THE STRUCTURE OF EMPLOYED AND UNEMPLOYED HUMAN RESOURCES IN TOURISM – THE CITY OF UŽICE CASE STUDY

Today, tourism development cannot be imagined without the function of travel agencies and tourism organizations related to providing the information and advices. This function should be managed carefully, because providing the tourism information and advices is realized in direct contact with the client, which means that employees’ education should be correspondent to required tasks of each workplace. This paper indicates the structure of employees throughout the travel agencies and tourism organizations within the City of Užice (Western Serbia), but also the structure of unemployed human resources with tourism education in order to determine the socio-demographic structure and the share of young people in employed/unemployed category. Methods used in this paper are: survey, analysis and synthesis, statistics and comparison. Collected data were processed by using the mathematical-statistical software SPSS 17.0. Results of the study showed that females under the age of 40 are prevailing within the employees’ category, while females under the age of 30 are prevailing within the unemployed human resources

Koncepcija razvoja ekoturizma u UNESCO rezervatima biosfere: Studije slučaja iz Hrvatske i Srbije

Ecotourism is a sustainable form of tourism in protected areas that provides support for nature protection and sustainable development of local communities. Biosphere reserves are special areas with a relatively original nature and active socio-economic development, as well as with cultural characteristics that must be in harmony with the ecological environment. Understanding the interaction of environmental, economic and social factors in a biosphere reserve is the basis for setting the concept of sustainable development of ecotourism. In respect to that, this paper includes an analysis of the concepts of ecotourism within the protected areas Kopački rit (Croatia) and Gornje Podunavlje (Serbia), in the biosphere reserves Mura – Drava – Dunav (Croatia) and Bačko Podunavlje (Serbia), with the main aim of making a comparative analysis of their organization. The main findings are providing the knowledge basis in terms of nature protection according to the national legislation and international nature protection statuses, nature degradation and challenges of protected area management, organization of tourism, cooperation between nature protection and tourism development, projects supporting the nature protection and ecotourism development and involvement of the local population.Ekoturizam je održivi oblik turizma koji u zaštićenim područjima pruža podršku zaštiti prirode i održivom razvoju lokalnih zajednica u njihovu okruženju. Rezervati biosfere posebna su područja s relativno izvornom prirodom i aktivnim društveno-ekonomskim razvojem, kao i s kulturnim osobnostima koje moraju biti suglasne s ekološkim okruženjem. Spoznaja o interakciji ekoloških, ekonomskih, kulturnih i društvenih čimbenika u nekom rezervatu biosfere predstavlja temelj za postavljanje koncepcije održivog razvoja ekoturizma. Ovaj rad obuhvaća analizu koncepcija razvoja ekoturizma zaštićenih područja Kopački rit (Hrvatska) i Gornje Podunavlje (Srbija), u rezervatima biosfere Mura – Drava – Dunav (Hrvatska) i Bačko Podunavlje (Srbija), s glavnim ciljem da se napravi usporedna analiza njihove opće organizacije. Rezultati istraživanja pružaju ključne informacije o zaštiti prirode u skladu s nacionalnim zakonodavstvima i međunarodnim standardima zaštite prirode, degradacije prirode i izazova upravljanja zaštićenim područjima, organizacije ekoturizma, povezanosti između zaštite prirode i razvoja ekoturizma, projekata koji podržavaju zaštitu prirode i razvoj ekoturizma i uključivanja lokalnog stanovništva u daljnji razvoj

Climate Change and Global Economic Consequences

Climate change is perhaps one of the greatest global challenges of the 21st century since it could threaten and change the structure of biodiversity of an entire ecosystem. All the above-mentioned is mainly caused by human activities and adapting nature to human needs. Humans want to live as comfortably as possible, which means that the roots of the problems are economic in their essence, or more precisely it could be said that they are related to the manner of production and striving for faster economic growth. Paradoxically, climate change will have the greatest impact on the economy, in addition to the deterioration of overall well-being. Although the largest greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions mainly originate from the richest countries, the poorer ones will be the most affected by these changes, as they have less adaptability. However, climate change is a global problem and these changes do not distinguish national or administrative boundaries. Not all countries are equally threatened, and climate reactions will not occur equally everywhere, but no single country could solve this problem on its own. Global issues can only be solved through a global strategy involving both rich and poor people’s united efforts

