Soviet Heritage(scape) in Sillamäe: Documenting the Potential in an Emerging Tourism Destination

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

1. Please avoid the citations in the abstract.

2. Please review the articles on Soviet heritage in Baltic states. For example, the articles should be mentioned as follows:

Czepczyński, M., and H. Sooväli-Sepping. 2016. “From sacrum to profanum: reinterpretation of communist places of power in Baltic cities.” Journal of Baltic Studies 47 (2): 239–55. doi:10.1080/01629778.2015.1102154

Ehala, M. 2009. “The Bronze Soldier: Identity threat and Maintenance in Estonia.” Journal of Baltic Studies 40 (1): 139–58. doi:10.1080/01629770902722294

Kačerauskas, T.; Baranovskaja, I. 2021. Should we destroy our Soviet heritage? Exploring the case of Soviet-era sculptures on the Green Bridge, Vilnius, through an analysis of media debates, Journal of Baltic Studies. Doi: DOI: 10.1080/01629778.2021.1948878

3. In the Abstract and Introduction, please stress your original contribution (hypotheses) to the social sciences.

4. In the Introduction, please present the theoretical models on urban heritage.

Author Response

The authors are grateful to the referees for their valuable input. Hereby we present the details of the revision and responses to the comments. 

Point 1:

Citation was removed from the abstract and our original contribution to social sciences was introduced.

Point 2:

Additional articles on Soviet heritage in Baltic states were reviewed and theoretical models on urban heritage in post-soviet towns were included in the introduction. The case studies these articles were analysing were juxtaposed with our case study and used to emphasise the perticularities of our case study and the importance of the heritagescape approach.

Point 3:

Our original contribution to social sciences was emphasised in the abstract and explained in the introduction.

Point 4:

Additional articles on Soviet heritage in Baltic states were reviewed and theoretical models on urban heritage in post-soviet towns were included in the introduction.

Reviewer 2 Report

Very informative and interesting article. The only objection/suggestion we could make goes for the conclusion, more precise it would be useful to know how authors see this case-study can inform strategies and practices in other (similar, or partly similar) destinations as well. Mentioned is not conditional, foremost suggested.

Author Response

Point 1: The importance of our case study and preferred method in the analysis of other similar or partly similar destinations was emphasised.