No abstract

Belgrade is the most popular tourist destination in Serbia, whose tourism industry is rapidly recovering from the turbulent events of the 1990s. However, Belgrade's destination managers yet need to use to a greater extent its competitive advantages which would improve the city's ability to compete with more prominent cities in the international market. These managerial efforts should be based on relevant image assessments. The aim of this research is to offer a comprehensive insight into Belgrade's destination image by combining quantitative and qualitative data collection methods in order to identify the crucial components of its cognitive and affective images. Additionally, this study examines the influence of various tourists' socio-demographic characteristics on their perceptions of destination image, providing both theoretical and marketing implications. Cultural attractions, nightlife, gastronomy and history were identified in the qualitative study as the most important elements of Belgrade's cognitive image, while the most common affective associations were related to it being vibrant, authentic and relaxing. In the quantitative study, six factors of Belgrade's cognitive image were identified-Tourist Attractions, Services and Fun, Environment, Accessibility, Local Residents, and River Banks and Green Areas. Regarding the affective component, it was established that Belgrade was primarily perceived as pleasant, but also as exciting, cheerful and relaxing. Hypotheses testing indicated that tourists' affective responses towards Belgrade varied in relation to their gender and geographical origin, while some of their cognitive perceptions differed in relation to their gender, age, education and employment.

HOLSAT instrument measures tourist satisfaction by comparing tourists' expectations and experience regarding various destination attributes. Destination image influences tourists' expectations, while experience in the destination modifies tourists' image perceptions, creating differences between pre-visit and post-visit images. Based on these relationships, which are theoretically explored in its first part, this study argues that HOLSAT may be used for destination image research. The second part of the study represents a demonstration of how HOLSAT may be used for measurement of both tourist satisfaction and destination image, whereby the research was conducted in Belgrade, a developing urban destination. The city's tourism industry and destination image were severely damaged in the 1990s, whereby they have started to slowly recover since 2000. Based on the results of the conducted survey, satisfactory and unsatisfactory destination attributes were identified, as well as positive and negative components of city's pre-visit destination image. The most important positive components are related to the destination's affordability, while the negative components are related to safety, cleanliness and the arrival station. Modifications of destination image caused by the visit were also identified. The biggest image improvement after the visit was registered in attributes related to safety and the friendliness of the local residents, while the negative modifications related to the public transport were identified as the most important ones. [Project of the Serbian Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Grant no. 176017]

For the purpose of destination planning, management and marketing it is imperative to understand the patterns of tourist spatial activities within cities; in the sense of delineating of tourist zones and major pathways, prognosis of the time spent at particular locations and realizing factors which shape the movement of tourists. The aim of this research is to outline the areas intensively used by tourists during their stay in Belgrade and to analyse the infl uence of various factors on their spatial behaviour. To collect relevant data, 325 foreign individual tourists were interviewed with the aim of collecting data regarding their spatial activities, visit specifi cs and socio-demographic characteristics. Independent t-test and oneway variance analysis (ANOVA) procedures were conducted in order to explore statistically signifi cant differences in spatial behaviour of tourists based on their socio-demographic and visit characteristics. The study confi rmed the importance of Belgrade's historical area for tourism and identifi ed various factors regarding internal characteristics of their visit to the infl uences characterizing spatial behaviour of tourists in Belgrade. The results can be used to create long-term strategies that would promote a polycentric and balanced distribution of tourist activities across Belgrade and in turn prevent negative effects on the city life itself.

Contemporary political and economic trends impose the necessity of an efficient inter-regional connection in Europe, which was the reason for establishing the network of Pan-European corridors. The aim is to indicate Pan-European corridors as necessary, but not sufficient condition for the formation of the overall Serbian touristic offer. It is one element of the touristic offer that only in synergy with other primary and secondary elements and factors gives full effects to the touristic trade. An endeavour was made to examine qualitative features of the Serbian touristic offer along corridors through comparative analysis. The conclusion has been derived by implementation of some quantitative indicators