Success story from Tallinn
Josef Říkovský
Erasmus Rotterdam once wrote: „If you want to get to know more about the nation, you should visit its
capital.“ In my opinion he was absolutely right. The best way how to get to know nation closer and
value its history starts in its capital.
Tallin, the capital of Estonia, was one of the Hansa´s cities. Today Tallin is the largest city in Estonia
and is situated on the nothern coast of Estonia, close to Finland. The city center of Tallin´s Old Town
is on the list of Unesco and Tallinn is also listed among the top 10 digital cities in the world.
In this year Tallinn was proclaimed as a European Capital of Culture. Because I study cultural studies
and I am deeply interested in the propagation, promotion and advertising of cultural tourism, I have
decided to write about the developing cultural tourism in Tallinn. I wasn´t sure, if Tallinn is prepared
for this prestigeous evaluation, but after my visit there, I am sure, it is. Maybe thanks to Liina Guiter,
the Project Manager of Foundation Tallinn 2011, who have worked for this project many months and
who convinced me, Tallinn is one of the best cities in Europe.
Some tourists could feel a lack of galleries with the famous names of artists, but Tallinn was
for long time under the influence of Dannish and Germans, so at galleries we can find the paintings
with the Flemish and German influence. Tallin is also rich in modern art galleries.
I would like to appreciate the new combination and services that are focused on the interests of
customers. The varied artistic scene (concerts, operas, new style operas, street performances, active
art, theaters, cinemas, galleries) as well as interesting architecture in all city has lot of stories to tell.
Maybe that the reason for motto of the Estonian cultural tourism: Big things start from small stories!
A little disadvantage could be the frequency of street performance, which are sometimes at the same
time.
When I am talking about Tallinn, I shouldn´t mention the unique design shopping opportunities, which
we could find e.g. in Berlin, London, Paris, Vienna. The prices are almost same, sometimes a little bit
more expensive than in the UK.
Very good point for cultural tourism is also support of Food culture. Culinary tourism is more and
more popular and Tallinn wants to offer us to feed our soul, not only stomach. Estonian cusine could
easily come across as hip and modern while is in fact deeply rooted in traditional values. You can
come and see how the food is locally grown, celebrate your lucky catch, learn to bake bread or cook
your whole dinner. All is possible in Tallinn. Well down.
Tallinn, as a open-minded city, didn´t forget to concentrate on queer comunity, which traditionaly
belongs to cultural tourists. Tallinn has prepared maps with the list of gay or gay friendly clubs, hotels,
spas, restaurants.
The perspective for tourism in Tallinn are promising the bigger interest among tourists. On the other
hand,the quiet atmosphere of Tallinn´s small and narrow lanes could be damage by crowds of tourists.
I suppose, that the advert and label of European Cultural City 2011 attract the enourmes number of
cultural tourists, which want to get to know more not only about this bold and beautiful city, but also
about Estonians, the small nation with rich culture.