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Rural development is crucial for overall national development in Serbia. Rural tourism can play a significant role in achieving sustainable rural development. For that it is necessary to be aware of factors and services that attract tourists to visit a rural area. The paper aims at analysing connection between tourists’ interest in typical and traditional food products of a rural area and interest for visiting it thus fostering rural tourism development. In particular the paper sheds light on the importance of traditional and typical food products in rural areas attractiveness. The study was carried out in two phases through two questionnaire surveys. In the first phase, with 251 field questionnaires, was examined consumers’ perception and interest in traditional food products, while in the second one, with 70 structured interviews, were analysed motivations for visiting rural areas. Both questionnaires were conducted in Serbia, in the period from July 2012 to March 2014. Results indicate a positive connection between interest for traditional food products and rural tourism development. In fact, results of the questionnaire survey show that almost 50% of the first phase surveyed Serbian people is very interested in typical products. Furthermore, attributes that people mostly associate to typical products are linked to tradition and support of local economy. Besides, there is a very high level of interest for visiting rural areas for tasting locally produced traditional food. These findings should be taken into consideration for the design of effective rural tourism development strategies and for better marketing of traditional products

The objective of the research was to analyse potential of two Serbian products, with geographical indication, in the market. Another objective was to understand who are consumers of these products and if they would pay for these products. These objectives were explored in cases of two Serbian PDO products- Futog cabbage and Petrovac sausage, on two markets – in Serbia and in Italy. Aspects that were analysed are Serbian and Italian consumers’ behavior and attitudes towards PDO/PGI products; exploring the food consumers’ preferences related to the geographically determined food; their attitudes towards the quality guarantee labeled food and if they are willing to pay for it. One additional aspect of the research was to explore consumers’ attitude for non EU, in this case Serbian PDO/PGI products, in Italy. Both supply and demand side were analysed. Supply side analysis was a qualitative analysis. Field research was conducted with open interviews, in order to find case studies, to collect data about them, to get information from authorities and producers, in order to have enough information to continue research with consumers. Demand side analysis was a quantitative analysis. Consumer surveys were conducted, in order to assess future perspectives for two products. On the basis of data collected from consumers in Serbia and Italy, collected data were analysed quantitatively, by using cluster analysis. Research showed that market potential for two Serbian products exist both in Serbia and in Italy. But consumers have different attitudes and interests towards two products, and also different willingness to buy and to pay for these products. Cluster analysis identified three different consumers groups in Serbia, that can be identified as “Consumers with strong interest in Futog cabbage and Petrovac sausage”, “Consumers moderately interested in Futog cabbage and Petrovac sausage”, and the third group “Consumers not willing to pay more for two Serbian PDOs”. Cluster analysis for Italian sample also identified three different groups of consumers, that can be summarized as follows: ”Consumers not interested in the two Serbian PDOs”, “Consumers interested in typical food”, “Consumers very interested in two Serbian PDOs”. L'obiettivo della ricerca è quello di analizzare le potenzialità di due prodotti serbi, con indicazione geografica protetta, nel mercato. Inoltre si vogliono individuare i potenziali consumatori di questi prodotti e la loro disponibilità a pagare. Questi obiettivi sono stati analizzati per due prodotti serbi DOP – il cavolo Futog e la salsiccia Petrovac, in due mercati - Serbia ed Italia. Gli aspetti che sono stati analizzati sono: «comportamenti e atteggiamenti nei confronti delle DOP / IGP; analizzare le preferenze e l’atteggiamento i dei consumatori serbi ed italiani relativi ai prodotti geograficamente protetti; il loro atteggiamenti verso i marchi di qualità e la loro disponibilità a pagare. Un ulteriore aspetto della ricerca è quello di esplorare l'atteggiamento dei consumatori italiani per i prodotti DOP non UE, in questo caso della Serbia DOP / IGP. Sono analizzati sia il lato dell’offerta che della domanda. L’analisi dal lato dell'offerta è un'analisi qualitativa. La ricerca sul campo è stata condotta con interviste aperte, al fine di trovare casi di studio, per raccogliere dati , per ottenere informazioni da parte delle autorità e dei produttori, al fine di disporre di informazioni sufficienti per continuare la ricerca con i consumatori. L’analisi della domanda è un'analisi quantitativa. Sono state condotte indagini presso i consumatori, al fine di valutare le prospettive future per i due prodotti. Sulla base dei dati raccolti da parte dei consumatori in Serbia e in Italia, i dati raccolti sono stati analizzati quantitativamente, utilizzando la “cluster analysis”. La ricerca ha dimostrato che il potenziale di mercato per i due prodotti serbi esiste sia in Serbia che in Italia. Ma i consumatori hanno diverse attitudini ed interessi verso i due prodotti, e anche diverse disponibilità di acquistare e pagare questi prodotti. La “cluster analysis” ha identificato tre diversi gruppi di consumatori in Serbia. Questi gruppi possono essere identificati come "I consumatori con forte interesse al cavolo Futog e la salsiccia Petrovac ", "I consumatori moderatamente interessati al cavolo Futog ed alla salsiccia Petrovac ", ed il terzo gruppo "I consumatori non sono disposti a pagare di più per il cavolo Futog e la salsiccia Petrovac ". L’analisi dei cluster per il campione italiano ha inoltre individuato tre diversi gruppi di consumatori, che possono essere riassunti come segue: "I consumatori non interessati ai due prodotti serbi DOP", "I consumatori interessati ai prodotti tipici", "I consumatori molto interessati ai due prodotti serbi DOP" Dottorato di ricerca in Economia e territorio

