Tourism, identity and economy in a Magyar village from Romania

Abstract

Using field data I will try to explore the mechanisms of identity construction through tourism, in a Magyar village from Romania, focusing on two dimensions of the tourism: cultural and economic. On the one hand I bring arguments that the village is an ethnic enclave, and that the tourism practiced here is a cultural/identitary one. On the other hand, I am trying to show that the tourism as it is practiced here is adopted by the community as a strategy for local development. However, some implicit aspects of this process can be seen as pertaining more to an 'ethnic economy' (I. Light). In the final part of the paper I will try to discuss the applicability and relevance of the definition of the ethnic economy given by Ivan Light, within the context of this village.