WHY SHOULD SECURITY ASPECTS BE MORE SERIOUSLY CONSIDERED IN DEVELOPMENT OF SERBIAN TOURISM INDUSTRY ?

Tourism today is becoming a part of everyday life for millions of people all over the world. According to the Travel&Tourism Competitiveness Report 2013, security is among the critical factors determining the competitiveness of a country’s tourism industry. The most common reasons that are usually given are growing threats from terrorist acts, relatively high level of crime in the region and unknown diseases. The World Tourism Organization stated that one of the factors limiting the development of the industry is that issues related to security in tourism are not sufficiently regulated. The statistics show that the vast majority of organizations in tourism infrastructure are operating at a loss due to terrorism and natural disasters. This statement was particularly confirmed after a great decrease of tourist visits to Phuket and New Orleans after the horrible natural disasters (tsunami and hurricane Katrina, respectively). The question which arises in scientific and public community is: ‘’How to provide an adequate level of security for tourists.’’ Tourism is announced as one of the priorities in future development of the Republic of Serbia. The author used the methodology appropriate for social science. The study results have indicated an urgent need for acceptance of a holistic approach to the issue. Tourism industry has to recognize the importance of security in its daily activities and in these efforts needs to closely cooperate with security services on the local and national level.


Introduction
Stability of local economies is dependent on the extent to which state and local authorities are able to provide security (in its different aspects) for the territory, the residents and the guests, including tourists.In the contemporary world, travel and tourism sectors are often deemed as one of the most significant drivers of economic and social prosperity of a country or a region having relevant natural and human resources, legislation and institutional support).In the age of global tourism indispensable conditions for travel and tourism include safety and security and their importance has been growing in last two decades because of the decreased security, as a result of terrorist acts, local wars, natural disasters, epidemics and pandemics, etc. which necessitates studies in the relationship between security issues and tourism (Kôvári & Zimányi, 2011).
In that process, academic community and tourism workforce start to seek adequate holistic approaches that could provide mitigation of negative impacts in tourism industry jeopardizing destinations (Masfeld & Pizam, 2005).
Talking about safety and security in tourism, it is important to clarify the notions and terms, used henceforth in the paper, because the difference between safety and security is not always evident based on the assumption that both describe conditions of protection (without risks) -protecting assets from hazards/threats creating safe/secure conditions.The safety condition is about being protected, while the security condition is about being free from danger (Fig. 1).Within the field of safety, hazards represent a risk to human health and lives, environment, production and material objects.
Protection embraces the values of an organization/ individual against planned, malicious and criminal incidents from a wide range of threats (Albrechtsen, 2003).Undoubtedly, every one study of those questions in the field of tourism would stress the importance of protection of tourists and protection of the area.

Being protected Being free from danger or threat
Protection against hazards Protection against threats Safety Security Figure 1.Main differences between security and safety (According to Albrechtsen, 2003) The changing concept of safety and security in tourism from 1950 until now is scrutinized from the point of view of mass tourism evolving from being one of the problems in tourism -simplified approach in the perception of safety and security issues in tourism , via a period of enlargement of the security concept in tourism , to the complex perception of security and safety in tourism (Kôvári & Zimányi, 2011).
Nowadays security is an active element of tourism based on the obligatory condition to protect both tourists and industry and the challenges of globalization finding expressions in studies and discussions on risk management in tourism.The increasing frequencies and severity of security crises in last several decades, the feelings and perceptions of safety and security are changing, too which are the processes that affect tourists' decisions and travels.Taking into consideration the international environment of functioning of every u naučnoj i stručnoj javnosti jeste: "Kako obezbediti adekvatan nivo bezbednosti za turiste?".The subjective nature of safety is related to the notion of real and perceived safety in tourism -exaggerating some issues with little reason or underestimating serious risks (Maximiliano, 2014).For sustainable tourism programmes the real probability of danger and the effect on social imagery are important and risk communication should not be ignored (Maximiliano, 2014).Different kinds of risks generate different reactive adaptations and this should be taken into account when dealing with tourism safety in particular.Travelling hides a various number of risks and tourists undoubtedly make their choice not only on the basis of price or destination, but personal safety and security, as well.
In recent years, globalisation, terrorism, new technologies, political changes, economic integrations, concerns about environment, etc. have resulted in new trends in consumers' demand, also including tourism sector worldwide (Baldigara & Mamula, 2012).The notion of sustainable tourism has grown up recently considering the potentials of the sector as an economic driver from the point of view of social, cultural and environmental dimensions.Discussing security as one of the keys to sustainable tourism, it is viewed as one of the most important factors that keep the visitors visiting the destination (Prashyanusorn, Kaviya, & Yupapin, 2010).
Threats that could impact travel and tourism industry are summarized on   that the structure of the pillars that form the principal components of EU countries differ when compared with that of non-EU countries, as follows: for EU countries the determining pillar is human resources, followed by safety and security, compared with non-EU countries where the hierarchy is reversed, i.e. the first pillar is safety and security and then human resources.

