Turizam Volume 26, Issue 2-4
PRACTICAL APPLICATION OF THE TOURISM CARRYING CAPACITY CONCEPT IN CULTURAL TOURISM: EXAMPLE OF THE MARITIME MUSEUM OF MONTENEGRO
Authors: Zoltán Karancsi, Sándor Hornyák, Elemér Szalma, Ferenc Oláh, Annamária Korom, Gergely Horváth, Ferenc Győri
Abstract: Until 2019, the picturesque nature, interesting geographical position and rich cultural heritage of Kotor kept attracting many visitors, resultinginan increasing number of visitsto the Old Town and Maritime Museum of Montenegro, situated in Kotor. Currently (2020), the global pandemic brought everything to a halt, but once tourism starts recovering again the issue of sustainable management of tourism flows and use of cultural resources in Kotor will inevitably arise again. Since the Maritime Museum is included among the most popular visiting points in Kotor, this research aims to assess its real carrying capacity in order to compare the results to the official visitor statistics and determine whether the Museum, once the noble captain family Grgurina’s home, with its valuable collectionsis exposed to high tourism pressure. The results indicated that the Maritime Museum, together with its valuable collections,wasnot subject to overconsumption or“overtourism”, since the total number of realized visits in general, and visits by tourists organized in guided groups during 2019 was below theMuseum’s real carrying capacity. This paper builds on existing knowledge aboutthe tourism carrying capacity in cultural tourism in Montenegro, suggests and elaboratesconcrete and replicable calculation methods, and offers useful data for sustainable management and strategic planning of visitor flows in cultural institutions situated at heritage sites.
Keywords: cultural heritage, real carrying capacity, sustainable management
Article info: 114-123
Received: December 2020 | Accepted: December 2021