Scanning the future of rural tourism development – advantages and limits for sustainable indicators approach

Aim: The future of tourism will depend on many highly variable influences and factors gathered around one very important epithet, which is sustainability. Sustainable tourism represents responsible tourism, which takes place in accordance with the environment and nature. If something is developed in a way that contributes to people, and at the same time is responsible for the environment and nature, tends to be of high quality and last. This means that the indicators of that development are positive. Material and methods: The initial research hypothesis was the assumption that the development of tourism has positive effects on the development of rural destinations. The hypothesis was verified using the opinions of 303 local residents of 17 Fruška Gora Mountain villages (Vojvodina, Serbia), who were asked to answer certain questions using a modified tourism impact attitude scale (TIAS), assuming that the answers will show an extremely positive attitude towards the development of tourism in those villages. Results: The results showed that the local population considers tourism as a desirable activity that directly affects a better standard and quality of life of the local population. Conclusions: Giving positive answers to various statements regarding economic, sociological, and ecological indicators of sustainability implies that tourism for rural destinations represents a sustainable form.