Abstract
Pronounced regional disparities represent one of the main features of regional development in Serbia. The regions are economically very uneven, and there are often differences within the regions themselves. The most prominent intra-regional disparity is between urban and rural areas. Rural areas are particularly vulnerable because they have experienced depopulation and economic decline for decades. This problem has been recognized and addressed in the Strategy of Agriculture and Rural Development of the Republic of Serbia from 2014-2024. One of the priority areas of implementation of the operational objectives relates to the diversification of the rural economy and the preservation of cultural and natural heritage. Due to its positive effects on GDP, employment, the balance of payments, investment and population standard, tourism is increasingly becoming an essential instrument for stimulating development, especially in those regions where employment creation through other forms of investment is challenging. Accordingly, this paper aims to present the potential of rural tourism as an endogenous factor of regional and local development through the presentation and analysis of socioeconomic indicators and realized tourist traffic in the statistical regions in Serbia. Results of correlation analysis indicate a positive correlation between the number of tourists and number of employees, number of employees per 1000 inhabitants and average net earnings in NUTS 3 regions in Serbia.
Highlights
Uneven regional development is one of the most significant problems in Serbia, and as such, it should occupy a central place in the development policy of our country
This paper aims to present the potential of rural tourism as an endogenous factor of regional and local development through the presentation and analysis of socio-economic indicators and realized tourist traffic in the statistical regions in Serbia
The distribution of tourist activity among the districts still only partially coincides with their position in the overall economic, educational and demographic development
Summary
Uneven regional development is one of the most significant problems in Serbia, and as such, it should occupy a central place in the development policy of our country. After the attempt to define regions in the Spatial Plan of the Republic of Serbia in 1996, this issue has not been adequately treated for a long time. This problem was addressed in 2007 when the Strategy of Regional Development of Serbia from 2007 to 2012 (2007) was adopted. The main priorities of the regional development were defined comprehensively and the path to their realization. This Strategy provides the basis for encouraging the balanced regional development of Serbia by raising. The Law on Regional Development from 2009 and its amendments † defined five economic-statistical NUTS-2 regions and 30 NUTS-3 areas, which confirmed the work on reducing very pronounced regional disparities, apparent in the village-city relation
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