Impact of Cross-Border Tourism on the Sustainable Development of Rural Areas in the Russian–Polish and Russian–Kazakh Borderlands

Abstract

Rural areas and peripheral borderland territories are experiencing socio-economic marginalization featuring depopulation, population aging, and an increasing inequality gap in the quality of life compared to cities. Integrated rural tourism is argued to be ideal for supporting the well-being of rural communities, providing an additional income, decreasing unemployment, offering new and appealing jobs out of traditional rural activities, while preserving the conventional lifestyle. In this study, we discovered the tourism capacity of rural borderland territories affected by cross-border tourism using the data on the geography of cross-border movements, the distribution of tourist sights, and the density of tourist accommodation facilities. The geographical scope of the study covered two cross-border coastal regions—the Russian–Polish region on the Baltic Sea and the Russian–Kazakh region on the Caspian Sea. The statistical and geoinformation analysis were used to allocate areas of prospecting rural tourism integrated with cross-border movement. The research results on the development and distribution of tourist infrastructure suggest that: the rural territories of these regions feature tourist attractions and accommodation facilities at a different level of density and remoteness from the border crossing; each cross-border region is featuring different types of travel restrictions for tourists; and both border-land territories show asymmetry by the more active Russian tourists traveling abroad. Each of the regions under consideration is attractive for cross-border tourism while having different degrees of penetration of tourist flows into the interior territories and coverage of rural areas. The study resulted in a tourist flow model that allows integrating rural areas.

Characteristics and Temporal Trends of Regional Tourism Along the Border Areas

“…Previous studies have attempted to explicate the structures of cross-border tourism to facilitate effective and efficient governance and maximize the benefits of tourism [27,[35][36][37][38][39]. Specifically, Prokkola [24] indicated that between 1809 and 2000, tourism development transformed border landscapes and increased cross-border collaboration.…”

Intensity of Tourism Economic Linkages in Chinese Land Border Cities and Network Characterization

“…The comprehensive realization of sustainability and resilience in tourism development is the foundation and prerequisite for high-quality tourism development [6]. In recent years, foreign scholars have explored promoting the sustainable development of border tourism and its impact of border tourism on rural border areas [7][8][9], while domestic scholars have studied and analyzed the sustainable development of the Yunnan border region and the Sino-Vietnamese border region in China and proposed countermeasures for the sustainable development of the border region [10][11][12]. The sustainable development of border tourism is not only about the growth of the national economy but also about fostering of political relations with neighboring countries and the prosperity and stability of border communities [13].…”

Study of the Possibility of Using the Bottom Organomineral Accumulations of the Lakes of the North Kazakhstan Region to Obtain Innovative Fertilizers for the Development of Organic Farming and Agrotourism

“…This aspect will contribute to the development of green technologies, as well as the production of green safe products for humans, which is one of the prerequisites for the development of agrotourism. Organic farming, the production of environmentally friendly products, will, in turn, arouse interest from investors in expanding the possibility of the production and application of organic fertilizers, as well as forming a tourist cluster [33][34][35].…”