Alpine Tourism and ‘Masked Transformation’: Salzburg and Tyrol before 1914

The article undertakes a comparative analysis of tourism’s role in transformation processes in the Austrian crownlands of Salzburg and Tyrol from the mid-19 th to the early 20 th century. The authors outline the overall pattern of tourist development in the alpine region, before considering the impact of tourism on the host societies in the two neighboring provinces. They argue that two features of the transformation process proved ambivalent. Firstly, the development of tourism regions resulted from a process of negotiation and confrontation between those favouring and those opposing tourist activities. Secondly, regional transformation took place in ‘masked form’ because, alongside the creation of tourist facilities and infrastructures, many features of ‘traditional’ society were maintained. In addition, the article suggests that a more precise understanding of the transformation process requires differentiation between ‘adaptive transformation’ (the adjustment of existing enterprises and facilities to tourism) and ‘industrial transformation’ (the construction of dedicated areas of tourism-centered activity).