ABSTRACT
According to chapter 3, some of the world’s most extraordinary tourist attractions lie either directly on, or in close proximity to, international boundaries. Niagara Falls and Maasai Mara-Serengeti International Park are prime examples of this. Likewise, certain tourist-oriented activities nearly always develop (e.g. shopping, prostitution, gambling, and drinking) adjacent to political lines when laws and policies pertaining to them are different on opposite sides, and when people are permitted to cross unhindered. On even a more specific level, the borderline itself can be an important tourist attraction because it presents some kind of curiosity in the cultural landscape and connotes differences in political systems, social mores, cultural traditions, and possibly ecosystems. Borderlands therefore hold a great deal of potential for tourism development, although on a global scale little has been accomplished in this arena.
