Impact of tourism on basic macroeconomic indicators in the European Union and Serbia

Abstract

The main objective of the paper is to assess the importance and role of tourism in the European Union countries and Serbia, measured by its share in the basic macroeconomic categories. The relationship between the tourist traffic and the size of selected macroeconomic indicators is examined in this paper by using the appropriate methodology. Consideration of the position of Serbia in relation to the European Union countries, according to the most important indicators of tourism development and selected macroeconomic indicators is defined as the specific objective of the research. The methods applied in this paper are: comparative, correlation and cluster analysis. The research results indicate the great importance of tourism for economic development in modern conditions, as well as the need to improve Serbia's position when it comes to the tourism development and its role in the economic development of the country.