174
D. Gatari´ c and B. M. Ðerˇ can
Rural tourism is gaining popularity over time. The beginnings of rural tourism
development are indirectly linked to intensive urbanisation, being spontaneous movements of tourists from urban, ecologically disturbed environments towards ecologically preserved and healthy, rural environments. Therefore, rural tourism can significantly influence the socio-economic, spatial-functional and physiognomic structure
of rural settlements and territories, and accordingly can play an important and perhaps
major role in the restoration and integral sustainable development of rural tourism.
In addition, there are realistic conditions in Serbia for the development and supply
of different authentic models of rural tourism. Farmhouses in Vojvodina, vineyard
villages in Eastern Serbia (pubs) and Aleksandrovac Parish (Poljane), monastery
estates, camping sites, eco-villages, and ethno-villages are the most common forms
of rural tourism. However, in addition to the development potentials of rural tourism
in Serbia, we must not neglect its weaknesses. The most common weaknesses are
lack of finances, poor infrastructural and super structural equipment, inadequate age
structure of the population, insufficient content design for tourist accommodation,
and inadequate marketing, management and information systems ( ˇ
Comi´ c 2002).
The planning, organization and implementation of recreational activities in rural
areas must be a consequence of the concerted efforts of the local population, but also
of the tourism organization and tourist agencies in the administrative unit to which the
village or villages belong, the authorities and economic entities, and more. Certainly,
all recreational activities in rural areas must be adapted to tourists coming to the given
territory (Butler 1998). There are numerous opportunities for recreational activities
in the countryside (Table 1).
The most important recreational and tourist activities in many rural areas have
dramatically transformed from relatively passive to active and very important factors
of natural, economic and social change. Until the 1980s, most leisure activities in rural
areas were closely linked to the character of the environment and were clearly distinguished from activities carried out in urban areas. These ‘traditional’ activities are
characterized as relaxing, relatively passive, perhaps associated with nostalgia–activities such as walking, picnicking, fishing, enjoying the scenery and taking landscape
photographs (Roberts and Hall 2003). Most activities, guided by the need to escape
from everyday urban life into an environment of a different rhythm and scenery,
need conditions in which physical and anthropological elements are supposed to
blend and create a harmony. While such ‘traditional’ recreational practices are still
widely applied in rural areas, many other activities have emerged over the last quarter
of the twentieth century, characterized as being different: more active, competitive,
related to prestige, fashionor technology, as modern, individual, and fast, ranging
from trekking in inaccessible terrain, survival games and kite flying to the formation
of a dominant middle class, ‘ecotourism’ and modern activities (Hall et al. 2003;
Košiˇ c 2009).
D. Gatari´ c and B. M. Ðerˇ can
Rural tourism is gaining popularity over time. The beginnings of rural tourism
development are indirectly linked to intensive urbanisation, being spontaneous movements of tourists from urban, ecologically disturbed environments towards ecologically preserved and healthy, rural environments. Therefore, rural tourism can significantly influence the socio-economic, spatial-functional and physiognomic structure
of rural settlements and territories, and accordingly can play an important and perhaps
major role in the restoration and integral sustainable development of rural tourism.
In addition, there are realistic conditions in Serbia for the development and supply
of different authentic models of rural tourism. Farmhouses in Vojvodina, vineyard
villages in Eastern Serbia (pubs) and Aleksandrovac Parish (Poljane), monastery
estates, camping sites, eco-villages, and ethno-villages are the most common forms
of rural tourism. However, in addition to the development potentials of rural tourism
in Serbia, we must not neglect its weaknesses. The most common weaknesses are
lack of finances, poor infrastructural and super structural equipment, inadequate age
structure of the population, insufficient content design for tourist accommodation,
and inadequate marketing, management and information systems ( ˇ
Comi´ c 2002).
The planning, organization and implementation of recreational activities in rural
areas must be a consequence of the concerted efforts of the local population, but also
of the tourism organization and tourist agencies in the administrative unit to which the
village or villages belong, the authorities and economic entities, and more. Certainly,
all recreational activities in rural areas must be adapted to tourists coming to the given
territory (Butler 1998). There are numerous opportunities for recreational activities
in the countryside (Table 1).
The most important recreational and tourist activities in many rural areas have
dramatically transformed from relatively passive to active and very important factors
of natural, economic and social change. Until the 1980s, most leisure activities in rural
areas were closely linked to the character of the environment and were clearly distinguished from activities carried out in urban areas. These ‘traditional’ activities are
characterized as relaxing, relatively passive, perhaps associated with nostalgia–activities such as walking, picnicking, fishing, enjoying the scenery and taking landscape
photographs (Roberts and Hall 2003). Most activities, guided by the need to escape
from everyday urban life into an environment of a different rhythm and scenery,
need conditions in which physical and anthropological elements are supposed to
blend and create a harmony. While such ‘traditional’ recreational practices are still
widely applied in rural areas, many other activities have emerged over the last quarter
of the twentieth century, characterized as being different: more active, competitive,
related to prestige, fashionor technology, as modern, individual, and fast, ranging
from trekking in inaccessible terrain, survival games and kite flying to the formation
of a dominant middle class, ‘ecotourism’ and modern activities (Hall et al. 2003;
Košiˇ c 2009).