GORGES IN THE MUNICIPALITY OF PIROT AS A POTENTIAL FOR GEOTOURISM DEVELOPMENT IN SOUTH-EAST SERBIA

Since the late 18th century, canyons and gorges have become popular tourism destinations. This trend continues to the modern days, with a large number of people visiting these popular sites each year. In recent years, there has been a rapid expansion of tourism interest in such geological formations and landscapes. Due to that, geoheritage has become an important part of tourist offer in many countries. Serbia possesses approximately 650 distinctive geosites. Among these are several remarkable canyons and gorges of great scientific importance and geotourism potential. This paper shows the comparative analysis of tourism potentials of gorges and canyons in the municipality of Pirot, as an important growth engine of the area. Six gorges and canyons are considered, whose values ​​are examined for the purpose of obtaining information on tourism potential, or more precisely, a certain degree of tourism aspects in the given area. Results show that there is certain potential for development of geotourism, in terms of the existence of exceptional geological diversity, and primarily scientific, followed by educational and aesthetic values. On the other hand, the added value would enable development of geotourism since tourism infrastructure is not satisfactory or is completely absent.