pzc GEOGRAPHICA ANNONICA

No7; p 42-44

which altogether help in organ- izing cultural and sports manifestations. Geographical Aspect of On the tourist map of , Vojvodi- na is recognizable by its offer of gastronom- ic specialties, and also by numerous antro- Tourism in Borderline pogenous tourist values and objects, among which those assigned to culture and tour- Municipalities of Vojvodina ism stand out ( Fortress, Cas- tle Ecka, Castle Dundjerski, and Panonija). From the point of view of tourism, nu- merous existing border crossings towards neighboring states are also important. They Stankovic,M, Cirkovic, Sanja* serve for road, railroad and water traffic and enable border regional and international ourism in Vojvodina has long and traffic of goods and passengers. Almost all Abstract Vojvodina as a rather flat and eventful history. Easily accessible crossings are open 24 hours a day during spacious (21506km2) area stands as the Tlowland, populated long time ago, the whole year (Romelic, et al.,2002). part of Serbia which is situated between with rich agriculture, Vojvodina is recog- Croatia, , and the rivers nizable by its significant possibilities for Border and border and . It is also a part of Pan- development of various types of tourism. crossings nonic lowland formed by tectonic activities Furthermore, it is characterized by solid In the north Vojvodina borders Hungary. of the part of the Earth’s crust. During network of road, railroad and water traf- The length of the border is 174.7 km. Of the its morphological evolution Vojvodina fic lines, as well as numerous settlements total length, to the land part belongs 158.8 passed through ocean, sea and lake phase. (467). Bordered by high mountains, it has km and to the river part 15.9 km. It stretch- Two island mountains overlooking the always been an attractive residential area. es from the Danube, north from Bezdan cultivated land stand as special marks of Due to the fact that, in the past, a number and in a slight bow it stretches towards east the landscape and have significance for of young people from Vojvodina were edu- and northeast, near , Bajmok, Sub- tourism. The area has been settled long cated in eminent centers of Europe, cultur- otica, Palic and Horgos. It ends near the vil- time ago with urban and rural settlements, al influences, habits and needs for tourist lage Raba, where there is the states border but still it remains under explored from the travels were demonstrated long time ago. between Serbia and Montenegro, Hungary archaeological point of view. Some of the Vojvodina is situated in the basins of sev- and Romania. At its whole length the bor- settlements are situated in the borderline eral large rivers (Danube, Sava, and Tisa), der with Hungary cuts the fruitful lowland region with features of joining and interre- featured with two island mountains (Frus- and it is easily accessible. lating, but also of secession and distanc- ka and Vrsacke planine). Also on its Of highest importance for tourists are ing. The presented material refers to the territory there are several natural and ar- the following roads: Sombor -Baja, Subot- analysis of participation of borderline tificial lakes (Palic, Ludasa, Rusanda, Zob- ica -Pecuj, -Szeged- Budapest and municipalities of Vojvodina in several geo- natica and Ecka) and several protected na- -Szeged-Budapest. The highway E- graphic and tourist attractive phenomena ture reserves (Fruska gora, Palic, Ludas, 75, connecting Subotica to Budapest is the and processes. The paper deals with the Carska bara, the Upper Danube Basin), most prominent in the region. There is also number of settlements, area, population, and population density, number of cater- ing objects, accommodation and tourist traffic and overnight stays. More precisely, to switch from geography to tourism, borderline municipalities of Vojvodina demand systematic scientific research due to their versatile character.

Key words Vojvodina, borderline municipal- ities, tourism, material basis, population, settlements, and depopulation

* Stevan M. Stankovic, Sanja Cirkovic, Uni- versity of , Faculty of Geography, Studentski trg 3, 11000 Beograd, Serbia and Montenegro Map 1 Border region municipalities in Vojvodina 41 GEOGRAPHICA ANNONICA pzc

