Destinacijski imidž u omladinskom ekoturizmu Srbije

Almost half of domestic overnight stays in Serbia in 2019 were made in just five destinations, indicating the need for mitigation of such regional imbalances, particularly given the positive economic effects of domestic tourism. Large number of protected areas in Serbia provide opportunities for ecotourism development, which would make domestic tourist flows more disperse. Despite the important role of destination image in ecotourism development, previous studies of Serbian ecotourism did not focus on this construct. The aim of this study is to advance the knowledge about cognitive and affective image components of Serbian ecotourism destinations, including the role of socio-demographic characteristics and travelling behaviour on these representations. Youth, i.e., student population, represents the target group of the study. Five factors of the cognitive image were identified - General, Hospitality and Safety, Culture, Affordability and Nature. Hypotheses testing showed that cognitive perceptions varied in relation to the destination type and to some extent to previous visitation and gender, while affective responses varied in relation to gender and partially to the destination type and recent domestic travel experience. These findings provide theoretical contributions to ecotourism destination image research and practical implications for the destination managers and national policymakers.Gotovo polovina domaćih noćenja u Srbiji 2019. godine je ostvarena u svega pet destinacija, što ukazuje na potrebu za ublažavanjem regionalnih nejednakosti, posebno uzevši u obzir pozitivne ekonomske efekte domaćeg turizma. Veliki broj zaštićenih područja Srbije pruža prilike za razvoj ekoturizma, što bi domaće turističke tokove učinilo disperznijima. Uprkos važnoj ulozi destinacijskog imidža u razvoju ekoturizma, prethodne studije ekoturizma Srbije se nisu fokusirale na ovaj konstrukt. Cilj ove studije je unapređenje znanja o kognitivnim i afektivnim komponentama srpskih ekoturističkih destinacija, uključujući ulogu socio-demografskih odlika i turističkog ponašanja na ove predstave. Ciljnu grupu istraživanja predstavlja omladina, odnosno studentska populacija. Identifikovano je pet faktora kognitivnog imidža - opšti, ugostiteljstvo i bezbednost, kultura, priuštivost i priroda. Testiranje hipoteza je pokazalo da se kognitivne percepcije razlikuju u odnosu na destinacijski tip i u određenoj meri na prethodnu posećenost i pol, dok se afektivni odgovori razlikuju u odnosu na pol i delimično na destinacijski tip i skorije iskustvo u domaćem turizmu. Ovi rezultati pružaju teorijski doprinos istraživanju imidža ekoturističkih destinacija i praktične implikacije za upravljače destinacijama i državne kreatore politika

Beyond symbolic: the role of tourism ethnocentrism in domestic travel

As a positive ingroup bias, tourism ethnocentrism (TE) is considered a symbolic reason for travelling that drives tourists to choose domestic destinations as a way of supporting their country and its tourism industry. To provide an additional perspective on TE, through the lens of cognitive dissonance and rationalization, we studied its relationships with other factors that could affect tourists’ decision to travel domestically. The study was conducted in Serbia and used structural equation modelling to test these relationships. Our findings indicate that tourism xenophilia and tourism thalassophilia, defined as a preference for seaside summer holidays, do not affect TE and have only a limited negative impact on willingness to travel domestically. Constraints for travelling abroad and increased destination awareness as a consequence of the pandemic positively affect TE, thus questioning its purely symbolic nature and indicating that levels of TE in tourists could change due to external factors

Evaluating Farm Tourism Development for Sustainability: A Case Study of Farms in the Peri-Urban Area of Novi Sad (Serbia)

Farm tourism is often considered a form of tourism whose main characteristic is sustainability. Nevertheless, the existing literature also provides a partial approach, where the development of farm tourism is analyzed within the context of sustainable development and crisis situations, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of the paper is to analyze environmental, social, and economic factors as vectors for the sustainable development of farm tourism by applying a specially designed SFT model. An empirical study was carried out on a sample of nine farms in the peri-urban area of the city of Novi Sad (the Republic of Serbia). Sustainable development was analyzed using dynamic social, economic, and environmental indicators with the aim of finding a model that could be used to ensure more stable economic income for the population, social equality, and environmental protection. By applying the SFT model, it was determined that the current position of farm tourism is not fully compliant with the aims of sustainable development due to its clearly dominant economic dimension and less developed social and environmental sustainability. The results were further analyzed with the aim of achieving a balanced development of farm tourism, which needs to be based on the continued application of the concept of sustainability. The results could be used by public and private institutions in the tourism sector, as well as creators of legal regulations and strategies in the field of sustainable and rural tourism, with the aim of further developing and improving its sustainability