Author(s):
1. Nikola Bošković, Lithuania

Abstract:
Summary Permanent, linear or exponentially growing, dynamic or gentle, untouchable in continuous wavering of global economic forces, tourism movement is still reflected in tourist activities. The world is getting more tempting, and tourism is increasingly unable to satisfy all emerging human needs equally and evenly dislocated in every place and time. Therefore there arises the question of new „colonialism“ or tourist „imperalism“ in the regionalization of tourist market and overall tourist traffic. Expansive and uncontrolled tourism development over the past few decades, followed by many negative ecological, social and cultural consequences imposes the need of placing this activity under the concept of sustainable development. In the last twenty years, tourism has developed into an important factor in the context of sustainable development in both positive and negative terms. Sustainable tourism in its purest sense represents an economic activity of minimal negative environmental and local cultural impact while stimulating income generation, new employment and protection of local eco-systems along with meeting all tourists’ needs. The main objective of this type of tourism is to enable people to enjoy and gain knowledge on natural, historical and cultural features of the unique environment while preserving the integrity of a tourist site and fostering the economic growth and welfare of a local community. On the other hand, sustainable tourism in the regional development presumes different evaluation measures for it is needed to determine its value over the whole region of Serbia, find appropriate destinations fitting into the tourist product of the region, recognize tourist destinations with rounded, i.e. complex tourist offer and incorporate them all into macro global regional scale. As a consequence, sustainable development opportunities are determined by the regional development which is seen as a resource base of the formed concept of tourist services, modern infrastructure and reasonable economic policy of the country. In Serbia, the relation between sustainable tourism and regional development indicates the necessary and indispensable milestone in modern trends of the global economy. In our country, it has primary natural and anthropogenic base in the tangible part of tourist product, and secondary role in its intangible part. This further means that resource base of sustainable tourism makes the Serbian regions rich, whereas their hospitality services are still at very low level. If this is accompanied by insufficient participation of the local community in the regional tourist development, the need arises to transform the undeveloped conflicting unsustainable tourism into developed co-existential one in the economic activities of all regions of Serbia. The goal of the work is to define position of sustainable tourism of lasting duration and responsible behaviour in the regional development of Serbia. Out of the afore-mentioned goal the following hypothesis is derived: sustainable tourism is a reflexive change of the attractiveness of needs and services which are to grow into a regular movement of tourists, capital and tourist stakeholders in space and time. While proving the set hypothesis by means of latest methods for evaluation of sustainable tourism and regional development, the work will result in a practical confirmation of the basic indicator of sustainable tourism development based on optimal regionalization of Serbian tourist resources.

Key words:
sustainable tourism, movement, regional development, Serbia

Thematic field:
Tourism - sustainable development, regional develo

Date of abstract submission:
31.05.2012.

Number of visits:
466

Conference:
REDETE 2012