Spatial analysis of air temperature and its impact on the sustainable development of mountain tourism in Central and Western Serbia

Empirical studies of the late twentieth and early twenty-first century indicate the existence of a growth trend in air temperature. This trend is particularly pronounced in the region of Southern Europe, including the Republic of Serbia. Many problems occur in the socio-economic areas due to global warming, which directly influences the development of tourism. In this study, we will deal with the influence of climate change on the sustainable development of mountain tourism in the area of the western and central Serbia tourist zones, which includes Starovlaška and Kopaonik mountain chain. The data on changes in the temperature of air will be gathered at six different altitude meteorological stations, for the period from 1990 to 2014. All weather stations in the studied area were classified into three groups: lowland, middle and high mountain. In order to obtain trends, three sets of data were used: the average monthly temperature, the maximum monthly temperature, and the monthly minimum temperature, recorded in each station. The seasonal classification has been conducted based on four seasons: spring,m summer, autumn, and winter. Three statistical approaches were used to analyze the temperature trends in 15 time series, for each group of stations individually. First, the trend equation was calculated for each time series, then, completely separate from the first approach, all trends were assessed using the Mann-Kendall test, and in the end, in all cases, the trend magnitude was calculated based on the trend equation. The results show that there is a significant positive trend of temperature rise on an annual basis, while the trend is significantly positive during the fall and spring seasons. In winter, the trend is slightly positive or absent, while in the summer trend is moderately positive in all three groups of stations

The Role of Rural Tourism in Strengthening the Sustainability of Rural Areas: The Case of Zlakusa Village

The strategic planning of rural development is focused on both economic growth and sustainable development. Sustainable rural development is essential for conserving and improving resources, while economic growth contributes to a better standard of living. The aim of the research is to determine, using the participatory rural appraisal (PRA) methodology on the example of the village of Zlakusa, the economic activities developed in the village, the importance of rural tourism, and the scope of sustainable development taken into account in rural development. The results of the research show that the success of the rural community depends on: diversification of economic activities, which is accompanied by cohesion of the population through association and organization; organized activities aimed at local or republican authorities; activation of human and social capital; and initiating activities involving marginalized groups. Educating the population outside formal education improves the sustainable and economic development of the village and enables rural tourism to become an important part of economic activities and a channel for the commercialization of natural and cultural contents