Dear Colleagues,

Transboundary tourist mobility for tourism and leisure is a staple component in the lives of people residing in the border cities and, at the same time, a promising area for the development of international tourism. The development of transboundary shopping tourism is viewed as an everyday activity improving the standards and quality of life of the citizens. Sights, places of attraction, notable cultural events and medical services are amongst the pull factors for transboundary tourism.

The effect of transboundary tourist mobility on the socioeconomic, sociocultural and spatial development of the border cities has many facets. Yet, these aspects do not receive equal attention: most of the studies concentrate on the socioeconomic effect transboundary tourism has on a local community or a territory, whilst much fewer look at the sociocultural and spatial effect.

Due to the growth of trans-border flows, border cities are among the first to experience the effects of modern challenges. Cross-border migration and tourist mobility are considered modern challenges affecting border cities, especially, small cities. The increased dynamics of cross-border mobility brings changes, sometimes significant, to the development of the social and cultural environment of border cities. Meanwhile, host community often takes opposite positions in relation to these challenges: stimulating tourism and restricting tourism. Key directions of border city's development become to find out the travelers’ preferences in order to stimulate the inbound tourist mobility and, at the same time, to mitigate the negative effects of overcrowding in tourism destinations based on visitor management.

Research articles and reviews in this area of study are welcome. We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Svetlana Kondrateva

Section Editor