Authentic Offer Crucial for Rural Tourism

Tourism is a development opportunity for rural areas, and the overflow of urban and mass tourism in these areas should be avoided. This was concluded at the panel on the occasion of the World Tourism Day, September 27, 2020, in the Tourist Organization Bar, which was attended by a representative of the Faculty of Tourism and Hotel Management UMNE, Ilija Moric, PhD, together with colleagues from the region.

Topic of this panel was "Tourism and Rural Development".

The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) determined this year's theme of Tourism Day before the pandemic, and the demand for tourist services in rural areas this year is more pronounced than in cities and large destinations.

The reasons are mostly health, because due to health concerns and adherence to epidemiological measures, such as physical distance, people turned to closer destinations more immersed in nature, without large accommodation capacities and mass.

Teaching associate at the Faculty of Tourism and Hotel Management in Kotor, Ilija Moric, PhD, who is also the owner of an agricultural farm, emphasized that solutions should be offered for the rural area.

"We do not need urban tourism that has moved to a rural area, but an authentic offer that respects all the specifics of that area all year round and that can then be a chance to develop that area. It cannot be a cheap offer, although it is often expected. It has always been thought that in the countryside you can get something cheaper than in the city. No infrastructure is a problem, because sometimes the advantage and underdevelopment of the area, and pastoral settlements in the mountains without water and electricity can be attractive, but it is important not to allow apartmenisation in that area and similar things that happen on the coast,” Moric pointed out.