INNOVATION STRATEGIES FOR YOUTH TOURISM AS A CONTIBUTION TO THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF THE WESTERN BALKAN COUNTRIES

Abstract

Tourism is the fastest growing industry that contributes for the production of new jobs, generate huge revenue for the country and become important part of the economic foundation of many countries. Tourism is an industry, with large growth rates and important influence on economic development, but in the past year as the consequences of the global corona virus pandemic suffered major damage. There are different types of tourism, in recent years innovative types of tourism have become current, such as eco, rural, youth, etc. Youth tourism is a new, fast growing sector in the tourism industry. Young travellers can influence the development of the tourism industry and intercultural communications. Youth tourism occurs in different forms and has its own characteristics. This paper focuses on identifying the challenges of tourism in the Western Balkans, with a special focus on the concept of youth tourism, in order to identify the key strategies and motivational factors for youth tourism, experiences and challenges of young people in this sector. For the purposes of this paper, desk and field research was conducted, i.e. the use of electronic questionnaires to identify the characteristics of youth tourism in the Western Balkans.

Keywords: Tourism, Tourism strategy, Western Balkan development, Young people, Innovation