Metod Šuligoj
SLOVENSKI “HOMO IUGOSLOVANICUS”: NEKE UZ TURIZAM VEZANE ČINJENICE I PITANJA
DOI: 10.35666/28310438.2016.4.662
UDC: 911.3:338.481(497.1:497.4)
Abstract: Former Yugoslav republics, such as Serbia, Croatia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina are considered to be the leading destinations among the Slovenian tourists. As figures show, travelling to the former Yugoslav republics (destinations) is a traditional travel habit for Slovenians which can be labelled as ―Homo Iugoslovanicus‖. The aim of this paper is to identify those significant elements that showed a relation with this phenomenon through different researches. Methodologically, we used employed a meta-analysis, and the interdisciplinary approach enabled us to identify the following reasons for visiting the former Yugoslav destinations: (1) the (Yugo)nostalgia as a post-Yugoslav (emotional) phenomenon, (2) more practical reasons for the rational decision made by tourists, e.g. lower prices for tourists who are coming from the country with a higher GDP per capita and salaries, relatively short geographical distance. There are several additional (sub)issuesrelated to this matter as well: the so-called traditional vacationing of Slovenes on the Croatian coast; a growing trend, especially among the younger population, to visit these countries because of special entertainment (e.g. New Year‘s Eve in Belgrade); reasons related to health tourism (e.g. medical treatment in health centres of Croatia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina) with lower prices and no long waiting times. In addition, Slovenia is a multicultural environment, with an extensive immigrant community from the former Yugoslav republics. Consequently, in addition to the middle and older generations who formally lived in Yugoslavia, the younger generations in Slovenia meet (new) languages and cultures in their home country, although they do not have any direct relationship with the former common state. Hence, these immigrants visit their relatives in the former Yugoslav republics, which is related to the socalled roots tourism.
Key words: Slovenian tourists, Homo Iugoslovanicus, (Yugo)nostalgia, Slovenia, Yugoslavia, culture