TOURISM INDUSTRY OF THE WESTERN BALKAN COUNTRIES BETWEEN EXISTING RESOURCES AND REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN UNION

Abstract

The aim of the current research is to scientifically consider the existing potentials of the tourism industry of the Western Balkan countries in their efforts to eliminate the manifested anomalies and join the European Union. The achieved results, recommendations and profiled conclusions will benefit the relevant state actors in the concept of tourism promotion and European integration. It is necessary to determine the legal regulations of the European Union in the field of tourism based on the Resolution of the United Nations General Assembly 39/248, the Law on Consumer Protection, the Law on Environmental Protection and other legal documents. The Western Balkans subregion consists of countries that are in one of the established phases of the European integration process, for which tourism is a significant economic branch. The starting hypothesis is that the tourism industry of the Western Balkans with existing resources and the implementation of European Union regulations represents an objective chance for overall social development, ie integration into the community of developed countries. By applying the methodological procedures of analysis of available materials, synthesis, description and comparison, we will consider the essential postulates of our topic. The focus of the study is the EU legal regulations relating to the tourism of the observed countries and the specifics of the resources of this industry, important for their economic and overall social development. For all these countries, tourism, modified according to modern trends, potentially means a first-class economic branch and a great chance for the prosperity of communities. The institutions of the European Union have conceived specific legal legislation in this area, as special regulations that are binding on members and countries in certain stages of accession. The initial document adopted by the EU is the Council Directive 90/314 of 1990 on package arrangements. It consists of ten members who fully protect the consumer regardless of the position in the contract. Then, Regulation EC 261/2004 related to air transport issues. It provides for the rights of passengers in air traffic with specific conditions and amounts of compensation that airlines pay to damaged passengers. The well-known standards ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 22000 HACCP specific to the field of tourism are also applied. Our article treats the peculiarities of the tourist resources of the Western Balkan countries as a whole, by considering the positive and negative aspects. The advantages of the physical geographical and traffic position of Montenegro, Serbia, Macedonia, Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina, the diversity of natural resources, healthy living environment, cultural treasures, ethnographic elements, conditions for foreign investment and international cooperation are taken into account. Aggravating factors are reflected in political contradictions, unfavorable infrastructure, economic crisis, lack of professional staff, insufficient legal regulations and inadequate attitude of the authorities. We believe that the leading state entities must eliminate the weaknesses of the legal system and incorporate the legal legislation of developed countries and the European Union itself into their own legislation. It is necessary for the state leaders to pay more attention to the planned investments in tourism, hotel industry and processing industry. Implement the funds of the preaccession funds of the European Union in fruitful development projects. Use the favorable geographical position with transport networks, diverse natural resources and a healthy environment to promote the tourist economy with accompanying activities. Numerous cultural and historical values and specific ethnographic contents contribute to the overall ambience. Affirm paradigms that motivate foreign investors, where business strategies are formulated based on established international principles. New initiatives for cross-border cooperation between the countries of the Western Balkans are supported by the institutions of the European Union and the United States, especially in order to eliminate mutual problems and strengthen economic capacities.