Economic transformation in the 19-20th century Alps: the role of tourism. An overview on the Habsburg Alpenländer and the Italian Alps

The rise of the tourist business at the turn of the nineteenth century that marked a social and economic turning point for many parts of the Alps. That sector forged a completely new business spirit, turning hospitality into a proper culture. Especially during the belle époque the Alpenländer gradually put together a tourist organization that tailored supply to the needs of the demand. One can detect various kinds of response by local tourist resorts, falling between two extremes. On the one hand were places that mainly based their development on internal or endogenous resources. At the other extreme were situations where the organization of supply proved short-sighted, engendering conflict between internal and external resources. In such cases the pendulum would swing in one direction or the other, so that a number of tourist venues became marginalised. The rise and subsequent growth of the tourist business in the Alpine area thus needs careful examination.