Harald Pechlaner and Hannes Thees have contributed to publish an edited book on the subject of “China and the New Silk Road” which especially focusses on the regional level. Therefore the book united experts from various fields to discover opportunities and challenges for regions along the New Silk Road.
Abstract:
This book studies the Chinese “Belt and Road Initiative” (BRI), also called "New Silk Road", and focuses on its regional and local effects. Written by experts from various fields, it presents a range of case studies on the geopolitical, socio-economic, ecological and cultural implications of the BRI for European regions and their stakeholders. The book is divided into four parts, the first of which discusses the history of and China’s motivations for the BRI. The second part explores the global phenomenon from a number of regional standpoints. In turn, the third part presents studies on the political, socio-economic, cultural and ecological implications of the New Silk Road project. The final part highlights the tourism prospects in connection with the Silk Road project, as tourism has established itself as an important economic sector in many regions along the historic Silk Road. This book will appeal to scholars of economics, international relations and tourism, decision-makers, managers, chambers of commerce and entrepreneurs with special interests in establishing collaboration with the Chinese market.
Have a look here.
Blog Post: Is the Silk Road a Road of Fear?
Harald Pechlaner and Hannes Thees have contributed an article on the New Silk Road within the series of Re-Globalization. The article primarily deals with challenges of the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative on several market-based, but also soft factor. A sum of such factors has been explored through an excursion together with students from the master program on "Tourism and Regional Planning" in Central Asia (read more about the excursion here) and joint studies on mobility concepts along the Silk Road.
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New Journal Publication on Cultural Tourism Routes along the New Silk Road in Azerbaijan
How to trigger regional economic development within the New Silk Road Initiative? Around this question, Arne Schuhbert, Hannes Thees and Valentin Herbold from the Chair of Tourism have conducted research in the Azerbaijan tourism sector with the aim to discuss the connectivity of the regional destination system towards the Chinese global development initiative.
Abstract
Cultural routes are today a widespread phenomenon throughout the Industrialized Countries (IC) and have become more and more prominent as a tool for tourism development in recent years (Flognfeldt, 2005:37; Meyer, 2004:5). For countries in the Southern Caucasus, who profit from their bridging position between Europe and Asia, the planned revival of the Ancient Silk Road (ASR) in form of the New Silk Road (NSR) offers substantial potentials for economic diversification by means of tourism as a catalyzing industry. On the case of Azerbaijan, this study analyzes the potential to trigger regional economic diversification within the existing national destination-system in a framework of route development. To this end, the methodological approach builds upon a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods to diagnose the current degree of cluster maturity in the system, following the question of how Azerbaijan as a system of regional destination can access the transnational route system of the NSR.
Have a look here.
Schuhbert, A., Thees, H., Herbold, V., Kantsperger, M., & Weinreiter, J. (2020). Cultural Tourism Routes as Incubators for Innovation and Economic Diversification: A Potential Analysis in the Framework of the New Silk Road Initiative in Azerbaijan. Zeitschrift Für Wirschaftsgeographie.