Table 1 Settlements and areas of border region municipalities in Vojvodina Main traffic routes that connect Vojvo- Number of dina and Romaina are: Kikinda- Timisoara, Municipality Municipality Surface in Vojvodina (%) settlements surface (km2) Vrsac-Timisoara, and Bela Crkva- Bazias. 26 762 3,54 The road Vrsac- Timisoara is of the highest Šid 19 687 3,19 importance for the international passenger

of Vojvodina of traffic because it fits into the road network Bačka Palanka 14 579 2,69 towards Belgrade and Bucharest. The rail- Bač 6 365 1,70 road Belgrade-Vrsac-Timisoara- Bucharest Odžaci 9 411 1,91 is also important. Road and river traffic is 5 350 1,63 possible in the Danube sector, i.e. Djerdap Sombor 16 1178 5,48 sector of the border, but apart from the bor- Subotica 19 1007 4,68 der-crossings on the Djerdap Lake hydro- power station, others are not significant. Kanjiža 13 401 1,86 At the Vojvodinian part border-cross- Novi Kneževac 9 305 1,42 ings towards Romania are: , Čoka 8 321 1,49 Vatin and Kaludjerovo (road traffic), and Kikinda 10 782 3,64 Vrsac and Kikinda (railroad traffic). In the Nova Crnja 6 273 1,27 Djerdap sector border-crossings are Djer- dap (road traffic), and Veliko Gradiste, Žitište 12 525 2,44 Tekija, and Prahovo (water traf- Sečanj 11 523 2,43 fic), but have low significance. The inten- Plandište 14 383 1,78 sity of traffic in both directions is highest Vršac 24 800 3,72 at the border-crossing Vatin. The total an- Bela Crkva 14 353 1,64 nual passenger traffic between Serbia and Total 235 10005 46,51 Montenegro and Romania surpasses 12 million, out of which more than one half an international railway road, connecting From northeast and east Vojvodina bor- make crossings on the Vojvodinian part of the to the Balkans, that ders Romania. The border runs from the vil- state border (Stankovic, 1986). runs parallel to the highway. The Danube lage Raba, east from Kikinda, Srpska Crnja, After the breakdown of Socialist Fed- and Tisa, although navigable in the region, Vrsac, and Bela Crkva to the river mouth of eral Republic of Yugoslavia, the west parts Geographical AspectMunicipalities in Borderline Tourism of lost their previous importance due to the Nera into the Danube and further to Djer- of Backa and Srem became border region lack of passenger fleet (Stankovic, 1984). dap. The part of the border, which is in the towards Croatia. Contrary to various at- Border crossings towards Hungary are: plain and accessible, belongs to Vojvodina. tempts of politicians, traffic connection Horgos, Kelebija and Backi Breg (for road Out of the total length of border towards and busier border-crossings on the Dan- traffic), Subotica (for railway traffic), and Romania (546.5 km), the largest portion is ube and in the west of Srem have not been Bezdan (for river traffic). on land (257.2 km), slightly smaller part on made yet. Such status only contributes to Annual passengers traffic in both direc- the Danube and Djerdap Lake (217.9 km), disuniting feature of the region and dis- tions outreaches 15 million, where border- and the smallest on the rivers Karas and turbs the whole range of other economic crossing Horgos is high above the rest. Nera in (71.3 km). activities including tourism. Table 2 Population and population density in border region municipalites of Vojvodina. Borderline settlements in Differences Number of Number of in number of Vojvodina Inhabitants/ Inhabitants/ Municipality inhabitants inhabitants inhabitants On the territory of Vojvodina whose are km2 in 1961 km2 in 2002 in 1961 in 2002 between is 21,506 km2, in the year 2000 there 1961. i 2002. were 467 settlements. In comparison to Sremska some other parts of Serbia it is not a large 63634 84 85902 113 22268 Mitrovica number, because there are parts of Ser- Šid 37403 54 38973 57 1570 bia as border municipalities Zajecar, Kn- Bačka Palanka 52199 90 60966 105 8767 jazevac and , where each municipality has more than 70 settlements. Out of the Bač 22262 61 16268 45 -5994 total number of settlements in Vojvodi- Odžaci 42242 103 35582 87 -6660 na 235 or 50.3% are situated in border re- Apatin 34836 100 32813 94 -2023 gion, mainly in municipalities of Sremska Sombor 96191 82 97263 83 1072 Mitrovica (26), Vrsac (24), Sid (19), and Subotica 136782 136 148401 147 11619 Subotica (19), and the smallest number is recorded in municipalities of Apatin (5), Kanjiža 34960 87 27510 69 -7450 Bac (6), Nova Crnja (6) and Coka (8). Out Novi 17831 58 12975 43 -4856 of the total area of Vojvodina, border mu- Kneževac nicipalities cover 10,005 km2 or 46.51%. Čoka 19482 61 13832 43 -5650 Among border region municipalities the Kikinda 68562 88 67002 86 -1560 largest area is covered by municipalities of Nova Crnja 21580 79 12705 47 -8875 Sombor (1,178km2), Subotica (1,007 km2) Žitište 33514 64 20399 39 -13115 and Vrsac (800 km2), and the smallest by Sečanj 25519 49 16377 31 -9142 Nova Crnja (273 km2), Novi Knezevac (305 km2), and Coka (321 km2). The correlation Plandište 19455 51 13377 35 -6078 between the number of settlements and Vršac 61284 77 54369 68 -6915 areas of border region municipalities of Bela Crkva 26276 74 20367 58 -5909 Vojvodina is not directly proportional. For Total 814012 - 775081 - -38931 instance, municipality of Sremska Mitro-

