Significant involvement of agricultural holdings in rural tourism development in Serbia

Agriculture in the function of rural development: Case study from Republic of Serbia and Republic of Srpska

“…Diversification of the rural economy is crucial because it is a prerequisite for demographic stabilization, which is the basis for the sustainability of all components of development. Rural development is the process of improving the quality of life and economic well-being of people living in rural areas (Pradhan, 2015;Gajić et al, 2017). Rural development activities aim at the socio-economic development of rural areas, with the direct participation of the rural population in order to meet the needs specific to the area and to provide a socio-economic and cultural framework.…”

“…Food and beverage production in the EU generates 14.9% of the total revenue of the processing industry, and employs 4.5 million employees (Cvijanović et al, 2020a). Agriculture as an activity is an extremely important economic and social dimension of the economy of the surrounding countries (Gajić et al, 2017). In Croatia and Serbia, agricultural production, the state of rural development and demographic trends record the same heritage, similar negative macroeconomic development trends, and negative demographic trends in rural areas (Folke, 2002).…”

“…The importance and role of agriculture came to the fore especially during the sanctions of the 1990s, when agriculture proved to be the most vital economic sector. Today's state of agriculture in the Republic of Serbia, its potentials and limitations, still show the same trend -to invest less in agriculture than it needs and, accordingly, to get less from it than possible (Gajić et al, 2017;Domanović et al, 2018). While in the last decade of the last century and the first half of the first decade of the XXI century, a constant foreign trade deficit was recorded (except for the symbolic surplus in 2000), and in recent years a significant surplus has been recorded (Bogdanov, 2007;Triveli et al, 2019).…”

“…But despite that, production and processing, viewed as a whole, are still at a very low level of profitability and the necessary standards in the field of food safety, for its products to be sufficiently competitive and sought after in demanding markets, primarily the European Union market (Robert, 2001). Since the mid-1990s, the predominant source of investment in agriculture has been the agrarian budget, which in the period from 2001 to 2012 recorded significant oscillations, with a tendency to decrease, in recent years (Gajić et al, 2017). Short-term and long-term measures and actions are needed in order to stop the negative trends and activate the potentials of this strategic economic branch of the Republic of Serbia (Gajić et al, 2017).…”

Analyses of regulations regarding accommodation facilities categorisation in rural tourism in Serbia

“…Joint activities would undeniably lead to more opportunities in individual and collective promotion of rural tourism. Gajić et al, (2017) concluded that the tourism facilities in rural tourism in Serbia cover relatively small areas, fail to host a large number of tourists, and have limited expansion opportunities. This research also indicates that categorisation is inadequate and overneeded and in that sense the aim of the paper is to estimate the point to which legal and administrative procedures reached in recognising new forms of accommodation in rural tourism in Serbia.…”