ARE THERE LIMITS FOR TOURISM DEVELOPMENT IN MEĐUGORJE?

Abstract

Međugorje is the biggest pilgrimage center of Southeastern Europe. It is located in the southern part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in western Herzegovina. Before the apparitions in Međugorje, it was a karst agricultural region in which its population mostly lived off agriculture, namely cultivating tobacco and grapes. Despite the fact that the official Catholic church does not recognise Međugorje as the place of the Marian apparition, that has never prevented religious people from all over the world to visit. Since 1981, when, according to the belief of the local people, the Virgin Mary appeared, until 2016, this little Herzegovinian place was visited by more than 30 million pilgrims. More than 80% of pilgrims are foreigners (Italians, Czechs, Germans, Koreans, Lebanese, Poles, Ircs and others), so Međugorje has become an international marian shrine. The Appearance of Our Lady of Međugorje as a specific event has had multiple consequences for the development of this poor peripheral Herzegovinian village: development of pilgrim tourism, landscape transformation, development of the tertiary sector, change of socio-economic structure of the population and population growth. The village greatly expanded in buildings and the landscape is transformed beyond recognition. Nowadays, tourism is the dominating activity – agriculture is becoming rare, apart from viticulture and, only recently, growing olives. This paper analyzes characteristics of tourism and urban development of Međugorje that generated a series of negative consequences, since it completely ignored the need for destination management and spatial planning.