TOURISM AND DEPOPULATION IN MOUNTAIN REGIONS OF BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA: CASE STUDY OF BJELAŠNICA AND VRANICA

Many rural mountain areas face the challenges of negative demographic trends, caused by emigration, low fertility rates, and the accelerated process of demographic ageing. Such processes are direct consequence of the war events and the situation that followed, as well as industrialization, which indicates the need to revitalize or mitigate these negative effects. Tourism is often cited as a factor in stimulating development process, so this paper examines relationship between the development of tourism activity and the degree of depopulation of rural settlements in the Bjelašnica and Vranica mountains. The paper uses the demographic and statistical (t-test) methods, as well as a survey to examine the attitudes of local population towards the development of tourism. Based on the conducted analysis at the level of the main indicators on population and tourism activity, conclusion about positive connection between tourism and reduced level of depopulation in the moutain regions can be drawn.