents a theoretical overview of the problem followed by the analysis of the spatial aspects of tourism and migration including methodological connotations.