THE VIEWS OF THE LOCAL COMMUNITY ON THE IMPACT OF (SPA) TOURISM DEVELOPMENT ON THE ENVIRONMENT OF SOKOBANJA

The paper deals with the assessment of the impact of tourism in Sokobanja on environmental indicators such as noise, ecosystem degradation, loss of aesthetic values, air and soil pollution. Solving social challenges and human well-being can be achieved through sustainable management and restoration of ecosystems. The paper presents the results obtained by surveying the local population. Through the analysis of respondents’ opinions, negative impacts on environmental indicators were determined, which in the future may lead to unwanted effects on the quality of life of the local population. Based on all the above-mentioned, it can be concluded that the development of spa tourism directly affects the state of the environment and represents a potential risk of devastation of biodiversity, and that spa tourism should be developed in accordance with the benefits for the local community. Further development of Sokobanja tourism should be based on creating a balance between tourism development and environmental protection as a solution to the problem of sustainability.