How border tripoints offer opportunities for transboundary tourism development

Borders have significant potential as tourist attractions, and there are many aspects of unique border locations capable of attracting people’s attention. One such attraction would be the tripoint, i.e. a place where the borders of three different countries meet physically at a single point. One of the newest such features in Europe – where the borders of Poland, Slovakia and Czechia meet in the Beskid Mountains – provides an example of far-reaching border-related changes in the EU, the creativity of local authorities as supported by EU funds, and the creation of a new transboundary meeting space with a strong integration-related identity. It also exemplifies the concept of a new tourist space beyond traditional tourist destinations. The development of tourism at tripoints is modelled ideographically. Spatio-temporal analysis with scalar dimensions shows the spatial relationships between tripoints and tourism development: the central point, the immediate vicinity, the proximal neighborhood (or local zone) and the regional zone. The tripoint examined here supports a proposal for a spatial planning model at tripoints in Europe.