“Adapting to mass tourism has nothing to do with cultural ‘prostitution’: Hospitality means flexibility towards guests without denying one’s own values, which is why tourism centers like Zell am See have to approach their visitors instead of burdening them even if they arrive in large numbers,” said Nadine Scharfenort, member of the board of the tourism research group of the German Geography Society, at the beginning of the International Tourism Forum in Villach. In her talk on “Money or Life: What Does Our Identity Cost?” the tourism researcher spoke about the challenges that await modern tourism in the face of the growing flood of visitors. As an example, she named the community Zell am See, which groans every year among the masses of tourists from the Arab world. “Many locals do not know how to deal with Muslims, and many complaints about them are completely void, such as getting up too late. But who cares?” It would be sensible, therefore, to provide tourism destinations to with greater knowledge of culture and manners. The cultural exchange needs to be better organized,” the tourism researcher said. More on pressetext.
