The aim of this paper is to present the Lazar's Canyon area as a potential geotourism destination. The region of eastern Serbia, where this canyon is located, has the highest concentration of geosites in the country. This makes the Lazar's Canyon area a good candidate for becoming a Geopark in the future. Despite it's rich geodiversity, this region lacks the infrastructure and qualified staff required for further development of the area. The main purpose of this paper is the tourist evaluation of Lazar's Canyon and a proposed inventory of attractive geosites in the surrounding area. The evaluation method is partially based on the needs and views of tourists that visited the site and gave their opinion through a survey that was conducted during that visit. The paper also briefly discusses and analyses the existing problems and necessary criteria that are preventing this area from becoming a Geopark at the moment.
The region of Homolje in Eastern Serbia represents an area rich with numerous geological and geomorphological features, especially karst formations which are excellent representatives of this area’s geodiversity. However, the geotourism potential of these geosites still remains fully unrevealed. In this paper we analyzed the most representative ones based mainly on their aesthetic value as well as their geotourism potential. The aim of this paper is to emphasize the geotourism potential of Homolje and to determine its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats as well as interactions between them when it comes to tourism development. The results of the SWOT and TOWS analysis indicate that Homolje as a tourist destination possesses immense geotourism potential but is still in the exploration phase according to the Butler tourist cycle of destination evolution. Research results also identify four different strategies which can be applied as solutions for current problems and for further tourism development.
Karst areas, as areas with attractive geological and geomorphological features are an important and integral part of geoheritage. They possess huge tourism potential and can be used for the development of geotourism. The Pek River basin is a highly dominant karst terrain with numerous geological and geomorphological features, especially caves. However, their geotourism potential still remains fully unrevealed. In this paper, we analyzed several geosites that represent significant karst geoheritage formations and as such they can be the backbone of future geotourism development in this area. The aim of this paper is to emphasize the geotourism potential of the Pek River lower basin and to determine the current state and geotourism potential of these geosites by applying the modified geosite assessment model (M-GAM).
Compared to other parts of the country, the region of Central Iran still remains mainly outside of major tourism flows even though there are significant geosites with great value for geotourism development. Two of those sites, the Shadow Canyon and the Canyon of Jinns, have excellent qualities for the development of this form of tourism in the future. The goal of this research is to gain information about the preferences of Iranian geotourists and to determine the current state and geotourism potential of Shadows Canyon and Jinn Canyon located in Central Iran by applying the modified geosite assessment model (M-GAM). The results indicate that Iranian geotourists consider rarity and the number of viewpoints the most important when choosing which geosite to visit, while the least important are tour guide service as well as hostelry and restaurant service. The results also show that more attention should primarily be concentrated toward promotional activities and basic tourist infrastructure construction in the future to attract even more tourists to these and other geosites in Iran.