Decision support model in the determination of rural touristic destination attractiveness in the Brčko District of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Abstract

In order for a tourist to visit a location, it has to be attractive. Destination attractiveness can be examined in several ways. One of them is offered by this study, which has examined destination attractiveness based on resources available in certain rural settlements. Based on a case study carried out in the Brčko District of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Brčko District), a model will be developed to test for rural tourism destination attractiveness. Examination of tourist destination attractiveness in the area of the Brčko District was conducted with a decision model based on the Decision EXpert method and expert decision-making. For that purpose, six rural settlements in the area of the Brčko District were examined with respect to destination attractiveness. Results obtained using this model showed that rural settlement Bijela has a “very good” attractiveness, rural settlements Brezik, Brezovo Polje, and Gornji Zovik have “good” attractiveness, while rural settlements Ražljevo and Maoča have “middle” attractiveness. The results obtained by applying this model have shown the need for improvement of touristic offer in order to make it more attractive. In order to improve attractiveness of a tourist destination, we need to strengthen human potential in this area and improve tourist infrastructure and make more effort to preserve the environment. The application of the used model has given good results in examination of tourist destination attractiveness and it should be applied for other branches of tourism in the future studies.