Preliminary geosite assessment model (gam) and its application on Fruška gora mountain, potential geotourism destination of Serbia

Abstract

Loess profile »Surduk« in the gully between Novi Slankamen and StariSlankamen villages -currently the only law protected loess exposure in Serbia with fossil palaeosols ABSTRACT: This paper presents a preliminary geosite physical assessment model which has the potential to assist in the sustainable planning and management of natural heritage locations and their transformation into tourism destination. The methodology is based on several existing models and presented through two groups of values -main and additional, which are further divided into indicators and subindicators respectively. The resultant model is a graph that consists of nine fields, into which geosites can be classified as fitting into nine general areas of suitability for tourism in terms of their main (scientific/educational, aesthetic/scenic and protection as market appeal and conservation) and additional values (functional and tourism use as current stage of development). This could prove to be of great help to natural heritage protection and tourism managers, as they could assess the current state of a geosite and thence propose a future path for it.

“Urban geosites” as an alternative geotourism destination - evidence from Belgrade

“…Functional values -VFN (accessibility, additional natural values, additional anthropogenic values, vicinity of urban centers and important road networks and additional functional values) and 2. Tourism values -VTr (promotion, number of organized visits, number of visitors, vicinity of visitor centers, interpretive panels, tourism infrastructure, accommodation, restaurant service and quality tour guide service) [6,34]. The AV is calculated as: By adding together MV and AV, we get the following equation:…”

“…The M-GAM represents a modification of the original GAM model created by Vujičić et al [34] and tested by Petrović et al [6]. Both versions of the models were employed in this survey in order to compare the results of both respondents' groups.…”

“…The M-GAM model aims to show the status of main and additional tourist values of geoheritage sites which have not yet reached their maximum potential. This gives us a realistic picture of geoheritage, based on which it is possible to plan and promote tourism activities for the analyzed sites [34]. However, sub-indicators with lower grades are not so important for the development of tourism [32].…”

Geoheritage values of one of the largest maar craters in the Arabian Peninsula: the Al Wahbah Crater and other volcanoes (Harrat Kishb, Saudi Arabia)

“…Here we have chosen to apply a recently developed evaluation method, defined as a "preliminary geosite assessment model" or GAM [52] [52]. While this evaluation scheme contains some subjective elements, these can be reduced and/or smoothed through the use of a scale to measure each parameter as 0, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75 and 1 [52]. This evaluation scheme refers to the proposed geosite's main geoheritage values only.…”

“…On the other hand, any evaluation method should be relatively simple to perform and cover major aspects or variables which may influence the overall value of a single geosite/geotope. Here we have chosen to apply a recently developed evaluation method, defined as a "preliminary geosite assessment model" or GAM [52] [52]. While this evaluation scheme contains some subjective elements, these can be reduced and/or smoothed through the use of a scale to measure each parameter as 0, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75 and 1 [52].…”