Journal of the Geographical Institute “Jovan Cvijić” SASA

TOURISM IN THE CONTEXT OF CONTEMPORARY THEORIES OF REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Sat, 16 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0100

Tourism is a significant segment of development policy at the national level, and it is important in terms of contributing to the Gross domestic product (GDP) diversifying of economy, reducing disparities between regions, fostering development capital, and promoting regional development. Tourism greatly contributes to the sustainable development of a region and a unit of local self-government, in an environment where sometimes there are no other alternatives for achieving that goal. Theories of regional development and tourism have evolved over a similar period after the Second World War. The concept of regional development has undergone a significant transformation through various theories. The paper analyzes the main principles of the theory of endogenous regional development and the possibility of its application for tourism research as a development factor. Tourism development policy is often created by the views of these theories. The purpose of this paper is to indicate, based on the analysis of modern ideas and approaches to regional development, whether they are suitable for the study of tourism and which factors are decisive in achieving its development function. The paper points out certain elements of theories that can individually or together represent the theoretical basis for tourism development planning in regions and local government units.

HOW REAL IS MIGRATION'S CONTRIBUTION TO THE POPULATION CHANGE IN MAJOR URBAN AGGLOMERATIONS?

Konstantin A. Chernyshev, Ivan N. Alov, Yuheng Li, Tamara Gajić — Sat, 16 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0100

Migration acts as a growth driver for urban agglomerations, posing a difficult methodological task of its statistical accounting as well as further assessment of migration’s impact on the economy of agglomerations. The paper analyzes the contribution of migration to the change in population during the intercensal interval 2010–2021 in 20 urban agglomerations of Russia identified as promising centers of economic growth by the Russian Federation Government Decree “On Approval of the Spatial Development Strategy of the Russian Federation for the period until 2025”. The study showed that the most underestimated net migration rate was demonstrated by the agglomerations of Krasnodar, distantly followed by Krasnoyarsk and the capitals (Moscow and Saint Petersburg). The leader in terms of the absolute value of unrecorded migration is the Moscow agglomeration. In Nizhny Novgorod and Perm agglomerations, indirect assessment of net migration showed that migration balance was overestimated as per the registered migration data. The identified differences in the volume of net migration between the two sources indicate the unreliability of the data, thus questioning in some urban agglomerations the alignment of the demographic potential with economic development goals.

ESTIMATING THE ECONOMIC VALUE OF THE ECOTOURISM DESTINATION: THE CASE OF TRA SU MELALEUCA FOREST NATURAL PARK IN VIET NAM

Huynh Truong Huy, Luu Thi Ngoc Thi, Nguyen Tri Nam Khang, Nguyen Thi Tu Trinh — Sat, 16 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0100

In this article, the application of the Individual Travel Cost Method (ITCM) aims at providing a deeper insight into visitors’ preferences and their expenses on marketed and non-marketed services when travelling to the Tra Su Melaleuca Forest Natural Park, an ecotourism destination in An Giang Province of Viet Nam. The empirical findings from the survey of 237 visitors in 2022 showed that the frequency of trips to this recreational site was 1.3 per year on average and relied strongly on the travel costs. Additionally, the estimate of tourism revenues for 2022 of this site was 82,3 billion Viet Nam Dong (VND; equivalent to 3,5 million USD). Meanwhile, its economic value calculated by the ITCM application reaches 206,2 billion VND (or 8,8 million USD). It is obvious that a greater economic value over the monetary amount of revenue also raises several ideas of managerial implications dedicated to the recreational site. It includes building a marketing team for developing recreational services and digital marketing performance, expanding tour services like transportation, lodging, local guides. Finally, enabling local people to engage in dialogues, decision-making, and interest shares is also necessary for the sustainable development of ecotourism.

HOW DO NEGATIVE DESTINATION IMAGE ELEMENTS AFFECT DOMESTIC TOURISM?

Nikola Todorović — Sat, 16 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0100

Destination image perceptions have a strong impact on the visit intention of tourists. While positive representations of a destination affect this intention favorably, negative representations decrease it. During the first year of the pandemic, intensified tourist flows toward dominantly nature-based destinations influenced the increase of prices, crowdedness, and pressures on nature within them. These developments were covered by numerous media reports and were heavily present on social media, which is a strong channel for modifying image perceptions. This study aims to establish the strength of the presence of these negative image elements in the consciousness of tourists and the strength of the impact of these elements on the intention to spend the summer holiday in Serbia, as well as on the desire to spend the summer holiday at the seaside. During June and July of 2021, a survey was conducted among 234 participants. The collected data was analyzed through structural equation modeling (SEM). It was established that all three negative elements are moderately present in the image perceptions of domestic destinations, whereby overpricing was determined to be slightly more present than the excessive amount of visitors and nature endangerment. Despite this, the studied elements do not pose a negative impact on the tourists' intention to spend the summer holiday in the country. A strong positive effect of the perceived expensiveness of destinations (ED) on the desire to go to the seaside (DGS) was established.

THE EFFECTS OF SERVANT LEADERSHIP ON EMPLOYEES’ OUTCOMES IN THE SERBIAN HOTEL INDUSTRY

Djordje Alavuk, Veronika N. Kholina, Ana Jovičić-Vuković, Dragana Tomašević — Sat, 16 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0100

Modern human resource management involves a series of methods that ensure employee satisfaction, intending to achieve organizational goals. The perception of hotel staff as a factor of market success implies the creation of a working environment within which the performance of employees would be adequately used for these purposes. Consequently, the need for extensive research of leaders who will be able to respond to all business and social challenges arises as a basic prerequisite for achieving enviable business results. This paper aims to examine the impact of servant leadership on positive and negative outcomes in the field of hotel business. For the purposes of the survey, 412 hotel workers, employed in various hierarchical positions, were surveyed. The results of the research indicate a positive correlation between servant leadership and job satisfaction and work engagement, that is, a negative correlation between this leadership style and turnover intention and burnout. Furthermore, regression analysis confirmed the direct impact of servant leadership on job satisfaction and work engagement, as well as turnover intention. This study fills theoretical gaps in the aspect of choosing purposeful leadership styles in the sphere of hotel business in Serbia.

FREQUENCY ANALYSIS OF ABSOLUTE MAXIMUM AIR TEMPERATURES IN SERBIA

Sat, 16 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0100

This paper describes the frequency analysis of absolute maximum air temperatures, using annual maximum series (AMS) in the period 1961–2010 from 40 climatological stations in Serbia with maximum likelihood estimation of distribution parameters. For the goodness of fit testing of General Extreme Value (GEV), Normal, Log-Normal, Pearson 3 (three parameters), and Log-Pearson 3 distribution, three different tests were used (Kolmogorov-Smirnov, Anderson-Darling, chi-square). Based on the results of these tests (best average rank of certain distribution), the appropriate distribution is selected. GEV distribution proved to be the most appropriate one in most cases. The probability of exceedance of absolute maximum air temperatures on 1%, 0.5%, 0.2%, and 0.1% levels are calculated. A spatial analysis of the observed and modeled values of absolute maximum air temperatures in Serbia is given. The absolute maximum air temperature of 44.9 °C was recorded at Smederevska Palanka station, and the lowest value of maximum air temperature 35.8 °C was recorded at Zlatibor station, one of the stations with the highest altitude. The modeled absolute maximum air temperatures are the highest at Zaječar station with 44.5 °C, 45.6 °C, 47.0 °C, and 48.0 °C and the lowest values are calculated for Sjenica station with 35.5 °C, 35.8 °C, 36.1 °C, and 36.2 °C for the return periods of 100, 200, 500, and 1000 years, respectively. Our findings indicate the possible occurrence of much higher absolute maximum air temperatures in the future than the ones recorded on almost all of the analyzed stations.

PEDO-CLIMATIC CHANGES OF DRAINED FLOODPLAIN SOILS WITHIN THE FOREST-STEPPE ZONE OF THE REPUBLIC OF BASHKORTOSTAN (RUSSIA)

Sat, 16 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0100

The article provides an assessment of climatic characteristics and changes in floodplain soils after the implementation of a drainage system. The study was conducted in the northern forest-steppe zone of the East European Plain (Republic of Bashkortostan, Russia). Through the analysis of long-term meteorological observations from 1961 to 2020, it was found that there was a steady increase in air temperature in all months and throughout the year, an increase in the period with positive temperatures, a slight increase in annual precipitation, and a reduction in precipitation during certain months of the warm season. Over the past 40 years, the drainage system has transformed the soil cover from Gleysols to Anthrosols, due to a decrease in the level of groundwater, agricultural use, as well as warming of the climate in the region. Thus, the transformation of soil cover can potentially contribute to climate change through the depletion of soil organic carbon stocks and increased greenhouse gas emissions. Nevertheless, currently, the natural and climatic conditions, morphological, water-physical, and agrochemical properties of Anthrosols allow for the production of two harvests of fodder crop (Bromus inermis L.) during the vegetation period. In general, the change in climatic indicators in the study area is consistent with the global trend. Our results underscore the sensitivity of soil systems to climatic variations and human activities, highlighting the need for local studies to understand regional and global environmental changes.

ASSESSMENT OF CLUSTER POTENTIAL IN SLOVAKIA: CASE STUDY IN THE UPPER POVAŽIE REGION

Jozef Gáll, Anna Michálková — Sat, 16 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0100

As clusters currently represent a significant support in the development of regions, it is important to analyze their potential in the tourism industry. In Slovakia, tourism clusters work alongside local tourism organizations for legislative reasons. The main aim of the present study is to use appropriate identification methods to map the microeconomic environment of the selected tourism region and subsequent analysis to evaluate the existing preconditions for successful and efficient operation of the tourism cluster. The results of the survey serve as an input database for the application of the Principal Component Analysis (PCA) method, which revealed the current cluster potential in the Upper Považie region. The individual determinants of the Porter’s Diamond model achieved favorable results. Using multiple regression analysis, quantification and interpretation of the interrelationships between input variables were enabled. The applied analysis shows that the potential pillars for the creation of a tourism cluster in the Upper Považie region are the determinants of firm strategy, structure, and rivalry in the region, related and supporting industries, and factor conditions. The results show that the examined determinant factors create conditions for the functioning of a potential cluster in the region at an average level.

PERCEPTION OF A RECREATIONAL VOUCHER AS AN INNOVATION AND SUSTAINABLE TOOL OF TOURISM DEVELOPMENT

Daniela Matušíková, Tünde Dzurov Vargová — Sat, 16 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0100

The submitted contribution deals with the current status and view of the recreational vouchers as a tourism support tool from the point of view of employees who are entitled to use this option. The aim of the study was to find out, describe, and evaluate the perception of recreational vouchers as a tool of sustainable domestic tourism by employees who used this option and compare them with the perception of those who have not done it yet. Overall, 188 respondents took part in the questionnaire research held in person and online, in the period from December 2022 to February 2023. The methodology of the research to verify the perception of respondents included the use of Shapiro-Wilk normality test, Mann-Whitney test, Kruskal-Wallis test, and Spearman correlation coefficient, which were evaluated in Software Gretl. The results of the research brought a positive opinion even from the public who did not have the opportunity to use them, but the statistical verification of the hypotheses did not show a different perception of the voucher among the respondents and their selected characteristics (age and place of residence). On the other hand, a positive opinion about the recreational voucher is confirmed, from which it can be concluded that the voucher can be perceived as an important and necessary tool oriented toward the development of sustainable domestic tourism in Slovakia.

MINING MEANING FROM ONLINE HOTEL REVIEWS: IDENTIFICATION OF DETERMINANTS OF (DIS-) SATISFACTION USING LATENT DIRICHLET ALLOCATION

Jelena Tepavčević, Denis A. Dubover, Gojko Nikolić — Sat, 16 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0100

User-generated content (UGC) is increasing, so it is critical to clearly understand what customers think about the positive and negative aspects of specific goods. Such information is crucial for customers as well as for businesses. Online reviews are a powerful tool for a deep comprehension of customer satisfaction and dissatisfaction. This research intended to recognize the sources of satisfaction and dissatisfaction among business travelers in city hotels in Serbia. A total of 5,596 online reviews from 120 city hotels in Serbia were collected. Keyword-based visualization was used to display the most frequent words related to the experience during the hotel stay, reflecting the satisfaction and dissatisfaction of consumers. Latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) was used for grouping positive and negative reviews into various topics. Results showed that business travelers' primary satisfaction sources are “Conference facilities”, “Atmosphere”, “Amenities”, “Accessibility”, and “Location”. On the other hand, the sources of dissatisfaction are “Dirtiness” and “Internet Connection”. Based on the obtained results, hotel managers can direct their activities to improve the spheres that have proven to be the sources of dissatisfaction for customers.