Serbian tourism industry and security aspects as an important factor for its development
development worldwide are accompanied by a number of challenges and risks in contemporary conditions characterized by the ongoing processes of changes in national and international security systems' development out of the framework of traditional aspects.Considering travel and tourism sector from the point of view of the opportunities for creating employment, generating revenues, forming an image of a country / an area, and fostering mutual understanding and respect, i.e. being a driver of economic and social prosperity, it should be underlined that it is a subject of security threats operating in an international environment.Tourism industry in global world: contemporary challenges and security linkages Tourism today is increasingly becoming a part of everyday life for millions of citizens all over the world.The World Tourism Organization stated that one of the factors limiting the development of the industry is that issues related to security in tourism are not adequately regulated.The statistics show that the vast majority of organizations in tourism infrastructure are operating at a loss due to terrorism threats, and natural disasters.Increasing the security level should envelop both physical and emotional safety, as security management in tourism is within the competencies of all -state and local authorities, tourism business, society and tourists.Adequate security measures focus on human safety, environmental safety and critical infrastructure protection relying on the procedures of prevention and Radović, V., Arabska, E. -Consideration of security aspects in Serbian tourism industry 2016.Fakultet za sport i turizam, Novi Sad, TIMS Acta 10, 71-80 monitoring in conditions of international collaboration for effective actions and/or reactions.According to The Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2013 pointing Travel & Tourism competitiveness enablers and change drivers security aspects are among the most important factors of travel and tourism competitiveness (Figure 2) because of the human, economic and reputational consequences and negative publicity.

Figure 2 .
Figure 2. Travel & Tourism competitiveness enablers and change drivers (Source: The Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report, 2013) Yang & Nair (2014) examine tourists' risk perception and find that uncertainty, worry, fear, and anxiety are closely related to risk perception, the notions used interchangeably in past studies, causing confusion in understanding tourists' experience with risk.
Transition process in Serbia, started in 2000 and still in progress, embraces different kinds of reforms influencing economic structure in favor of service sector, and particularly tourism as a great opportunity for the country's development because of the available natural conditions, cultural and historical heritage, social conditions, material base, favorable transportation and Radović, V., Arabska, E. -Consideration of security aspects in Serbian tourism industry 2016.Fakultet za sport i turizam, Novi Sad, TIMS Acta 10, 71-80 geographical position, but unfortunately the sector needs improvements and development on a sustainable basis in order to increase its competitiveness and positions on the international markets (Petrović-Ranđelović & Miletić, 2012).Serbian tourism development is thoroughly presented in the Strategy of tourism development in the Republic of Serbia established by the Serbian Government (Serbian Government, 2006).In Serbian report of the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) it is stated that travel and tourism can also play an important role in the future development of Serbia.The industry makes a significant contribution to both GDP and employment.In 2011, Travel & Tourism directly contributed 1.8% of Serbia's GDP and accounted for 32,100 jobs directly in Travel & Tourism, representing 2.4% of total employment.Considering the wider impacts of the industry into account, Travel & Tourism contributed 5.4% of GDP and 80,100 jobs in 2011 (6% of total employment).Furthermore, the report envisages that over the next ten years and with the right policies in place, Travel & Tourism in Serbia will achieve growth of 4.8% per annum, in terms of its contribution to GDP compared to 4.5% per annum growth in Travel & Tourism in Eastern Europe and 4.3% in the world as a whole.The forecast is that the total contribution of Travel & Tourism in Serbia to GDP will be to 6.8% of the economy in 2023.Among the challenges that should be carefully addressed in the near future are those of ensuring the long-term sustainable development of the industry "with maximum benefits for all stakeholders", including development of infrastructure and human capital.Cooperation between state and business, making and communicating Serbian tourism brand, integrating tourism into other industries and raising public awareness and support.Future sustainable tourism development in the country relies on "wise" investments and favourable state policies and institutional support.It is very important not only to identify priorities and plan actions, but also to "implement new policies lasting far beyond the party line or any political bias".According to the report of WTTC accountability and ownership stay at the heart of tourism development in Serbia and depend on the stringent performance management and quality controls.Cosidering the change of the poor perception of the country because of the war, now the opportunities are higher than ever before because of the globalization processes and the aspirations of the country development in the EU.The international direction of tourism development in Serbia is shown by the statistics in the report, as follows: 765,000 foreign tourists in 2011 contributed to more than a half of total internal tourism spending in 2011 (58.6%) compared to 1.3 million domestic residents taking overnight trips and to the Eastern European average of 46.6%.The expectations for next ten years for a solid growth just show the opportunities to start a new era of partnerships regarding the over-arching sustainable development priorities and travel and tourism place in policy development and future planning, including environmental management systems, community engagement and linkages to other sectors, especially agriculture and food.Looking at the data in Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2013, Serbia is ranked 89th out of 140, but going in depth of the index compoundssafety and security is ranked better than most of the other pillars of TTCI (Figure 3).The report states that in the past years at the bottom of the European rankings are a number of Balkan countries (Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Moldova) having less-advanced development and requiring significant investments in upgrading the infrastructure needed to support healthy and growing T&T sectors.The policy framework for Serbia in the Serbia report of the World Travel and Tourism Council is focused on sustainable development and long-term planning ( management and recover decisions, communication and capacity building.All that implies the significance of two sides of the "coin" -image and perception management vs. risk and crisis management.Those are not identical, but they are not controversial either: image management strategies should include crisis management and, vice versa, the latter includes a number of communicational and other issues connected to the destinations' image and human perceptions, incl.those of tourists.The cooperation of public authorities and private organizations/people should be considered from the point of view of security related information and the type of source and media involvement.Risk management embracing preventive, reactive and recovery measures in crisis management, disaster reduction and mitigation plans should include also strategies to confront tourism crises and rules of collaboration starting from research on incidents types and frequency -motives, targets -severity -impacts (on the destination, on tourists' behavior, on tourism industry -reactions -recovery -prevention and reduction.The role of educational system should not be neglected in creating tourism safety perceptions and realities.

Table 1 .
A summary of threats that could impact travel and tourism industry organiser, advocate, catalyst, tourism product developer, community brand builder, convener and facilitator, funding agent, information provider, partner and team builder.Roles of destination and marketing organizations could be divided into two groups (Table2) underlying the framework of such organizations in which safety, security and crisis management are a key part.