Amra BANDA, University of Sarajevo - Faculty of Science, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Tourism and political boundaries make a rich area of potential research, with several interesting and unique relationships: borders may in many instances be significant tourist attractions and destinations, but they also function as barriers to travel. Most common role of borders in tourism, however, is that of transit space (Timothy, 2006). Neum is the only place where Bosnia and Herzegovina has access the Adriatic sea in the length of 24 km. Since the northern and southern municipal borders also represent the state border, Neum itself has considerable transit significance: it is located on the Adriatic Highway, the main road connecting Croatian cities Dubrovnik and Split (Cavar and Glamuzina, 2021). The aim of this paper is to analyze tourism development in Neum from its inception as a tourist destination on the Adriatic Highway (1970s) to the present day in the context of border and overall political-geographical relations with Croatia (border regime, national structure and transport connection) as well as future tourism development scenario. The analysis is based on the interpretation of official statistics on tourist traffic, accommodation capacities and development planning documents. In the tourism development of Neum, several phases can be idetified, which were primarily influenced by the period and disintegration of the SFRY, the war (1991-1995), Croatia's accession to the EU, and then the epidemic of COVID 19. A new phase will certainly begin with the opening of the Pelješac Bridge (planned for 2022), which will weaken the transit role of Neum. In addition, the expected entry of Croatia into the Schengen area will certainly mean new changes in the border regime. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the debate on whether the border is a brake on tourism development in Neum and what to expect in the future, and is a contribution to the scientific debate on whether (non)existence of borders and border regime affects tourism trends and to what extent.
Mots clés : Neum|border area|tourism development|Bosnia and Herzegovina
A103651AB