ECS 2025
RePEc - DOAJ - Index Copernicus - OpenAIRE
The importance of events as an integral part of the tourism offer and the creative industry: Zlatibor case study
Empirical Article
Author: Brankica TODOROVIĆ
Published online: 25 November 2025
Abstract: Events are no longer supplementary experiences in tourism—they are central to attracting visitors, enriching local culture, and boosting the creative economy. The tourism offer, within the context of modern tourism development, is both quantitatively and qualitatively diverse, aiming to develop in a sustainable way, highlighting tourism’s essential contribution to sustainable development. Tourism events represent an essential component of the tourism sector, offering opportunities to attract visitors and foster the growth of the creative industries. Tourism destinations experiencing high levels of visitation should adopt a responsible approach to event planning and development strategies, ensuring these events positively contribute to the local environment and community. This paper utilizes a mixed-methods approach, integrating quantitative and qualitative research methods to examine the role and potential of tourism events in the framework of sustainable tourism development, based on a case study of Zlatibor, Serbia’s most visited mountain destination. The research findings indicates that the favorable tourism-geographical positioning of mountain destinations – illustrated by the case example of Zlatibor as the most visited destination in Serbia – enables the diversification of sustainable tourism forms beyond winter tourism. Furthermore, the potential of cultural heritage and traditional festivals is shown to significantly contribute to the sustainable and high-quality development of destinations. These events serve not only as attractions but, also, as catalysts for innovation and cultural production, solidifying their role within the creative economy.
Keywords: event; tourism; traditional festival; sustainability; culture; cultural heritage; creative industry
Pages: 150-163
References
Alsiehemy, A. (2023). Events-based service quality and tourism sustainability: The mediating and moderating role of value-based tourist behavior. Sustainability, 15(21), 15303. https://doi.org/10.3390/su152115303
Asero, V., & Tomaselli, V. (2020). Evaluating the Impact of a Tourist Event on a Destination. In D. Batabyal (Ed.), Global Entrepreneurial Trends in the Tourism and Hospitality Industry (pp. 1-17). IGI Global Scientific Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-7998-2603-3
Butler, R. W. (1980). The concept of a tourist area cycle of evolution: Implications for management of resources. Canadian Geographer/Le Géographe canadien, 24(1), 5-12. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1541-0064.1980.tb00970.x
Cibinskiene, A. (2012). Impact evaluation of events as factors of city tourism competitiveness. Economics and Management, 17(4), 1333-1339. https://doi.org/10.5755/j01.em.17.4.2997
Dong, J. (2023). The interaction between sports events and local tourism – A case study of the 2022 Qatar World Cup. In J. Cifuentes-Faura (Ed.), Advances in Economics, Management and Political Sciences. Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Financial Technology and Business Analysis (ICFTBA) 2023, 8 November 2023, Oxford, United Kingdom (Vol. 51, pp. 219-229). EWA Publishing. https://doi.org/10.54254/2754-1169/51/20230665
Frost, W., & Frost, J. (2020). Events and Tourism. In S. J. Page, J. Connell (Eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Events (2nd ed., pp. 76-92). London/New York: Routledge.
Getz, D., & Page, S. J. (2016). Progress and prospects for event tourism research. Tourism Management, 52, 593-631. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2015.03.007
Hernández-Mogollón, J. M., Folgado-Fernández, J. A., & Oliveira Duarte, P. A. (2014). Event tourism analysis and state of the art. European Journal of Tourism, Hospitality and Recreation, 5(2), 83-102. https://studylib.net/doc/8372824
Kim, H., & Jamal, T. (2007). Touristic quest for existential authenticity. Annals of Tourism Research, 34(1), 181-201. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annals.2006.07.009
Koenig‐Lewis, N., & Bischoff, E. E. (2005). Seasonality research: The state of the art. International Journal of Tourism Research, 7(4‐5), 201-219. https://doi.org/10.1002/jtr.531
Kumar, J., & Nazir, F. (2023). Role and Importance of Event Tourism in Economic and Social Development. In E. Dhariwal, S. Arora, A. Sharma, A. Hassan (Eds.), Event Tourism and Sustainable Community Development: Advances, Effects, and Implications (pp. 75-86). New York: Apple Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1201/9781003332213-6
Ministry of Trade, Tourism, and Telecommunications. (2016). Strategija razvoja turizma Republike Srbije za period 2016–2025 [Tourism Development Strategy of the Republic of Serbia for the Period 2016–2025]. Belgrade: Government of the Republic of Serbia. https://mto.gov.rs/extfile/sr/207/strategija.pdf
National Tourism Organisation of Serbia. (n.d.). https://www.serbia.travel/kalendar
Ön, F., Akyurt Kurnaz, H., & Yozukmaz, N. (2022). Festivals in Terms of Cultural Sustainability: A Study from the Perspective of Tourist Guides. In A. Sharma, J. Kumar, B. Turaev, P. Mohanty (Eds.), Festival and Event Tourism: Building Resilience and Promoting Sustainability (pp. 38-46). CAB International. https://doi.org/10.1079/9781789248685.0005
Park, H. (2010). Future for traditional festivals: Glocalised cultural practices in global tourism development. [Conference keynote]. In Proceedings of the International Conference on Safeguarding and Promoting Traditional Festivals in Contemporary Vietnam: The Case of Gióng Festival, 20-23 April 2010, Hanoi, Vietnam. https://repository.mdx.ac.uk/item/qy286
Piga, C., & Melis, G. (2021). Identifying and measuring the impact of cultural events on hotels’ performance. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 33(4), 1194-1209. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-07-2020-0749
RZS. (2013). https://publikacije.stat.gov.rs/G2024/Pdf/G20241187.pdf
RZS. (2024). https://publikacije.stat.gov.rs/G2013/Pdf/G20131039.pdf
Seraphin, H., & Gowreesunkar, V. G. B. (2021). Tourism: How to achieve the sustainable development goals?. Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes, 13(1), 3-8. https://doi.org/10.1108/WHATT-08-2020-0086
Stankova, M., & Vassenska, I. (2015). Raising cultural awareness of local traditions through festival tourism. Tourism and Management Studies, 11(1), 120-127. https://tmstudies.net/index.php/ectms/article/view/766
Tunde, A. M., Okunade, J. O., & Omojola, P. O. (2022). A review of cultural festivals and cultural tourism development in rural areas of Nigeria. HATMAN Journal of Hospitality and Tourism, 12(1), 87-96. https://uilspace.unilorin.edu.ng/bitstreams/61487150-1fd1-4ae2-b36a-4d1c0b71bdde/download
UN. (2015). Transforming Our World: The 2030 AGENDA for Sustainable Development. https://sdgs.un.org/publications/transforming-our-world-2030-agenda-sustainable-development-17981
UNWTO. (2011, October 11). International tourists to hit 1.8 billion by 2030. [Press release]. https://www.unwto.org/archive/global/press-release/2011-10-11/international-tourists-hit-18-billion-2030
World Tourism Organization, & United Nations Development Programme. (2017). Tourism and the Sustainable Development Goals – Journey to 2030. Madrid: UNWTO. https://doi.org/10.18111/9789284419401
Yongguang, Z., Meng, F., Bi, J., & Zhang, Q. (2021). Evaluating sustainability of cultural festival tourism: From the perspective of ecological niche. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, 48, 191-199. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhtm.2021.06.009
Zhang, J., & Dai, G. (2023). Political trust and festival attachment: Influencing residents’ engagement in traditional festivals. Behavioral Sciences, 13(9), 741. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs13090741