Natural Resources Management in Tourism: Dimensions and Impact of Tourist Offer in the Southeastern Europe National Parks

Sustainable tourism in national parks and other protected areas is among the fastest growing segments of tourism. Two exceptional natural entities in the Southeastern Europe only 40 km away from each other, Una National Park (Bosnia and Herzegovina) and Plitvice Lakes National Park (Croatia), have very similar natural features (almost identical flora and fauna, specific travertine-tufa formations, clean water, and preserved natural environment) that create conditions for the development of tourism in this particular region. The main purpose of this paper is to evaluate tourist offer in these protected areas and determine the causes of differences among tourism development of these national parks. Biodiversity of these two territories was compared, along with calculation of absolute and relative number of species, and comparative analysis was conducted in terms of tourist offers in order to determine if elements of management and offer creation are more important than the natural resources characteristics in achieving high level of tourist satisfaction. Practical implications of the research highlight the importance of developing nature-based tourist offers in the particular region as well as the significance of consistency in terms of tourist services delivery. Advantages of cooperation between parks and creation of mutual tourist services are also considered and discussed.