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ŠUMARSKI LIST 5-6/2022 str. 81     <-- 81 -->        PDF

Tourism in the protected areas in Croatia is being developed within the framework of various strategic documents, from the national to the local levels. Thus, tourism in protected areas and in the Kopački Rit Nature Park is covered by the Strategy and Action Plan for Nature Protection of the Republic of Croatia for the period from 2017 to 2025. National Tourism Development Strategy until 2020 with the accompanying Green Tourism Development Action Plan, the Osijek –Baranja County Tourism Development Master Plan until 2020, and other strategic documents at lower levels also tackle this topic. The preparation of the second generation of the Management Plan and the Management Study of the Visitors of the Kopački Rit Nature Park is in progress.
In the area of Osijek-Baranja County, there are 11 tourist boards of different levels, from county, city and municipal to the Tourist Board of Baranja, being the most active in the county (Master Plan of Tourism in OBC, 2016).
Tourism does not have a long tradition in the Gornje Podunavlje region and its surroundings because economic development plans in the past mainly relied on the potential for agricultural development, and partly on industry as well. However, in the previous two decades, this trend has been slowly changing.
The Protected Area Manager - Public Enterprise Vojvodinašume is responsible for the basic level of tourism organization. This public enterprise also obtains the Travel Agency Vojvodinašume – Turist in the organization of the overall business. The agency is specialized in selective forms of tourism, including the ecotourism (www.vojvodinasume.rs). The Manager in Gornje Podunavlje Special Nature Reserve also organizes ecotourism on the basis of the study of the protection of this area. According to this study, arrangement, construction and infrastructural equipping of space for tourism and recreation purposes in a manner that will not jeopardize special values in this area is allowed, together with presentation of natural values ​​(Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia, No. 45/01). Accordingly, the Protected Area Manager organizes a preparation of planning documents for development of ecotourism, arranges the space within the Reserve (rest areas, ecological-educational trails, information boards), organizes ecotourism tours, provides a guide and contacts with the local community representatives involved in the tourist offer (ethno -houses).
At the level of the local government, tourism is under the jurisdiction of tourist organizations of the City of Sombor and the Municipality of Apatin. The work of tourist organizations is mainly focused on the promotion of the entire Gornje Podunavlje Region.
The activity of tourism is regulated by numerous planning documents, starting from the local to those of national importance. The Visitor Management Plan, a document commissioned by the Manager of Gornje Podunavlje Special Nature Reserve, systematically regulates tourism zoning and care for natural values, recording of visitors’ arrivals and researching their attitudes, defining the ethical codes, as well as preparing the plans of marketing and control activities (Visitor Management Plan in Gornje Podunavlje Special Nature Reserve, 2019). Tourism Development Strategy of the Republic of Serbia for the period between 2016 and 2025 recognizes Gornje Podunavlje, within the tourist region of Danube, as one of destinations where tourism must be a priority for future development (Tourism Development Strategy of the Republic of Serbia, 2016).
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN NATURE PROTECTION AND ECOTURISM
POVEZANOST ZAŠTITE PRIRODE I EKOTURIZMA
The visitor infrastructure at the main entrance to the Park includes the Reception Center (RC) Mali Sakadaš, built according to traditional architecture. The main building of the Mali Sakadaš Centre consists of a central interactive hall with a museological display, an open pavilion for screening a film about Kopački Rit, an information desk, a souvenir shop with souvenirs interpreting the natural and traditional values of the area, and a parking lot with charging stations for electric vehicles. Additional facilities are connected to the reception centre forming a whole - the White Water Lily Promenade (2550 m long) with the popular Sulejman Bridge connected to the pier Sakadaš, which is the starting point for exploring water treasures of Kopački Rit by electric boats, boats and canoes. There are also a children’s playground and a catering object. Nearby are an interpreted replica of a suvara (mill) and an orchard of old varieties for educational purposes.
In the northern part of the Park, there is the “Tikveš Castle” Complex, consisting of a forest and a park area within which residential buildings are situated. In 2022 it will become the new reception Centre of the Park. There are three promenades in the Park area: The White Water Lily Promenade, Stari Brijest and Veliki Sakadaš, as well as the Pannonian Peace Trail and the Baranja Greenways Ecopath, which are part of an international cycling route. Worth mentioning is recently opened bicycle path “European Amazon” 5-country UNESCO Mura-Drava-Danube Biosphere Reserve with a total length of 1822 km. European Amazon is a brand focusing on sustainable tourism. It returns a share of income for co-financing nature conservation programs in the region. It will offer a full package comfortable cycling holidays connecting local tourism offer of regions, situated along rivers in five countries: Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Hungary and Serbia