Possibilities of memorial tourism development in the City of Vukovar

Cilj rada je istražiti mogućnost razvoja memorijalnog turizma u Vukovaru, a istraživanje je provedeno pomoću anketnog istraživanja kojem je primarni cilj ispitati stavove lokalnog stanovništva u vezi razvoja turizma u vlastitom gradu te saznati koje lokalitete oni vide kao potencijalne turističke atrakcije. Kroz rad se analiziraju prirodno-geografska obilježja prostora te demografska obilježja koja su uvjetovala gospodarski i socijalni razvoj prostora. Nakon toga slijedi teorijski okvir memorijalnog i mračnog turizma koji se u Vukovaru može razvijati, sa primjerima dobre prakse – Auschwitzom i Memorijalnim muzejom Holokausta u Washingtonu, zbog sličnosti tematike i doživljaja kod posjetitelja. Nakon teorijskog dijela slijedi pregled stanja turističkog razvoja Vukovara, kratka kronologija Domovinskog rata, te pregled nememorijalnih i memorijalnih atrakcija u Vukovaru s kritičkim osvrtom na projekt Memorijalni Vukovar. U završnom dijelu rada obrađeni su rezultati ankete i SWOT analiza razvoja memorijalnog turizma u Vukovaru, te zaključak o mogućnosti razvoja Vukovara pod utjecajem (memorijalnog) turizma.Purpose of this paper is to see into the possibility of developing memorial tourism in Vukovar. The research was conducted in the form of a survey the primary goal of which was to question the opinions of the local population regarding the development of tourism in their town and to find out which sights they see as potential tourist attractions. The paper analyses the natural geographic features of the locale and the demographic features which conditioned the economic and social development of the locale. This is followed by a theory that Vukovar would fit in the category of memorial and dark tourism, with examples of good practice – Auschwitz and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington – due to the similarities in themes and visitor experience. After the theoretic part of the paper the author offers an overview of tourism, and an overview of memorial and non-memorial attractions in Vukovar with a critical review of the project entitled Memorial Vukovar. The conclusion of the paper offers processed results of the already mentioned survey, a SWOT analysis of memorial tourism in Vukovar and the opinion of the author on the possibilities of development in Vukovar under the influence of (memorial) tourism