Sun, Sea and Shrines: Application of analytic hierarchy process (AHP) to assess the attractiveness of six cultural heritage sites in Phuket (Thailand)

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.

During the past decade, the valley of the West Morava in the central part of the Republic of Serbia experienced several natural hazards that have changed the life of the inhabitants. The aim of this paper is to show how people perceive natural hazards in the areas where they do not have catastrophic consequences for the entire population. The perceptions of natural hazards were examined according to similar studies and collected through surveys and interviews. The obtained stratified sample information was coded, and the results are expressed in the parameters of descriptive statistics, using T-test and ANOVA. The population is partially affected if inhabited locations are in the threatened part of the West Morava River valley and if their activities have direct consequences by natural disasters. They emphasize the importance of the political influences and mass media, but they show the need for additional information on prevention and protection. That is where they see geography as profession that sublimates all knowledge of natural disasters, unlike others that are more narrowly skilled. The results of the research are the starting point for further regional comparisons, which will complement the picture of the people’s attitude and resilience to natural hazards in Serbia and the Balkan Peninsula.

This paper presents the results of empirical research on quality of life of rural residents in the border region of Srem. Purpose of this work was to establish attitudes to social factors which determine everyday life of local population, and to establish the general perception of their standard of living. The results presented here are based on statistical analysis in which four types of analysis were applied: descriptive statistical analysis, application of chi-square test, t-test for independent samples and factor analysis of variance ANOVA. In order to determine the significance of differences between groups, post-hoc Scheffe's test was used. The research has come to the conclusion that the population of the border region of Srem is not satisfied with their living standards, and the main issues are unemployment and low income.

The aim of this work is to complement the knowledge about mutual influence on ethnic groups on the Vojvodina Region (the north part of Serbia), as the phenomenon that may appear as the consequence of cohabitation. It is in the function of forming the Vojvodinian cohabitation model (VCM) checking stances offered by poll, the opinion was got from the participants that belong to different ethnic groups. The best evaluated stance was the one that says that intercultural exchange of experience advanced the life quality. This paper intends to say that the interethnic conflicts permanently kept media’s attention. Almost nobody noticed that mixed marriages are an example of the international love. The research has shown that the evaluation of a certain stance depends on the ethnic structure of certain settlements. Participants who during their lives had more experience from cultural exchanges, could see and understand its importance.