Eastbound tourism in the cold war: The history of the Swedish communist travel agency folkturist

Abstract

Millions of Westerners went on holiday behind the Iron Curtain during the Cold War. This article considers the place of Eastern Europe in the international travel industry through the prism of Folkturist, a travel agency owned by the Communist Party of Sweden. By analysing Folkturist’s business strategies and interactions with the East European tourist industries, the article shows the competing interests at stake when the market for eastbound leisure tourism expanded. Balancing the quest for profit with political goals was a constant challenge for Folkturist, as it was for the various organisations and institutions engaged in the tourist industry in the socialist states. By analysing Folkturist’s advertisement strategies and package tour organisation and those of its commercial competitors in Sweden, the article argues that traditional concepts of political tourism fail to capture the pragmatism of political entrepreneurs and the impact they had on the market for leisure tourism to Cold War Eastern Europe.