Journal Archives

Factors influencing the tourism competitiveness of former socialist countries

Author: Zsófia Papp and Ágnes Raffay

Tourism in the former socialist countries can be best characterised as a rollercoaster ride since the regime change around 1989-1990. After the changes they lost their appeal for the ‘Western’ tourists and also a large share of visitors from the socialist countries as it became possible to travel to countries beyond the ‘friendly’ countries. The social tourism schemes operating in these countries have been abandoned or changed. The EU accession has helped to revive tourism and roughly at the same time the introduction of low cost airlines opened new markets for the former socialist countries. The introduction of the Euro has impacted on the tourism of some of these countries as they have temporarily become cheaper or more expensive than other (neighbouring) countries. This paper will focus on the factors that have had an impact on the competitiveness of Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria and Romania.

Destination competitivenes: A challenging process for Serbia

Author: Tanja Armenski, Doris Omerzel Gomezelj, Branislav Djurdjev, Lukrecija Đeri and Aleksandra Dragin

The degree to which a country can benefit from its tourism industry depends largely on this competitive position on the international tourist market. Therefore, it is very important for one destination to realise its real competitive position on the tourism market as well as to address its weaknesses comparing them to its major competitors. There are different models for measuring the competitiveness. Among all, we follow the framework of authors Dwyer, Livaic and Mellor (2003), so called Integrated model of destination competitiveness. The aim of this paper is to present the model of destination competitiveness and results of the survey, based on indicators associated with the model. The results showed that Serbia is more competitive in its natural, cultural and created resources than in destination management while, according to the Integrated model, Serbia is less competitive in demand conditions, which refer to the image and awareness of the destination itself.

EDITORS

Prof. dr. Liliana Dumitrache
University of Bucharest, Faculty of Geography- Human and Economic Geography Department, 1 Nicolae Balcescu Av., 010041, Bucharest, Romania

Dr. Daniela Dumbrăveanu
University of Bucharest, Faculty of Geography- Human and Economic Geography Department, 1 Nicolae Balcescu Av., 010041, Bucharest, Romania

Dr. Mariana Nae
University of Bucharest, Faculty of Geography- Human and Economic Geography Department, 1 Nicolae Balcescu Av., 010041, Bucharest, Romania

Dr. Gabriel Simion
University of Bucharest, Faculty of Geography- Human and Economic Geography Department, 1 Nicolae Balcescu Av., 010041, Bucharest, Romania