Historical "phenomenon" of czechoslovak hospitality and tourism as an example of development of hotel and tourism industry during the interwar period

Abstract

The purpose of the research is to analyze the process of hospitality infrastructure development in the First Republic, which at that time was represented by tourist cottages, mountain shelters (stations), private hotel and resort complexes.The authors also analyzed the influence of the hospitality industry on the formation of the Czechoslovak tourist movement, which became a peculiar “phenomenon” of the Czechoslovak society and was identified in the interwar period with the ideas of freedom, national patriotism and love of the native land and homeland. The methodology of the research is based on the ideological and theoretical principles of positivist historiography while carring out the research on the hotel and tourism industry development issue in Czechoslovakia. The above-mentioned approach made it possible to avoid subjective statements and conclusions regarding the research. The authors of the artilce used general scientific methods of cognition: analysis, synthesis, systematicity, generalization, concreteness, historicism, and the dialectical method in order to solve scientific issues. The dialectical method has been used the most fully through the principles of historicism, therefore, during the research, the authors preferred historical methods: historical descriptive method (historical genetic, historical comparative, historical synthetic), historical diachronic, empirical analysis method, etc. The scientific novelty is that for the first time in domestic historiography, the historical process of formation and development of the field of hospitality and tourism has been analyzed on the example of the hotel and tourism industry development in Czechoslovakia during the interwar period (1918 – 1938). In the article there has been covered the process of tourist cottages, mountain “stations”, hotel and resort farms development comprehensively. The Conclusion. It has been proven that the prerequisites for the hospitality and tourism sphere establishment were laid on the territory of the Czechoslovak lands, as early as the 18th and the 19th centuries. During the interwar period the hotel and tourist industry development in Czechoslovakia was due to the construction of tourist cottages, private hotels and resorts. There were the following popular vacation spots: the Bohemian resorts, the Beskydy Mountains of Moravia and Silesia and other tourist destinations, which were rich in natural, historical and cultural attractions in 1918 – 1938. The above-mentioned factors instigated the tourist hotel and restaurant business development in Czechoslovakia in 1918 – 1938.