Sixty-five per cent of the Serbian land area is agricultural and 55% of the population is rural.Agriculture share of GDP is more than 10% and about 47% of the rural labour force deals with agriculture. The aim of this work is to analyse the impacts of the global financial and economic crisis on the Serbian agro-food sector and rural communities. Measures introduced, mainly by public institutions, for relieving the consequences of the crisis are presented and discussed. Easily accessible yet high quality data from the central Office of Statistics in Serbia and specialized literature have been used. Impacts have been assessed by analyzing and discussing the trends of many socio-economic indicators. The crisis has had general impacts on the Serbian economy (low GDP growth, unemployment increase, price volatility, purchasing power decrease, etc.). Due to the crisis growth in agricultural production has been very low (0.1% in 2009). Agro-food exports decreased dramatically in 2008. About 9000 agricultural jobs were lost in 2008 and 2009. Reduced exports and lower domestic demand impacted negatively on agricultural commodity prices and agricultural household incomes.Access to credit became more difficult especially for small producers. However, agriculture is still a very important safety net. Agricultural employment share has increased both for men and women. The importance of agriculture is even higher if we consider the “grey agricultural economy”. To mitigate the crisis effects, the Government provided subsidies to rural people and will adopt the National Strategic Plan and Programme for Rural Development. Nevertheless, public institutions - in partnership with private, civil society and international organisations - should improve rural producers’ access to market information and credits and foster investments in rural areas including non-agricultural ones and those aiming at improving physical capital.

The renewed and intensified interest in issues of business ethics is typified by growth in demand of products encompassing ethical values such as organic and Fair Trade products. Consumer attitude to foods is mainly influenced by concerns (e.g. food safety, human health, environmental impact) and commodity attributes (e.g. quality, taste, freshness and packaging). The objective of this exploratory study is to get an insight on Serbian consumer perceptions of agro-food products with ethical values (AFPEV) namely organic, Fair Trade and traditional products. The paper is based on secondary data and an online self-administered questionnaire, carried out from December 2010 through June 2011 with 104 Serbian adult consumers, dealing with understanding of and knowledge about AFP and relationships with ethical values; AFPEV buying frequency; main criteria and reasons for buying AFPEV; opinion about AFPEV price and consumer willingness to pay; potential impacts on animal health and welfare as well environmental, economic social and civic impacts of buying AFPEV; purchasing channels; and main sources of information about AFPEV. Serbian consumers have a good knowledge about AFPEV that are bought by almost all the interviewees. Most of the respondents relate ethical values to the respect of environment and organic production. The main reasons for buying AFPEV are quality, organic certification and taste. Price seems less important. The main sources of information about AFPEV are mass media, newspapers and magazines. However, the majority of Serbian consumers prefer to get information directly from the supply chain actors mainly sellers and/or producers. AFPEV are bought mainly from the specialized shops and supermarkets to achieve personal satisfaction, for health, safety, natural resources conservation, and environment protection. Consumers do not always buy sustainable products as consequences of environmental concern or to benefit the community or due to personal beliefs but mainly to give priority to health. Ethical factors are important in some cases, but they may be overstated. Results indicated that most Serbian consumers perceived that AFPEV as healthier and portray a positive attitude towards AFPEV, thus showing a high willingness to pay higher prices. Serbian consumers seem to have a positive attitude towards organic, fair trade and typical products due to the sustainable benefits that they can bring about. Therefore, institutional and domestic market conditions should be improved for insuring long-term market development and information campaigns should be organized to increase Serbian consumers’ awareness and consciousness.