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Spatial autocorrelation methodologies can be used to reveal patterns and temporal changes of different spatial variables, including tourism arrivals. The research adopts a GIS-based approach to spatially analyse tourist arrivals in Serbia, using Global Moran's I and Anselin's Local Moran's I statistics applied on the level of municipalities. To assess feasibility of this approach the article discusses spatial changes of tourist arrivals in order to identify potentially significant trends of interest for tourism development policy in Serbia. There is a significant spatial inequality in the distribution of tourism arrivals in Serbia that is not adequately addressed in tourism development plans. The results of global autocorrelation suggest the existence of low and decreasing spatial clustering for domestic tourist arrivals and high, relatively stable spatial clustering for international tourists. Local autocorrelation statistics revealed different of domestic and international tourism arrivals. In order to assess feasibility of this approach these results are discussed in their significance to tourism development policy in Serbia.

Tourism development can strongly affect purpose of land use at the destination and in surrounding areas. However, the effects of development in tourism destination cannot be easily visible and proven. Sometimes indicators of tourism development do not show its significant impact, but the structural changes are occurring and they affect land use. The aim of this paper is to employ methodology for assessing effects of development on land-use changes in tourism destination. Proposed methodology includes combination of the use of publically available geographical data, geographical information systems and landscape metrics. The applicability of this approach has been investigated in test region of Čajetina municipality (south-western part of the Republic of Serbia), where tourism industry has flourished in last decades. Time series of maps (2000 and 2006) have been obtained from CORINE land cover project. Landscape metrics for area, size and density have been calculated for the entire test region and for tourism destination at patch and class levels. The results showed significant effects of development on land use changes in investigated tourism area comparing to its surroundings.

The idea of protecting geological heritage in Serbia occurred in late XIX and early XX century, but not until mid-90s began the systematic separation of ob¬jects, their evaluation and proposal for protection. As a country abound in natural resources and geographical diversity, Serbia represents an attractive destination for geotourism development. In the last few years have become available innovative techniques and tools supported by geographic information systems (GIS), which have left their mark in the presentation of geological data and geological heritage management. In this paper, in addition to theoretical considerations of geological terms such as geodiversity, geological heritage and geotourism, in a certain examples are analyzed the possibility of GIS technology application in geological and geomor¬phological research. Besides that, the emphasis is given on the application and sig¬nificance of geological resources portal in Serbia (GeoIISS). Portal represents the basis for the geological storage of data in digital form, a review of existing data and easier managing, as well as creating interactive queries. In this way, users have the possibil¬ity to conduct the analysis of spatial data, update data, maps, and display the results.

Within urban zones land cover, being the expression of human activities, could be greatly modificated by changes in urban surfaces. Land cover modifications can be measured with mathematical metrics that quantify different aspects of landscape pattern. This research examines land cover patches by a set of landscape metrics for area and size. (Number of patches - NP, CA - Class area, Mean patch size - MPS, % - class ratio). The classification of land cover patches was based on Corine Land Cover 2006 (CLC2006) seamless vector data. The main goal of the research is to investigate the impact of artificial surfaces on Urban Heat Island (UHI) in the City of Novi Sad. The methodology is based on crossing of landscape and geographical approach to UHI research. UHI metrics of Novi Sad reveal strong human impact indicating direct proportional relation between presence of artificial surface areas and increased air temperatures.

During the history, the Danube valley was often devastated the northwest part of Bačka. However, the Danube river created also one of the most rich full wetland complexes in Serbia, Special Nature Reserve 'Gornje Pondunavlje' (Upper Danube). Hunting-ground 'Apatinski rit' is located within borders of SNR 'Gornje Podunavlje'. The people from this region constructed river embankments and other fortification objects to protect themselves from the floods, but still there are spacious areas that are not protected. In those areas, many floral and animal species (including game) face floods every year. High water level of the Danube River is the most dominant factor of change of habitat conditions in hunting ground 'Apatinski rit'. About 60% of the territory of 'Apatinski rit' are in the zone of floods. During the extreme high water level, game animals suffer serious losses. The purpose of this paper is to present possible application of geographic information system (GIS) in flood prediction in hunting-ground 'Apatinski rit' in order to reduce negative flood impacts. GIS technologies are used in many aspects of flood identification, prediction, and hazard mitigation. In this paper a 3D model is introduced to realize the flooded areas. The flooded areas are estimated based on the Danube water levels and topography of the surrounding terrain. The estimated flooded areas based on several water levels are shown in the paper. During the flood some parts of hunting ground are under water, and some higher courts remain dry. By using 3D model, all the isolated 'islands' with trapped game can be located during the floods, which is crucial for rescue intervention priorities and decision making during the flood.

Tourism, as extremely complex phenomenon, is closely tied to geographical space. The implication of the use of GIS in tourism can be significant. The main applications of GIS are mapping, measurement, monitoring, modeling and management. In these main areas there are lot of influences of heterogeneous tourist activities. So far, the applications of GIS in tourism have been limited. The problem largely lies in the lack of GIS education among tourism managers, since tourism oriented curriculums, in most cases, do not include GIS course. This paper aims to examine the knowledge and understanding the importance of GIS concept among students of tourism management. In order to point out the necessity of GIS being part of tourism curriculums, the authors have determinate a prior knowledge and understanding of GIS among students that did not attend GIS course. An online questionnaire was used as an instrument for the study. The main part of the questionnaire was designed to give answers in student's familiarization with GIS software and brands, main areas and types of the use of GIS and the students' opinions on the necessity of GIS within their curriculum. The study came to conclusion that students understand the importance of GIS in tourism, even without high level to knowledge of GIS. The majority of students believe that GIS should be part of their tourism management curriculum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines and reflects on GIS approach in management of environmental impacts of tourism. We stress that the focus is on National park Berchtesgaden as a case study for this research, and accept at the outset that the approaches discussed are necessarily partial and would only form part of a wider sustainability assessment. However, we argue that the selected approaches are useful in assisting with the different organizational challenges and questions facing nature protected area managers who wish to understand the environmental consequences of tourism. Environmental impacts are analyzed through their indicators. The paper shows how GIS has been used to assess the environmental impacts of tourism in the National park Berchtesgaden, and then examines overlapping of layers and input of environmental indicators to provide useful insights into understanding the environmental effects of tourism within the nature protected area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]