Competitiveness in rural tourism between Serbia and Hungary

Competition between tourist destinations and products has recently become very intense. While the market of rural tourism is on the rise, the future of many rural areas is uncertain due to the changes in agricultural production and the growing attractiveness of cities. In this paper, we are going to identify the factors that may influence the competitiveness of rural tourism in Serbia compared with Hungary, which is Serbia’s main competitor. We examined the views of the key stakeholders involved in the development of rural tourism in Serbia and Hungary. Our findings have led us to the conclusion that the level of rural tourism in Hungary is considerably higher than in Serbia as we found a statistically significant difference in the assessment of all the factors, except for ‘Safety and Security’. Hungarian experts do not see Serbia as their country’s competitor, which means that tourism policy makers should consider Hungary as a market that requires greater investment and greater efforts to meet the demands of their sophisticated rural tourists, which is impossible to achieve in a short period of time. In the following period, Hungary should be seen as Serbia’s partner and Serbian stakeholders should develop joint projects with their Hungarian counterparts, which will improve the quality of rural tourism in Serbia. At the moment, the Hungarian market of rural tourism presents an example of good practice.The research was supported by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Republic of Serbia (Grant III 47007)

Конкуренция на рынке сельского туризма между Венгрией и Сербией

Competition between tourist destinations and products has recently become very intense. While the market of rural tourism is on the rise, the future of many rural areas is uncertain due to the changes in agricultural production and the growing attractiveness of cities. In this paper, we are going to identify the factors that may influence the competitiveness of rural tourism in Serbia compared with Hungary, which is Serbia’s main competitor. We examined the views of the key stakeholders involved in the development of rural tourism in Serbia and Hungary. Our findings have led us to the conclusion that the level of rural tourism in Hungary is considerably higher than in Serbia as we found a statistically significant difference in the assessment of all the factors, except for ‘Safety and Security’. Hungarian experts do not see Serbia as their country’s competitor, which means that tourism policy makers should consider Hungary as a market that requires greater investment and greater efforts to meet the demands of their sophisticated rural tourists, which is impossible to achieve in a short period of time. In the following period, Hungary should be seen as Serbia’s partner and Serbian stakeholders should develop joint projects with their Hungarian counterparts, which will improve the quality of rural tourism in Serbia. At the moment, the Hungarian market of rural tourism presents an example of good practice.В последнее время конкуренция между туристическими направлениями и продуктами стала очень интенсивной. В то время как рынок сельского туризма растет, будущее многих сельских районов является неопределенным из-за изменений в сельскохозяйственном производстве и растущей привлекательности городов. В данной статье определены факторы, которые могут повлиять на конкурентоспособность сельского туризма в Сербии по сравнению с Венгрией, которая является главным конкурентом Сербии. Мы рассмотрели мнения ключевых заинтересованных сторон, участвующих в развитии сельского туризма в Сербии и Венгрии. Наши выводы привели нас к выводу, что уровень сельского туризма в Венгрии значительно выше, чем в Сербии, поскольку мы обнаружили статистически значимую разницу в оценке всех факторов, за исключением фактора безопасности. Венгерские эксперты не считают Сербию конкурентом, а это означает, что разработчики политики в области туризма должны рассматривать Венгрию как рынок, который требует большего числа инвестиций и больших усилий для удовлетворения потребностей своих искушенных сельских туристов, чего невозможно достичь за короткий период. В ближайшее время Венгрия должна рассматриваться как партнер Сербии, а Сербия должна разрабатывать совместные проекты со своими венгерскими коллегами, что улучшит качество сельского туризма в Сербии. В настоящий момент венгерский рынок сельского туризма может считаться образцовым

Claimed Co-ethnics and Kin-State Citizenship in Southeastern Europe

The paper introduces the often neglected concept of 'claimed co-ethnics' in the analysis of citizenship policies. It argues that this is an interstitial category that further complicates the triadic nexus between national minorities, nationalising states and kin-states. The 'claimed co-ethnics' are defined as people who are recognised by the citizenship (or ethnizenship) conferring state as belonging to its main ethnic group, although they themselves do not embrace that definition. In addition to bringing the issue of claimed co-ethnics into focus, the paper elucidates how citizenship policies can affect groups that challenge the exact fit between ethnicity and nation, showing how national governments through particular citizenship policies and categorisation practices engage in the construction of these groups. The paper shows that the triadic nexus framework, which has had a strong influence on citizenship and minorities scholarship, needs to be revised to include unidirectional relations between the elements of the triadic nexus. The paper is based on the comparison between the cases of ethnic Vlachs (in the context of Albania and Greece) and Bunjevci (in the context of Serbia and Croatia).European Commission - Seventh Framework Programme (FP7