Local food production benefits sustainable regional development and should be considered as one the pillars of sustainable regional development strategies. Local food producers share a common heritage because of the cultural and historical ties in their regions, while consumers tend to value food products produced locally. The purpose of this article was to explore market participants’ attitudes toward the impact of local food product attributes on sustainable regional development. The authors’ findings on the main advantages and barriers to consumption of local food products have pointed out the complexity of the relationships between market participants (i.e., producers and consumers) and indicated that a deeper understanding is necessary for overall economic development. The problems of local food products in Serbia, in the context of sustainable regional development, have not been investigated so far, and for this reason, it is important to analyze the differences between consumer and producer attitudes to reduce this perceived gap in the literature. In this way, these insights can offer opportunities for strategic actions in regard to the local food product supply and consumption, with the aim of including different regional stakeholders.

The study focuses on the significance of empowering women, which plays a crucial role in the sustainable transformation of rural communities. It highlights the relevance of rural tourism as both an indicator of women’s livelihoods and a catalyst for meaningful change. Increasingly, women are forming associations that not only foster positive interactions among themselves but also extend their influence to other women within their communities. The research aimed to address two key questions: “What actions would you undertake in the realm of rural tourism?” and “What does the advancement of rural tourism mean for you on a personal level?” To analyze the data, factor analysis was employed to categorize the variables alongside structural equation modeling (SEM). The findings identified six distinct factors and demonstrated the interrelationship among these factors. The findings indicate that women willingly choose to participate in rural tourism, predominantly involving activities related to domestic food and beverages, tourism and hospitality, and the production and sale of souvenirs. This addresses the first inquiry. The responses to the second inquiry identified factors such as empowerment, independence, and development. This supports the initial hypothesis H, which posits that rural tourism acts as a measure of women’s empowerment, resulting in significant changes within the rural communities in which these women reside. The research outcomes are relevant to all rural regions in Serbia and its vicinity, where women’s roles are often marginalized and a transformation is essential.

This paper explores the correlation between state of cluster development in a country and its national competitiveness. Our research hypothesis is that high positive correlation exists between cluster development and national competiveness, meaning that the countries in which clusters are deep and well-developed are at the same time countries that have a high national competitiveness in certain segments of industry and vice versa. The source of the data analysed in this paper is the Competitiveness report of the World Economic Forum 2012–2013 (hereinafter WEF), which includes 144 economies. Linear correlation, including confidence intervals, was used in data analysis. Research hypothesis is accepted by the data. Developing countries cannot follow the direction from building high competitiveness to the development of clusters, but national competitiveness can significantly be improved by development of clusters and encouraging innovation and productivity within the framework of cluster-directed economy.

The Republic of Serbia has numerous predispositions for the development of rural tourism, considering that it represents a factor in the revitalization of the surrounding rural areas. Development and orientation towards "rural Serbia" could bring numerous advantages that relate to stopping migration flows from rural areas to urban areas and provide revitalizing the agricultural sector and other complementary activities. The aim of paper is to point out the importance of rural tourism, as one of the priority products of the Republic of Serbia, through the analysis of the current level of its development, and predicting future trends that promote the future of rural tourism. The methodology includes an overview of the theoretical framework of rural tourism collection of existing statistical data, obtained on the basis of previous research.

The region of Vojvodina is considered to be very favorable for honey production, whereby the area of Fruska Gora is primarily considered as the most bountiful. However, one of the key problems that honey producers encounter is the lack of understanding of consumer behavior and therefore inability to create appropriate marketing strategies and programs. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to provide assistance to honey producers in Vojvodina, to lime honey producers from Fruska Gora with protected geographical origin in particular, to identify the motives, attitudes and buying habits of consumers of honey in Vojvodina. The conclusion is carried to summarize the obtained results about what type of honey consumers in Vojvodina buy, why, where, when, how often and what are their attitudes toward the introduction of a new brand of honey. Moreover, it presents the basic guidelines to honey producers for the improvement of marketing strategies and marketing programs.