THE APPLICATION OF GIS IN TOURISM PLANNING AND SUSTAINABLE TOURISM DEVELOPMENT
Alma Pobrić, Amina Sivac
DOI: 10.35666/25662880.2015.1.456
UDC: 338.484:502.131.1(497.6)
Abstract: Tourism planning is a complex process that includes the involvement of a number of factors during the process of decision-making. Taking into account that any rational planning of tourism should be in line with the principles of sustainable development, which means to preserve the physical and social-geographical attributes of a destination, but at the same time striking a balance with the interests of the local communities, private and public sectors, the use of geographic information systems (GIS) has become an imperative in the process. Tourism is an activity which depends on natural resources, but is also a phenomenon which can have a destructive effect on the natural geographic environment in case of an inadequate access to its planning and development. In addition, during the daily management and operations of tourist facilities, a large number of tourists are a big consumer of energy and water and at the same time produce a significant amount of solid waste, hazardous gases and waste water. These negative impacts of tourism can be prevented or reduced by the application of certain GIS technology in order to achieve sustainable tourism development. This papers main objective is to explore the potential of GIS application in a process of tourism planning and its sustainable development, for the purpose of long-term survival of the tourism destination.
Keywords: GIS, tourism, tourism planning, sustainable development