APPLICATION OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT PRINCIPLES IN HOTEL BUSINESS

Tourism development, if not sustainable, could threat and affect the environment as an object of tourists’ interest. Accordingly, hotels as a type of tourism organizations within a destination, are trying to involve sustainable business activities in their operations in order to protect the environment. In hotels within developed countries, sustainable activities are already implemented in the business and they are in the balance with the environment. However, implementation of these activities within societies in transition, such as Serbia, is still in initial level, which is confirmed in this research. The subject of this paper is, therefore, oriented toward the business activities of hotels located within Kopaonik, popular destination of winter tourism and National Park of Serbia, and these activities are researched through the employees’ perspective of ecological, socio-cultural and economic principles of the hotel business. Methods used in the paper are: descriptive, comparative, statistical and the critical one. Also, a survey research was conducted for the purpose of the paper and it obtained a sample of 211 hotel employees. The research results explained the current state within the hotel business of Kopaonik related to activities focused on ecological, socio-cultural and economic principles of sustainable development. Also, results indicate the level of employees’ job satisfaction and the level of their job commitment in accordance with hotels’ involvement in sustainable practices. All researched constructs of the paper are interpreted as important aspects of Kopaonik’s sustainability on the tourist market

Visitors' attitudes regarding the possibilities for further development of the “Srem Folk Fest”

Since its foundation in 2004, the ‘Srem Folk Fest’ is oriented towards promoting the local culture and tradition of the host city, Sremska Mitrovica, and its surroundings. It is organized in specific environment, or more precisely within the excavations of the ancient city of Sirmium. According to the venue and its content, this event might be characterized as multicultural outdoor spectacle, visited by 20,000 participants every year, throughout the four festival evenings. In 2015, the ‘Srem Folk Fest’ became a part of International Council of Organizations of Folklore Festivals and Folk Arts (CIOFF), which imposes a top standards in organizing festivals. It is also important to note that this year, the ‘Srem Folk Fest’ will be supported by Serbian National Commission for UNESCO, on the basis of the fact that this event is oriented towards preserving the intangible cultural heritage, important for wider social community. Since its foundation in 2004, this event became the well-known brand of the city and it hosted a large number of young people, not only from Europe, but also from Asia, Africa, South America, Central America. The main task of this paper is to identify potentials for repeating the visits of those who already participated in this event, but also to find ways for improving the quality of the current offer, in order to provide adequate promotion of the city and surrounding rural area. The research was conducted on the basis of the survey regarding the visitors’ attitudes on the current quality of this event, but also regarding their proposals for improving its content. Collected data were analyzed by using the SPSS statistical software. In addition to theoretical contribution, the research results might also serve as a basis for improving the event organization according to the visitors’ needs and their expectations. Besides that, results might also find a practical implication in terms of providing the basic information necessary for expanding this event within the surrounding area of Sremska Mitrovica

APPLICATION OF TOURIST FUNCTION INDICATORS IN TOURISM DEVELOPMENT

Tourism development planning requires consideration of indicators regarding the intensity of tourist activity within destination and measure that should not be exceeded in further improvement of this activity, in order to prevent disturbing the needs of local community and sustainability of local environment. The village Zlakusa is located within the territory of the City of Užice and it represents an important tourism destination of South-western Serbia. Rural tourism of Zlakusa is characterized by its authenticity and recognition, regarding the pottery and ethno-park called “Terzića avlija”. Accordingly, tourist function indicators were used in this research: tourist accommodation density, Defert Baretje’s index, Charvat’s index and Schneider’s index, with the aim of emphasizing the importance of rural potentials of Zlakusa for tourism development within this village, but also within the whole territory of the City of Užice. Research results showed that tourism is important industry within Zlakusa, with necessity of its further affirmation on tourist market and its adaptation to contemporary needs of modern tourists. Also, research results showed that Zlakusa participates in total tourist arrivals with 18%, as well as in total tourist overnights with 13% and it comprises 1.9% of accommodation capacities of the overall tourism development within the City of Užice for observed period (2008–2016). Therefore, results of this study actually show that Zlakusa is highly oriented towards tourism industry, which is the main reason of necessity for further improvement of conditions for its development, especially in the case of rural tourism, without threatening the local community and local environment

The importance of sociodemographic characteristics and personality dimensions for communication satisfaction

The subject matter of this research study is the importance of the sociodemographic characteristics and the personality dimensions of employees for communication satisfaction. This study is aimed at determining the significant influences and correlations between the main constructs within the research study conducted on a sample of 119 employees. The obtained results have shown that, except for the gender structure of the respondents, the other examined sociodemographic characteristics have an influence on certain dimensions of communication satisfaction. Correlations were also identified between certain personality dimensions and the dimensions of communication satisfaction. The research results have numerous practical implications. The quality of the interpersonal relationships between highly-educated employees and their supervisors needs to be improved by providing a greater autonomy and complex working tasks. It is also necessary to improve the bottom-up communication process for the purpose of enabling subordinates to express their ideas without barriers. Finally, it is recommended that employees with a high level of the personality dimensions ‘Openness to new experiences’ and ‘Extraversion’ should be in the positions in which they could achieve the best results

