Analysis of the number of overnights as an Serbian tourism development indicator

Abstract

From appearances form to its modern interpretation, tourism has significantly changed. Conditioned by many factors, it is fundamentally based on the human need to explore other cultures and to relax. Its contribution to economic development has been fully understood in recent decades. In addition, its weaknesses and vulnerability to crisis periods, of which all are witnesses in recent years, are also defined. The paper deals with the analysis of tourist traffic by monitoring the number of overnight stays of domestic and foreign tourists in the Republic of Serbia in the past five years. By monitoring the quarterly changes, it was noticed that foreign tourists are more sensitive than domestic tourists, whose reactions are slower and not so intense. In addition, an analysis was made of the number of overnight stays according to the selected tourist spots. The data shows that in the centers of urban tourism, the dominant participation of foreign tourists is in contrast to spas and mountains. This is precisely why the centers of urban tour ism were the most affected by the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The consumption of foreign tourists has a multiplying effect on economic development, so the origin of foreign tourists was also a subject of analysis. The crisis period along with additional geopolitical events in 2022 absolutely changed the origin of tourists, but also significantly increased their number. In addition to high sensitivity, tourism as an activity, also shows the ability to quickly recover, so very often the realized decline is compensated by greater growth in the post-crisis period.