From queen of seaside resorts to expulsion corridor: monitoring the entry, stay, and expulsion of foreigners in Ostend (1838–1914)

Abstract

ABSTRACT International migration and tourism developed into cornerstones of modern societies and have many common features: they generally pass through the same routes, are served and controlled by similar actors, and often depend on each other as for instance with the prevalence of migrant labour in the tourism industry. Despite these entanglements which sometimes blur the lines between tourists and migrants, there has been very little scholarly attention aimed at connecting both fields, not least from a historical perspective. Using sources generated by the Foreigners Police, a body responsible for monitoring all non-nationals in Belgium and expelling ‘undesirables’, this article analyses how mobility controls addressing tourists and migrants evolved in Ostend, one of the most prominent European tourist resorts during the nineteenth century. This article tests how mobility controls in resorts deviated from national guidelines and explores whether security concerns about controlling foreigners weighed up against economic benefits derived from international mobility. How did authorities differentiate tourists from migrants and to what extent did mobility controls of migrants overlap and differ with those addressing tourists? By exploring the entanglements between mobility and migration controls the article seeks to encourage tourism and migration scholars to engage in broader debates.