Želimo li biti uključeni? Promicanje turizma i industrijske baštine Nijemaca u Vojvodini

Local community members are considered as one of key stakeholder groups for sustainable tourism development, not only as service providers, but also as an important part of a decision-making process in tourism development. In respect to that, this study was focused on their perceptions of potential tourism activities based on resources that are still not valued for the purpose of tourism. There is a question whether the local community members want to be involved and whether they perceive the industrial heritage as beneficial for the local development. The research was conducted on the example of the industrial heritage in Vojvodina (Autonomous Province in Serbia, former part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire), characterized by its historical, cultural, technical, architectural, and educational values of the industrial heritage of Germans as a national minority. The survey research based on the 44- item SUS TAS scale was conducted on a sample of 300 respondents, between October 2021 and March 2022. The main findings highlight the positive attitudes of the local community members on sustainable development of the industrial heritage, but also their insufficient knowledge of values in terms of German industrial legacy within their local environment. The research results may contribute to experts in the field of tourism and culture for domestic and international tourism development.Članovi lokalne zajednice smatraju se jednim od ključnih skupina dionika za razvoj održivoga turizma, ne samo kao pružatelji usluga, nego i kao važan segment procesa donošenja odluka u razvoju turizma. U skladu s time ovo se istraživanje usmjerilo na njihove percepcije potencijalnih turističkih aktivnosti temeljem resursa koji se još uvijek ne vrednuju u turističke svrhe. Nameće se pitanje žele li se članovi lokalne zajednice uključiti te percipiraju li industrijsku baštinu kao pogodnu za lokalni razvoj. Istraživanje je provedeno na uzorku industrijske baštine u Vojvodini (autonomna pokrajina u Srbiji, ranije dio Austro-Ugarskog Carstva), obilježene povijesnim, kulturnim, tehničkim, arhitektonskim i obrazovnim vrijednostima industrijske baštine Nijemaca kao nacionalne manjine. Istraživanje temeljeno na skali SUS TAS sastavljenoj od 44 čestice provedeno je na uzorku od 300 ispitanika između listopada 2021. i ožujka 2022. godine. Kao glavni nalazi ističu se pozitivni stavovi članova lokalne zajednice o održivom razvoju industrijske baštine, ali i njihovo nedovoljno znanje o vrijednostima u smislu njemačkog industrijskog nasljeđa unutar lokalne sredine. Rezultati istraživanja mogli bi koristiti stručnjacima u polju turizma i kulture za razvoj domaćeg i međunarodnog turizma

Changes in Traditional Activities of Industrial Area toward Sustainable Tourism Development

The purpose of this study is to investigate the potential for restructuring industrial areas toward tourism development within local communities, with a special emphasis on the socio-cultural determinants of residents, as well as their attitudes regarding the sustainable development of tourism. The research is also oriented toward the interests of local communities with respect to entrepreneurial activities in the field of tourism within regions relying on traditional industries, in this case, one of the largest open-pit mining surfaces in Europe (near the Serbian town of Lazarevac). The survey was conducted on a sample of 273 respondents. The research results point to the residents’ attitudes regarding the acceptability of tourism development options, as well as their attitudes toward tourism development, with the aim of providing the conditions for a successful transition from a typical heavy industrial setting toward sustainable tourism development

Modeling spa destination choice for leveraging hydrogeothermal potentials in Serbia

Serbian spas, with their abundant geothermal springs and air qualities, are a significant natural resource for the country. Nowadays, tourism industry has become a predominant beneficiary attracting both leisure- and health-related visits. Nonetheless, the literature on current consumer behavior is devoid of a model that incorporates both motivating and constraining factors in the spa and wellness industry's decision-making process. Serbia's spa industry is still adjusting to the needs of the modern wellness visitor as a result of the country's unique transitional path. The purpose of this study is to ascertain the role of incentive and restrictions in the destination selection process of spa visitors in Serbia, to gain insight into the development of wellness tourism in a particular sociocultural environment. The analytical hierarchy process was used to determine the relative relevance of the consumer behavior elements evaluated. The findings indicate that non-medical motivations are becoming more important, implying that demand is finally shifting toward the wellness idea, which was initially disrupted by the country's delayed transformation. The findings have administrative ramifications, the most significant of which were price strategies and product diversification. © 2022 Marija Belij Radin et al., published by De Gruyter