Narrating regional identity in tourism - sketches from the Austrian Danube vallev

摘要

This article sketches the processes of regionalisation in the realm of present day tourism. By exploring issues of 'regional culture' and 'diversity' in Austria, and more particular, in the highly symbolic Danube valley 'Wachau', the article shows how the imaginaries of contested cultural spaces - be they 'regional', 'national' or 'European' - are constantly (re-) invented, translated and 'miniaturised' through everyday 'touristic' narratives and representations. With a particular focus on heritage tourism, and from a specifically Austrian perspective, shifting ideas of 'regional identity' are set alongside discourses of an emerging 'Central European' cultural space.