42 pzc GEOGRAPHICA ANNONICA Stankovic,M, Cirkovic, Sanja Cirkovic, Stankovic,M, vica with 26 settlements covers the area of Table 3 Catering services in border region municipalities of Vojvodina in 2000 762 km2, whereas municipality of Kikinda Municipality Number of catering Number of Number of Average number of with its 10 settlements covers the area of objects seats beds beds 782 km2, which is 20 km2 more. This points Sremska Mitrovica 9 1286 193 7 out the fact the there is different density Šid 12 1242 98 5 of the settlement network, which influenc- Bačka Palanka 29 2329 127 9 es different economic and social process- es and phenomena and also contemporary Bač 7 628 56 9 tourist traffic. An interesting fact is that Odžaci 15 1242 55 6 municipalities of Secanj and Zitiste, which Apatin 13 3178 198 40 have agricultural physiognomy, have also Sombor 112 6939 200 13 approximately the same number of settle- Subotica 71 5787 584 31 ments and area. (Tomic, et al., 2002) Kanjiža 4 1086 340 26 Population and population Novi Kneževac 4 386 44 5 density Čoka 6 886 - - The whole period after the liberation in the Kikinda 8 2404 233 23 World War II was characterized with slight Nova Crnja 1 240 24 4 depopulation of vojvodina. The number of Žitište 3 378 70 6 inhabitants decreased due to different caus- Sečanj 8 764 38 4 es and it was mainly in rural settlements and in the municipalities in border region Plandište 2 200 28 2 belt. After the fall apart of Former Yugosla- Vršac 2 900 232 10 via when numerous refugees came from Bos- Bela Crkva 7 1730 82 6 nia and Herzegovina, Croatia, and Total 313 31506 2602 - Metohija the population status changed. Mechanical population influx increased the Decrease in poulation in those munici- Harvest Festival in Subotica, Grape gather- number of inhabitants in Vojvodina. For in- plaities at the same time brings increase ing in Vrsac and Fish Festival in Apatin) are stance in 1961 the population of Vojvodina in older poulation which has negative in- tightly connected with agriculture. Nowa- was 1,854,971 and in 2002 the population fluence on receptive and initative tourism. days, the world insists on pointing out local was 2,031,992 which made 177,021 more in- This results from the fact that the number tourism features, amenities and geograph- habitants. The border region municipalities of active population decreases and the ical origin of products for tourist market, show different population statuses in that number of inactive population, who lack which may have high significance for bor- period. In the period 1961-2002, in five mu- money for tourist travels, increases. der region municipalities. (Stankovic, Ob- nicipalities population increase and popula- Geographic aspects of the problem have radovic, 2002). tion density were recorded, whereas in the to be dealt separately and directed from The total number of catering objects in remaining thirteen depopulation was re- science towards practical affairs. Registry, Vojvodina in 2000 was 624. Out of that corded. Generally, while the total popula- classification, ranking and valorization of number in border region there were 313 tion of Vojvodina increased for 177,021 in- natural and antropogenous tourism devel- objects or 50.15%. The number of cater- habitants, the population in border region opment potentials have to be in concord- ing seats was 64,322, out of which 31,506 municipalites decreased for 38,931 which ance not only with the