Protected areas, tourism and development of the countryside

Connections between protected areas, tourism and development of the countryside were studied in the examples of the Triglav National Park and the Kozjanski Park. 200 local inhabitants were interviewed in each area. According to the results, it can be concluded that the studied protected areas give an opportunity to develop rural tourism. It cannot be claimed that the development of tourism in protected areas is more successful than the development of tourism outside the protected areas. The interviewed inhabitants of the Triglav National Park most support the development of tourism in the area (86.5 %) out of all other industries, whereas this is not true for the interviewed inhabitants of the Kozjanski Park. The latter agree the area should be oriented in agriculture and the development of small business and craft. Nevertheless it is not insignificant that a high share of the interviewed inhabitants of the Kozjanski Park agrees on focusing this area on tourism development (74.5 %). Almost half of the interviewed inhabitants of the Triglav National Park (47 %) and only 15 % of the interviewed inhabitants of the Kozjanski Park agree that the opportunity of the protected area is a better possibility in tourism business. Thus we can conclude that the Triglav National Park offers more opportunities or additional possibilities for business in tourism than the Kozjanski Park. In the protected area, where tourism is more developed (the Triglav National Park), the interviewed inhabitants believe that the nature conservation strategies are less successful and perceive more negative burdens of tourism (traffic and crowds, higher prices). On the contrary, in the protected area, where tourism is less developed (the Kozjanski Park), the interviewed inhabitants observe that nature conservation strategies are more successful and they are less influenced by tourism.