Legends of places as part of the sustainable development of regions

Abstract

Many newly established thematic routes and parks include narrative traditions to be experienced in their natural environment. Quality products of this kind are the result of well-developed concepts that follow expert guidelines and strategies and can be, as such, part of sustainable tourism, which strives to preserve ties with tradition to the greatest extent possible. This article includes some examples of different presentations of narrative tradition or local legends in places and discusses the problems with which such presentations cope. The article particularly discusses two examples of thematic trails that are based on professional folklore and ethnological research. The first case involves research activities that served as the foundation for thematic storytelling routes in the eastern part of the Alps – Pohorje above Slovenska Bistrica in Slovenia – and in central Istria in Croatia. The second example shows the influence of a thematic trail on the knowledge about local narrative tradition among schoolchildren in Bovec in the north-western part of Slovenia.