area, its tradition, or 49% were in border region. In 2000 Vo- is more than total population in municipal- but also with contemporary compehen- jvodina had 7490 beds for tourists. Out of ites of Novi Knezevac, Nova Crnja and Plan- sion of planned development, municipal, that number 2,602 beds or 34.7% were in diste today. Between the two observed years, intermunicipal, regional and interregion- border region. Those objects were mainly the share of border region population in the al cooperation. states property, which are still dominant total population decreased from 43.9% to over the private catering objects. 38.1%. The present status and trends de- Material basis of tourism Among border region municipalities in serve special attention fo demographs, so- Material basis of tourism consists of ca- Vojvodina, the largest number of cater- ciologists, and economists in order to find tering and accommodation facilities, traf- ing objects belongs to Subotica and Som- proper solutions. fic lines and traffic devices. As well as in bor. On the contrary, Vrsac and Plandiste Decrease in population in border region other places, in borderline region of Vojvo- have only two states catering objects, and municipalites of Vojvodina has had nega- dina they are not built exclusively for tour- Nova Crnja only one. The similar situation tive effect on initiative and receptive tour- ism purposes, but for domicile population is with seats and beds as important fea- ism. Small number of inhabitants in mu- and its economy. Thus, the construction of tures of tourist offer. The largest number nicipalities of Bac, Odzaci, Apatin, Kanjiza, the material basis of tourism is the direct of beds is in Subotica, mainly near the Novi Knezevac, Coka, Kikinda, Nova Crnaj, result of economic development in the sur- Palic Lake. Then follows Kanjiza, where Zitiste, Secanj, Plandiste, Vrsac, and Bela roundings, but also the result of tradition, spa tourism is flourishing and new objects Crkva means decreasing number of those tourist offer organization at domestic and were built next to old ones. These are all participating in tourist travels towards foreign tourist market. consequences of small territory, intensive tourist centres in Vojvodina, Serbia, Mon- Tourism has to be developed comple- agricultural structure of the area, lack of tenegro and abroad. At the sam etime there mentary with other industrial branches in confirmed tourist values and appropriate is a lack of labour force for different indus- border region, because it is a low-accumula- tradition. However, the positive contribu- trial branches including tourist industry. It tive activity, which is unable to provide sig- tion to tourism in border region has been is important to emphasise that some of the nificant accumulation of funds for wider re- added by large number of new private ob- depopulated municipalities have long tour- production. In borderline municipalities of jects, most of which primarily serve to ful- ism tradition and significant tourist values, Vojvodina, it has to be coordinated with ag- fill the needs of local population. which need complementary valorization riculture, because tourists are also consum- It seems that for the further develop- with tranzit border position and tourist ers of agricultural products. Furthermore, ment of tourism in border region in Vo- values in the surroundings. certain tourist manifestations (Duzijansa, jvodina it is not necessary to build new ca-

