'Intourist' in the Baltics in the 20 century: Marta Starostina

IGES Doctoral Forum

“Intourist” was a tourism organisation in the USSR that provided all necessary tourism services while at the same time imposing Soviet ideology and restricting tourists’ attempts to go beyond the Soviet-imposed restrictions.
The “Intourist” main office was in Moscow, but it had branches in other USSR parts, including the Baltic Region. This presentation will be dedicated to one of the Baltic Republics – the Lithuanian SSR.

There are several reasons why the Lithuanian SSR is a particularly interesting case. Firstly, the “Intourist” Lithuanian Archive Fund provides extensive information on the foreign income of foreign tourists, and this source has been neglected by historical scholarship. Secondly, the author wants to challenge the notion that the Lithuanian SSR was only a small and negligible republic, which tourists hardly ever visited. Thirdly, the author seeks to ascertain whether “Intourist” brought in foreign currency or whether its activities resulted only in losses, and how much foreign currency this small republic could obtain.

All welcome!

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