Borders as theme parks?

This past week, thousands of people gathered in Berlin of celebrate the 20^th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. They may as well have been celebrating twenty years of burgeoning tourism. Travel agents beckoned prospective clients with promises of “revelations of the Cold War”. Borders are big business and with increasing frequency, governments around the world are exploiting contested divides for commercial purposes. In doing so, borders have become theme parks while the real life struggles of people living inside oppressive regimes such as North Korea or Burma are forgotten.

The twinning of history and the novelty of going where no one has gone before is the hook that transforms political borders into destinations of choice. It’s a formula that produces great commercial and political gains for the savvy.

Take divided Korea for instance. North Korea is seen a rogue state, closed to most of the world. We only get the tiniest of peaks into what goes on there, which is why it was big news when the first fast food restaurant opened in Pyongyang this summer (serving “minced beef with bread” rather than good ol’ fashioned hamburgers). And unless you are the former President of the United States on a humanitarian rescue mission, you can’t try the beef and bread for yourself. But what you can do is visit the demilitarized zone that keeps North and South apart.

Once called the “scariest place on earth” by the very same Clinton who swooped into the North earlier this year, the DMZ is a strip of land about 4 kilometres wide at the 38^th parallel that is heavily guarded by both sides. The South knows how to use the border. The American USO and the Korean Travel Bureau both run tours to the north, giving visitors a chance to look out over the other side. And they charge a pretty penny too: $42 US per person. More importantly, the tours give the South and the US an opportunity to present their views on the politics that keep Korea divided. For instance, the Panmunjon Travel Center offers tours with a real-life defector. Tourist dollars flow in and the public relations agenda flows out.

North Cyprus, officially known as the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, is another country that is now exploiting its border for political and commercial gains. Like North Korea, North Cyprus operates on the fringe of the international community. The North declared its independence in 1983 but only Turkey has offered it official recognition. In theory, you can’t even visit the North. Nevertheless, in the interest of acquiring the almighty tourist dollar both sides have developed a system to get around their own rules. Here’s how it works: when you go to the North your passport it is not stamped. Rather, you are handed a piece of paper that you can return, or keep as a souvenir, on your way back to the Republic. Your passport remains blank. You were never there.

Why the charade? Both sides benefit. The North is happy to get valuable tourist dollars (an eight day tour averages about $1000 Cdn, day trips from the Republic go for $100) while the Republic invites tourists to view an exhibit that at the entrance to the North that discusses the events of 1974 and the refugees who fled the violence of the Turkish invasion. And tourists can write home about their border crossing.

Many politicians see tourism as an important tool in the battle for international support. Aung San Suu Kyi, the imprisoned Burmese opposition leader, is hoping that if more people visit her country they will understand the plight of the Burmese people and lend weigh to the pro-democracy movement. After being sentenced to 18 months of house arrest this summer, she issued a statement through the National League for Democracy, that encouraging the growth of private sector tourism so that people could learn about the oppression of the Burmese first-hand. It was a complete turnaround from her earlier positions. But if Korea and Cyprus are any indication, tourism is hardly the path to great insight. Similarly, the nature of Communism in Cuba is complicated by tourist impressions of beautiful beaches and five-star resorts. In Cuba, official tour guides tell visitors about the free liposuctions available to Cubans but don’t explain why tourists are encouraged to bring syringes and other basic medical equipment into the country.

Celebrating the fall of the Berlin Wall is great because the Cold War is over and there is space to consider what the divide meant to the people of East and West Germany. But what is gained from commodifying current conflicts or divides? It’s great for novelty-seeking tourists but it is hard to see what tourism does for those behind the walls. Upon crossing the border into North Cyprus, one fellow traveler wanted “her money back.” “This is it?” she asked, as we had dinner on one side and drinks on the other. She seemed disappointed by the relaxed atmosphere. Apparently, she wanted to see tall towers and spotlights. Most shockingly, she was impervious to news that two guards had received two days of holidays for catching a would-be defector from the North the day before.

It’s a sad state of affairs when tourism blinds people to the realities of life in divided territories. The Berlin celebrations are a reminder of how wonderful tourism can be, once the divide is no more.