TOURISM DESTINATION BENCHMARKING ANALYSIS OF THE TARA AND KOPAONIK NATIONAL PARKS

Abstract

The most visited national parks of Serbia are Kopaonik and
Tara. The aim of the paper is to compare these two national parks as
tourist destinations and to highlight the importance of tourism
planning in national parks. Data on the current state of tourism in the
Tara National Park and Kopaonik National Park were collected
through a review of relevant literature and websites, and analyzed in
terms of comparison, i.e. using benchmarking and statistical methods.
The benchmarking analysis was carried out for these two most visited
national parks of Serbia, but it should be emphasized that the motives
for visiting these destinations are not only their natural values.
Kopaonik is the most visited mountain in Serbia after Zlatibor and an
attractive winter resort not only on the domestic but also on the
international tourism market. The tourist capacities of Kopaonik are
greater and better in terms of quality than those located on the
mountain of Tara and tourist traffic is greater on Kopaonik than on
the Tara mountain.