Communist heritage tourism and red tourism: concepts, development and problems

The second part of the 20th century has been marked by thecompetition between capitalism and communism. The “Autumn of Nations”put an end to the Eastern Bloc, but each former communist country inCentral and Eastern Europe still possesses heritage sites reminding of the communist period. These heritage sites are turning into major tourist attractions, being sought by western tourists. Halfway around the world the Chinese Communist Party is trying to develop Red Tourism, a specific type of cultural tourism, based on heritage sites of the Chinese communist revolution. While the two tourism types use communist heritage as primary resource there are several differences between them. The study compares European communist heritage tourism with Chinese “Red Tourism”, analyzing their emergence, development and the problems they face, especially regarding heritage interpretation. This paper will try to provide a theoretical base for studying communist heritage tourism in former communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe.