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One of the key factors for success of sustainable tourism industry in all areas, including rural, is the support of community members. The paper aims to analyze how rural residents’ perceptions of sustainable tourism development (expressed through economic, social, environmental, and physical benefits) can affect residents’ intentions to support tourism. The second aim was to determine if attachment to the particular community and perceived quality of life can have influence on attitudes towards sustainable development of tourism in rural communities. Using a sample of 881 residents living in rural areas of the Republic of Serbia, the results highlighted that perceived values of tourism were important for evaluating how tourism is developed, if it is sustainable for a community, and how it affects quality of residents’ life. The study provided better understanding of factors that can have impact on residents’ attitudes in relation to tourism and highlighted the importance of paying attention to local community as significant player for tourism development, especially in those regions that want to boost its economy by developing sustainable tourism.

Rural tourism is often considered to be a factor in the development tendencies of rural space, a factor in the development of agriculture, as well as a factor in reducing rural depopulation. The primary aim of the research was to look at the problems in financing sustainable rural tourism in the case study of Serbia. The secondary one was to analyze the factors that may influence the self-financing capacity of rural tourism service providers. The findings confirmed the main hypothesis that financial resources are a significant limitation of the development of sustainable rural tourism. It was found that there is a high correlation between the amount of income generated and the structure of the workforce. The results verified that rural tourism entities were not making sufficient investments due to lack of financial resources, i.e., adequate financing modalities. It can be concluded thatin order to develop sustainable rural tourism, financial investments are needed, both at the level of service providers and at the macro level.

PurposeThe technology readiness and acceptance model were mostly employed as theoretical bases to analyze tourist behaviors of adoption of innovative technologies that are part of the smart tourism offer. This study attention now turns to the field of smart tourism human resource management and tries to establish a model to explain the relationship between general dimensions of personality with systematic specific dimensions toward ICT acceptance.Design/methodology/approachThe authors adopted the TRAM model as a way to better understand and evaluate the causal relationships between the personality dimensions, factors of perception, attitudes and behavior of users regarding the acceptance and use of innovative technologies. Based on the empirical data of 478 employees operating in tourist organizations, travel agencies and hotels, the authors employed regression analysis as the basic method for examining the research hypotheses and causal relationships between variables in the presented model.FindingsThe analysis revealed that employees in the tourism sector are inclined to adopt new technology, and that technological readiness has an impact on attitudes and intentions toward the use of technologies. Moreover, the results show that the path between the dimensions of technological readiness and intention to use technologies is to a certain extent mediated through perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness.Originality/valueThis research is among the first empirical studies that examine technology readiness and adoption in the context of smart tourism development. Besides the findings extend the literature on the mediating effect of perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use between technology readiness index and technology acceptance behavior.

In terms of climate related security risks, the region of South-Eastern Europe (SEE) can be identified as one of the world’s hot spots. As weather-related hazards continue to increase in numbers and spatial distribution, risk perception in the tourism industry becomes even more important. Additionally, people’s perception of natural hazards is one of the key elements in their decision-making process when choosing a travel destination. Although a vast number of studies have examined aspects of risk perception, an integrated approach which considers both objective and subjective factors related to the tourism industry and hydro-meteorological hazards remains relatively scarce. This pioneering study inspects the causality between objective perceived risks, as well as subjective risk factors. A methodological approach and the obtained results present a certain novelty since the previous conceptualized Psychological Preparedness for Disaster Threat Scale (PPDTS) was applied for the first time in the tourism industry. The obtained results reveal the presence of a statistically significant relationship between objective risks and certain subjective risk factors (gender, age, education, prior experience, anticipation, and awareness). Therefore, this study may offer a conceptual platform for both theoretical and practical implications for enhanced approaches oriented toward more qualitative risk management at a given travel destination, in regions prone to hydro-meteorological hazards.

The COVID-19 pandemic created novel conditions for researching travel behavior and tourists’ reactions in times of crisis, which largely differs from previous studies of travel behavior affected by local risks or lower travel and recreational risks. This study aims to provide an understanding of the relationship between tourist personality (MINI IPIP-6 and sensation seeking), tourists’ reactions to travel risk perception and changes in their travel behavior influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic. To explore this, a global survey including 905 respondents from four countries (Spain, Croatia, Serbia and Russia) was conducted, while data were analyzed by Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) in AMOS. The findings suggest that tourist personality affects the changes in travel behavior influenced by COVID-19, both directly and via their reactions to travel risk.

The study focuses on the present state and the assessments of geotourism development of the two most representative tufa deposits in the Djerdap National Park—the first UNESCO Global Geopark in Serbia. The findings were designated through implementing the freshly upgraded methodology—M-GAM-1-2 based on an early modified geosites assessment model (M-GAM). To overcome the limitations of the previous model, the authors implemented additional enhancements and involved members of the local community (residents and authorities) in the study to comprehensively evaluate the observed sites. The outcomes revealed that the attitudes of all stakeholders should be taken into consideration in order to develop geotourism properly, additionally attract visitors, and preserve tufa deposits for future generations of locals and visitors. Moreover, geotourism at the observed sites can be one of the vital activities of the population, as well as a type of compensation for various limitations in the development, which are imposed by the regimes of natural and cultural heritage protection within the recently established UNESCO Global Geopark.

Despite the fact that the topic of the influence of stereotypes and prejudices on the loyalty and willingness of tourists to visit a destination again is increasingly common in world publications, researchers have yet to examine this relationship. The aim of this research is precisely to assess the influence of stereotypes and prejudices (S&P) in the system of other attractors of tourist visits, on the loyalty and willingness of foreign visitors to revisit Serbia as a tourist destination. It is known that Serbia possesses large natural and anthropogenic resources as a basis for tourism development, but it is also known for numerous prejudices and stereotypes, which can potentially dictate loyalty to the destination and the behavior of tourists. The results obtained by the Path analysis show that stereotypes and prejudices, among 892 randomly selected foreign tourists, have a more significant direct influence on the dimensions of loyalty and revisiting Serbia compared to other factors. Further analysis showed that foreign tourists consider the Serbian people to be arrogant, with expressed nationalism and a preserved traditional social approach, as well as that middle-aged tourists show the highest loyalty and willingness to visit again after evaluating all the aforementioned factors. Limitations of the research were related to a lack of understanding of the language and non-cooperation on the part of the respondents. The results of the research have theoretical and applied importance as information for future research in Serbia and beyond, but also for improving the management strategy of tourism development.