Tourism is indisputably one of Austria’s most important industries. Yet underpinning familiar images of Alpine skiing and hiking, breathtaking landscapes, music, architecture and Vienna’s splendor are complex questions relating to, among others, identity, mobility, cultural diplomacy, and the environment. In recent decades, these questions have begun to be examined by scholars including Guenter Bischof, Andrew Denning, Gundolf Graml, Robert Gross, Peter Zellmann, and Friedrich Zimmermann. This panel aims to further this exploration, focusing on tourism’s multifaceted history in post-1945 Austria and its regional, national, transnational, European, and Euro-Atlantic contexts.
Papers are invited that consider topics including (but not limited to): Austria’s postwar (re)branding of itself through tourism (a process aided by state and private actors in Europe and the United States); tourism and national identity; the role of the Marshall Plan in encouraging and supporting tourism in postwar Austria; the American model of consumerism, marketing, and management vis-à-vis the tourism sector; technical training in the tourism sector; cultural exchanges and visitor programs such as Fulbright and the Salzburg Global Seminar. Papers might also address issues relating to mobility and transportation; war and tourism (e.g., examining tourism by occupying forces, or former soldiers visiting Austria); spas and health; tourism and the environment; tourism and films; guidebooks and travel accounts; and regional trends in mass tourism.
Papers that explore the relationship between the United States and Austria are particularly encouraged.
Accepted papers will be published in a special issue of the Journal of Austrian-American History, subject to review.
Please send a 350–500-word abstract and a brief biographical statement to Igor Tchoukarine (itchouka@umn.edu) by March 18, 2022. Participants will be notified by March 20, 2022. The final deadline for proposal submissions to the GSA is Monday, March 28, 2022.
The Botstiber Institute for Austrian-American Studies (BIAAS) can provide financial support to offset conference registration and accommodation expenses, as well as the cost of travel to Houston, if necessary. Please indicate in your proposal if you would like to request travel funds, and include a brief budget.
Please note that to submit, you must be a current GSA member. Each individual may participate in no more than two sessions, with a seminar or Emerging Scholars Workshop counting as one session. For additional GSA submission guidelines, see https://www.thegsa.org/conference/submission-guidelines.