Bingöl Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Dergisi

Öz

With a total surface area of 88,000 km2, the geological compositions of Serbia are very complex. Due to this complexity, more than 1000 springs with more than 50 hot springs and close to 500 hot and cold mineral water springs on Serbian territory have great potential for spa tourism. Considering that Serbia is one of the richest countries in this field of natural wealth in terms of mineral content diversity and the warmth of healing springs, it is also defined as a country of spas. SPA consists of the initials of the words "Salus Per Aquam" in Latin and gives the meaning of "health that comes with water". Despite extremely favorable natural resources, Serbia is still considered as an underdeveloped destination for the development of spa tourism. Hot springs represent an important dimension of tourism in Serbia. According to the Serbian Statistical Office, a quarter of total tourism overnight stays were recorded in hot springs in 2020. In the last five years, the rate of increase in the number of visitors to spas increased by 12.7% and the number of overnight stays increased by 8.7%. This study aimed to provide information about the development of geothermal resources in health tourism and the positioning of hot springs in the country's tourism, taking into account that only one quarter of this natural wealth of Serbia is used. The materials used in the article consist of scientific articles, publications, maps and reports. The theoretical research method was used in the article. At the end of this study, it was concluded that Serbia has important resources for the development of health tourism, and health tourism can be an important incentive factor in the economic development of underdeveloped areas.