The Impact of Sustainable Tourism on Resident and Visitor Satisfaction—The Case of the Special Nature Reserve “Titelski Breg”, Vojvodina

Abstract

The Special Nature Reserve “Titelski Breg” (TB) is a protected area (PA) of category I, located in the AP of Vojvodina in the south-eastern part of Bačka. The reserve covers an area of 496 ha. A protection zone covering an area of 8643 ha has been established around the PA. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) states that this PA is classified as a category IV habitat and species management area. Its good geographical and traffic position and close distance to Romania and Hungary, as well as the nation’s major cities, make this PA accessible to a sizable number of both domestic and foreign tourists. There are numerous plant and animal species in the reserve, which makes this area unique. The population living around this reserve has an exceptional and valuable cultural heritage, which represents significant complementary tourist motives. To examine the state of sustainable tourism (SuT) in TB and the impact of SuT on the satisfaction of the respondents (SoR), the PoS model of study was used. The quantitative methodology in this research included a questionnaire as the survey instrument for residents and visitors. There were 630 respondents altogether (400 locals and 230 guests). Four aspects of sustainability, economic, social, cultural, and institutional, were used to analyze the state of SuT in this PA. The study’s findings show that SuT significantly affected the SoR. Analyzing the role that additional protected areas may have in SuT can be supported by the research outcomes. Additionally, the proportion of each sustainability characteristic in SuT can suggest guidelines for national programs that aim to develop PAs and tourist development at the same time.

Institutional, Ecological, Economic, and Socio-Cultural Sustainability—Evidence from Ponjavica Nature Park

“…The content of the questionnaire and the method of analysis and presentation of the obtained results were determined according to the research that served to define the method (Prism of Sustainability-PoS) and the questions that were arranged into four groups. These groups of questions are four main elements/dimensions of sustainable tourism: institutional (ID); ecological (EcD); economic (ED); and the socio-cultural dimension (SD) [51,52,[55][56][57].…”

“…To explore sustainable tourism in this protected area, the survey's questions were modified. The claims were This research model was designed according to research on sustainable tourism in other protected areas of the world or in Serbia [51,52,[55][56][57]. To explore sustainable tourism in this protected area, the survey's questions were modified.…”

“…Trišić et al [52] examined sustainable tourism in the special nature reserve Titelski Breg, with the concept of sustainable tourism based on four dimensions of sustainability. Each of the dimensions was examined separately by measuring the state of sustainable tourism from the perspective of the users of this protected area.…”