Abstract
This research examines the role of gambling and casinos in the development of seaside resorts (1878-1930). Despite its economic and social significance, tourism remains underexplored in historical research. The project focusses on Ostend, a booming well-connected European resort town that used gambling to spur its development before becoming increasingly contested, prohibited (1902) and permitted again (1920s). This context allows to uncover both how gambling established itself as a key sector of the coastal tourist industry and how seaside resorts functioned as hubs for elite mobility with global ramifications within a specific local context. This project adopts an actor-centred approach, analyzing (1) the transnational networks of casino-Kursaal concession holders and (2) the construction of Ostend's gambling climate by various stakeholders within changing legal contexts. The study integrates transnational (Sûreté Publique files, foreign archives), national (parliamentary debates, court case files), and local (travel guides, newspapers, city council records) sources, enabling a global microhistorical perspective. By combining quantitative analysis with qualitative methods, this project reconstructs the processes that made gambling central to Ostend's tourist industry. Understanding the historical processes shaping seaside resorts provides broader insights into global trends that persist today.
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