Page 184 - Dark Shades of Istria
P. 184
Istrian Memories in the Dark Tourism Context: The Qualitative Analysis
considered as an international one only because of the small number of
foreigners present. A similar situation was observed in Pula in the same
month, when the entire Istrian County was full of tourists. It is worth
mentioning that the County of Istria recorded over one million arrivals
and 7.8 million overnight stays in August 2018 – the largest number of
tourist arrivals and overnight stays in Croatia. In addition to Dubrovnik,
foreign tourists spent most nights in Rovinj, Poreč, Medulin and Umag
(Državni zavod za statistiku Republike Hrvatske, 2018), all internationally
recognisable tourist destinations in the Istrian County. Such mass visits
of foreigners were not observed at Svetvinčenat’s or Pula’s dark commem-
orative events.
Dark commemorative events in Pula and Svetvinčenat were not in-
cluded in the tourism offer of the destinations, although they should
be in order to achieve synergistic effects among different local prod-
ucts/suppliers.²⁵ Because the events were not properly promoted in or-
der to inform and attract as many visitors as possible,²⁶ the insignifi-
cant number of foreign visitors is completely understandable. What were
the past practices in Istria? As described in sub-chapter 6.2 ‘Memorial
Practices and Dark Tourism in the Post-wwi Period,’ fascist Italy politi-
cised (fascistised) public rituals (Dato, 2014; Gentile, 1996, pp. 25–28, 88;
Kavrečič, 2017; Orlović, 2014a, p. 118) as well as monopolised the mem-
ory of w w i (Kavrečič, 2017; Todero, 2010). Consequently, reasonable
doubt was expressed in the international relevance of these pompous
dark commemorative events in Istria; the attractiveness for visitors from
distant places of the Kingdom was also problematised. Similar practices
were then found in the Second Yugoslavia in the creation of a supra-
national identity of Yugoslavism with the slogan of ‘Brotherhood and
Unity’ (Ðurić, 2015, pp. 82, 94). As a product, the monuments and dark
commemorative events were linked to the liberation struggle and the
totalitarian regime, available to domestic tourists/visitors and thus com-
mercialised in a way (Šuligoj, 2017a). This can be additionally confirmed
by the publication of an extensive thematic travel guide in the Serbian
language called Jugoslavija – spomenici revolucije: turistički vodič (Yu-
goslavia – Monuments to the Revolution: Guide Book) by Gojko Jokić
²⁵ For general explanations see Soteriades and Avgeli (2007, pp. 336–340) and Vodeb (2014,
pp. 60–62).
²⁶ See Lončarić (2015, p. 238) for the promotional perspective. Economically speaking, the
turnout contributes to the growth of local economies (Felsenstein & Fleischer, 2003).
184
considered as an international one only because of the small number of
foreigners present. A similar situation was observed in Pula in the same
month, when the entire Istrian County was full of tourists. It is worth
mentioning that the County of Istria recorded over one million arrivals
and 7.8 million overnight stays in August 2018 – the largest number of
tourist arrivals and overnight stays in Croatia. In addition to Dubrovnik,
foreign tourists spent most nights in Rovinj, Poreč, Medulin and Umag
(Državni zavod za statistiku Republike Hrvatske, 2018), all internationally
recognisable tourist destinations in the Istrian County. Such mass visits
of foreigners were not observed at Svetvinčenat’s or Pula’s dark commem-
orative events.
Dark commemorative events in Pula and Svetvinčenat were not in-
cluded in the tourism offer of the destinations, although they should
be in order to achieve synergistic effects among different local prod-
ucts/suppliers.²⁵ Because the events were not properly promoted in or-
der to inform and attract as many visitors as possible,²⁶ the insignifi-
cant number of foreign visitors is completely understandable. What were
the past practices in Istria? As described in sub-chapter 6.2 ‘Memorial
Practices and Dark Tourism in the Post-wwi Period,’ fascist Italy politi-
cised (fascistised) public rituals (Dato, 2014; Gentile, 1996, pp. 25–28, 88;
Kavrečič, 2017; Orlović, 2014a, p. 118) as well as monopolised the mem-
ory of w w i (Kavrečič, 2017; Todero, 2010). Consequently, reasonable
doubt was expressed in the international relevance of these pompous
dark commemorative events in Istria; the attractiveness for visitors from
distant places of the Kingdom was also problematised. Similar practices
were then found in the Second Yugoslavia in the creation of a supra-
national identity of Yugoslavism with the slogan of ‘Brotherhood and
Unity’ (Ðurić, 2015, pp. 82, 94). As a product, the monuments and dark
commemorative events were linked to the liberation struggle and the
totalitarian regime, available to domestic tourists/visitors and thus com-
mercialised in a way (Šuligoj, 2017a). This can be additionally confirmed
by the publication of an extensive thematic travel guide in the Serbian
language called Jugoslavija – spomenici revolucije: turistički vodič (Yu-
goslavia – Monuments to the Revolution: Guide Book) by Gojko Jokić
²⁵ For general explanations see Soteriades and Avgeli (2007, pp. 336–340) and Vodeb (2014,
pp. 60–62).
²⁶ See Lončarić (2015, p. 238) for the promotional perspective. Economically speaking, the
turnout contributes to the growth of local economies (Felsenstein & Fleischer, 2003).
184