43 GEOGRAPHICA ANNONICA pzc

Table 4 The index of tourism in border region municipalities of Vojvodina. of specific features. Certain municipali- Tourists Overnights ties have developed tourist offer and satis- Municipality Difference Difference 1990. 2000. 1990. 2000. factory number of tourists and overnight 1. Sremska Mitrovica 17929 6119 -11810 35805 13672 -22133 stays (Kanjiza, Subotica, Apatin, Vrsac), on the other hand there are municipalities 2. Šid 13832 16650 2818 13832 17433 3601

of Vojvodina of with humble potential, underdeveloped 3. Bačka Palanka 8542 1957 -6585 15530 3435 -12095 offer, weak organization and small tour- 4. Bač 1226 417 -809 2937 1086 -1851 ist traffic and overnight stays (Nova Crnja, 5. Odžaci 3291 1137 -2154 5962 2658 -3304 Bac, Zitiste), or even those without tourist 6. Apatin 9003 5269 -3734 51834 58675 6841 traffic at all (Coka). 7. Sombor 15355 8920 -6435 29366 18659 -10707 References 8. Subotica 76231 27376 -48855 116890 53578 -63312 1. Romelić, J., et al., (2002): Kulturna 9. Kanjiža 11708 10848 -860 78823 103899 25076 dobra u turističkoj ponudi Vojvodine, 10. Novi Kneževac 577 929 352 1081 2006 925 Departman za geografiju, turizam i 11. Čoka ------hotelijerstvo, PMF, . 12. Kikinda 18730 9879 -8851 40320 33941 -6379 2. Stanković, S., (1984): Promet putni- ka na granicama Jugoslavije, Posebna 13. Nova Crnja 1081 55 -1026 2181 55 -2126 izdanja Srpskog geografskog društva, 14. Žitište 2284 2061 -223 5341 7349 2008 knjiga 60, Beograd. 15. Sečanj 2149 498 -1651 5007 7349 2342 3. Stanković, S., (1986): Promet putni- 16. Plandište 1441 594 -847 2992 3304 312 ka na granici prema Rumuniji, Glasnik 17. Vršac 12120 12298 178 23762 44322 20560 Srpskog geografskog društva, LXVI/2, Beograd. 18. Bela Crkva 6602 1142 -5460 18152 2460 -15692 4. Tomić, P., et al., (2002): Vojvodina, Total 202101 106149 - 449815 367586 - naučno-popularna monografija, De- tering and accommodation objects, but to In 1990 in Vojvodina there were partman za geografiju, turizam i hotel- make better use of the existing objects, pri- 514,263 registered tourists, out of which ijerstvo, PMF, Novi Sad. marily by attracting more domestic and 202,101 or 39.3% were registered in bor- 5. Opštine u Srbiji 2001, Republički foreign tourists. To realize the goal, first der region municipalities. In the same year, zavod za informatiku i statistiku, Be- Geographical AspectMunicipalities in Borderline Tourism of contractive zones of natural and antropog- there were 1,129,049 overnight stays, out ograd, 2002. enous tourist values in every municipality of which 449,815 or 39.8% were in border 6. Popis ’91 – stanovništvo, knjiga 9, should be clearly defined, and then the di- region municipalities. Savezni zavod za statistiku, Beograd, rections of cooperation in the region should Those statistical data clearly show not 1995. be defined as well as the proper position of only stagnation, but also decrease in tour- 7. Popis stanovništva, domaćinstava i those municipalities in tourism of Vojvodi- ist traffic. It is the consequence of the stanova u 2002, knjiga 2, Republički na and Serbia. It is achieved through sys- events which followed the breakdown of zavod za statistiku, Beograd, 2003. tematic research in the field of tourism and the SFRY, such as creation of new borders, 8. Stanković, S., Obradović, D., geography in order to estimate the present stagnation of economy and low standard (2002): Materijalna baza turizma u status and prospects for development. All of living. And etc. Also, that was the be- pograničnim opštinama Srbije prema tendencies should be directed towards ele- ginning of the owner transformation pe- Mađarskoj, Rumuniji i Bugarskoj, ments of joining and inter relations of tour- riod of tourist objects and loss of almost Zbornik radova „Problemi revital- ist values, time, area and events. total foreign tourist market. Positive busi- izacije pograničnih krajeva Jugoslav- ness in tourism and catering services was ije i Republike Srpske”, Geografski Tourists and overnight recorded in municipalities of Vrsac and fakultet Univerziteta u Beogradu, Be- stays Kanjiza, whereas in Plandiste, Secanj, Novi ograd. The most relevant index of conditions in Knezevac, Apatin and Sid were no signifi- 9. Opštine u Republici Srbiji 1991, tourism in general is the number of tour- cant changes. Comparison of the munic- Republički zavod za statistiku, Be- ists and the number of overnight stays. ipalities would indicate the whole range ograd, 1992.

44