Abstract:

Recent research in the field of regional and local development, on the one hand, as well as in the scope of tourism, impresses with their wide range of economic, social and cultural scope, but most of all with their relevance to the problems to the present times of uncertainty. The main reason for this is that the local economy as well as tourism are highly dependent on phenomena directly related to the current technological progress, on the one hand, the and development of society, on the other. The authors’ interest in the topic chosen is based on the nature of the specific type of relationship: local economy and potential for tourism activities.

The last two years have shown another important feature of tourism sector, namely its strong sensitivity to social change, industry, the environment, especially in uncertaint times. This fact once again confirms the need to review the tourism demand, which is less carried out at the international level and more often at the regional and local level.

Additionally, tourism economy is distinguished as a phenomenon with a complex character, where economic entities interact in a specific way with two main groups - tourists and local communities. In practice, there are no limits to the forms of travel, recreation and leisure, but in times of uncertainty, new strategic approaches are needed to reorganize the tourism space in a new way. The lack of a real opportunity for travel makes it even more necessary to look back on the possibilities for tourist activity at the local level.

Taking into account the direction and scope of the current state of tourism and considering phenomena and challenges of a newer kind, the authors investigate the local space in tourism. They identify this place as a reorganization needed space where processes and intensification of connections at the local level have to be taken into account more precisely.

The authors’ interest in this research is focused on tools of the sustainable tourism development and they are related to the scope of the local economy. A descriptive analysis of the potential for tourism development on the local level is applied and the types of tourism that could be successful in the conditions of uncertanties are identified. The results of the study confirm the effect between sustainable tourism and the local economy. This effects can be applied as a model in the promotion of educational policies supporting the concept of the sustainable tourism development in general. A very promising approach in this regard is the link between tourism education and sustainable local economy.

Keywords:

Tourism, sustainable development, local industires, uncertanties, times of transitions.