The Special Nature Reserve “Kraljevac” (RK) is located in the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, in southern Banat. This first-category reserve covers an area of 264.3 ha and represents a natural item of exceptional importance. The reserve is characterized by significant geological heritage such as loess sections and dune relief, a lake with famous floating peat islands that form the physiology of this wetland, and very rare representatives of flora and fauna. The RK is characterized by the rich cultural heritage of the population living in South Banat. The different ethnic composition of the population and multiculturalism are the main sociocultural tourist motives of this protected area. The Deliblato Sands, known in Europe for their rare geological features, flora and fauna, are located in the immediate vicinity. This significantly increases the value of the RK. Quantitative methodology was used in the paper, which included interviewing respondents as a research technique. The research was conceived according to the Prism of Sustainability (PoS) model. For this sustainable tourism research, a total of 750 respondents (470 residents and 280 visitors) were surveyed. A written and online questionnaire was used in the survey of respondents. By using a questionnaire, respondents expressed their views on certain statements that were grouped into two categories. The claims refer to the natural and sociocultural factors of tourism development in this protected area. Both categories of tourism destination factors can significantly influence sustainable tourism. In addition, we examined the impact of sociocultural and natural factors on respondents’ satisfaction with sustainable tourism. The research results indicate that there is a significant influence of these factors on the satisfaction of residents and visitors with sustainable tourism. The results of this research can provide important information when planning the development of tourism in this protected area. Also, the results can help in the evolution of tourism development at the local, national and regional levels. The forms of tourism that could be central in the RK are scientific research, sports–recreational, ecotourism, bird-watching, events, cultural, gastronomic, and other tourism forms. These forms of tourism can provide environmental, economic and social benefits for this protected area as a tourism destination.

This paper is particularly focused on film-induced tourism investigation as well as its cultural promotion and cultural change effect that impact on both the tourist destinations and the tourist demands. The case studies include the famous Transylvania, Romania as well as the two comparative destinations in Southeast Asia namely Bali in Indonesia, and Penang in Malaysia. Although tourism planners have limited control over the content of the films produced in the respective destinations and how the destinations are being portrayed in films, it is reflected in our studies that, the imaginary, visual representations of the destinations, albeit negative or distorted from their original identities, are still useful and viable to promote the tourist destinations. The three discussion cases form up the stratification of multiple stages in terms of implementing film-induced tourism strategies to promote their destinations, spanning from one of the oldest film-induced tourist destinations Transylvania, to an over decade-long film-induced destination Ubud in Bali, to a sprouting film-induced destination George Town in Penang. Such a stratification of three comparable destinations leads to both the vertical and horizontal evaluation of the effectiveness of film-induced tourism strategies. Hence, a methodology of multiple-case study with mixed-methods characterised by a set of differing qualitative research approaches will be adopted to the three distinctive destinations, respectively. Emerging markets require new techniques and strategies of marketing, especially in the unsettled post-COVID-19 era. Findings may be useful to destination managers in planning an effective destination image strategy in order to achieve the most sustainable positive impacts and aligning the films’ image of the destination with the desired image and the potential audience reach.

The aim of this paper is to demonstrate how museums use Augmented Reality (AR) to enhance communication services with their audiences and attract new ones. Still, there is no definite answer to how young audiences perceive the educational effects of experiencing this augmented space of communication as an immersive medium. This study is based on a survey of 400 students after they visited an AR technology-enhanced exhibition held by a local history museum. Two stimulus–response marketing scale metrics, widely used to assess TV commercials, were adapted for AR experiences and validated. The mediation analysis revealed an intervening emotional mechanism, in which the multisensory AR experience has educational effects through entertainment and empathy. An improved stimulus–response empirical model is proposed, in which AR technologies, as environmental multisensory stimuli, produce cognitive responses through emotional immersion. The findings have significance in improving how museums encode their message using AR technologies as a secondary communication medium with young audiences. This study could help museum professionals and application developers to find AR implementation solutions as service tools to enhancing user experience by using a widely tested scale for evaluating TV commercials applied to measure AR experiences.

The sustainable development of tourism in protected areas and the planning of its development is extremely important for mountain regions. The local population and tourists have a very important role in this process. Therefore, surveys of the local population and visitor satisfaction represent the basis of this research. The Vršac Mountains Outstanding Natural Landscape (ONL) could represent a significant destination for sustainable tourism. This mountainous area is characterized by a favorable geographical position, a diversity of natural and social factors, rare flora and fauna, and the rich ethno-social heritage of the local population. It is in a very favorable geographical position, and the proximity of the big cities Serbia and Romania, as well as many other factors, are important for tourism development in this area. A quantitative methodology was used for the purposes of this paper during our research. The purpose of this research was to investigate the influence of tourism development on the satisfaction of residents and visitors of the ONL by applying a survey technique, with the help of a questionnaire as a research instrument. A total of 1419 respondents were surveyed (789 residents and 630 visitors). The research results show that the ecological and socio-cultural dimensions of sustainability have the greatest importance for the respondents, and that these two dimensions of sustainability have the greatest impact on sustainable tourism in this protected area. Our main research hypothesis, which states that sustainable tourism has a positive impact on the satisfaction of residents and visitors, is fully confirmed. These data could be significant for tourism planning and the management of protected areas.

Research on the impact of protected areas on sustainable tourism development is undeniable. It means that protected areas should be significant tourism destinations for the success of sustainable tourism. The improvement of natural values, reduction of negative tourism effects on the area, strengthening of the residents’ role in tourism planning, development of the nature-based form of tourism, adoption of legal regulations, and the provision of economic benefits for both managers and residents are the main activities of sustainable tourism development. The areas of Kopački Rit Nature Park in Croatia and Gornje Podunavlje Special Nature Reserve in Vojvodina Province (Northern Serbia) are parts of the European river protected area called “The European Amazon”, and are protected as the Mura-Drava-Danube Transboundary UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. The aim of the research is to obtain significant results regarding the attitudes and satisfaction of 1225 residents with sustainable tourism development using a quantitative methodology (PoS model), and SPSS analysis of the carried-out questionnaire. The respondents’ attitudes are related to the ecological, economic, sociocultural, and institutional sustainability of the protected area as a tourism destination. In addition, interviews were conducted with the managers of natural assets and experts in their tourist development. Answers from the interviews were used to confirm the obtained results.

The advent of new technologies has brought forth an incredible power to online users of social media who may act as active contributors and co-creators of the tourism communication and promotion of the areas that have visited, influencing in that way the online image that is created for an area, a region or a country. The user-generated content (UGC) that is created and uploaded, text and/or travel photos allows research to examine tourists' behavior. How can this be depicted with the use of photos taken from visitors for a rural area? The present chapter aims to (a) examine the destination image of Brasov County's (Romania) based on UGC created via photos uploaded on Facebook by a selected group of visitors in the area; (b) to examine the projected image and strategy in official Brasov County's websites and strategic documents and (c) to create a set of recommendations for the promotion of the Brasov County's rural area on the international tourism market.