Transformation of "Russian" Karlovy Vary: Current trends in migration, foreign investment and tourism
Abstract
In the last three decades, Karlovy Vary has been the main destination for Russians in Czechia (besides Prague) in terms of residential, investment and tourist attractiveness. This has affected many aspects of its life.
Presence of foreign inhabitants, businessmen and tourists change the composition of the population according to citizenship, property structure of real estates, their physical condition and use, or international tourism and the related orientation of local economic activities. However, the current situation may have been significantly affected by two important events - the world economic crisis (2008) and the Russian aggression against Ukraine (2014).
The paper aims to investigate the development of internationalization, investment strategies of foreigners and international tourism in the city with a time distance from the mentioned events. It is based on the analysis of statistical data and long-term field research.
The results suggest that significant changes have been happening during the studied period, e. g the decline in the number of Russian-speaking residents, tourists and investors.