Education and Research in Rural Tourism

September 25, 2026

Geography Тeaching Мethodology

September 25, 2026

Hospitality research team

History of research:

With the development of tourism in the world, there arose a need to improve the hospitality industry and its most significant branches: hotel management and restaurant management, and consequently an increase in the interest of young people in studies in these fields. The Hospitality research group deals with a wide range of topics related to the development of the hotel industry, and the research covers several key areas:

  • Quality management of hotel services – Models for measuring guest satisfaction (GAP, SERVQUAL, DINESERV, HOLSAT) are analyzed in order to identify key areas for improving the quality of services in hotels and restaurants.
  • Sustainability in hospitality – Environmental practices such as efficient use of resources, waste reduction and clean technologies are researched, with the aim of creating sustainable business models that improve competitiveness and respond to the demands of environmentally conscious guests.
  • Digitalization and technologies in hospitality – The focus is on the impact of digital technologies on the optimization of hotel operations, including the application of software for hotel management systems (PMS), and contactless technologies for improving user experience and operational efficiency.
  • Motivation and job satisfaction of employees – Research deals with the motivation and satisfaction of employees, analyzing the impact of training and motivational strategies on productivity and employee engagement.
  • User reviews – Guest feedback from platforms such as TripAdvisor and Booking.com is analyzed in order to adapt services and business strategies, which leads to greater guest satisfaction and loyalty.

In addition to their teaching obligations, the members of the Hospitality research group are also involved in many scientific interdisciplinary projects (IPA, national, provincial) that integrate knowledge from related fields, which enables a more comprehensive approach to research and problem-solving. In addition, they conduct training for work in the Micros Fidelio Suite 8 hotel business software program.

Members of the research group:

  • PhD Ivana Blešić, Full Professor
  • PhD Svetlana Vukosav, Full Professor,
  • PhD Milan Bradić, Full Professor,
  • PhD Milan Ivkov, Associate Professor,
  • PhD Jelena Tepavčević, Assistant Professor
Contact:

Selected references and projects

  • Ivkov, M., Blešić, I., Dudić, B., Pajtinková Bartáková, G., & Dudić, Z. (2020). Are future professionals willing to implement service robots? Attitudes of hospitality and tourism students towards service robotization. Electronics, 9(9), 1442.
  • Blešić, I., Tepavčević, J., & Bradić, M. (2023). Occupational stress indicators in the hotel industry: the case of housekeeping and front office employees. BizInfo (Blace) Journal of Economics, Management and Informatics, 14(1), 1-7.
  • Božović, T., Blešić, I., Nedeljković-Knežević, M., Đeri, L., & Pivac, T. (2021). Resilience of tourism employees to changes caused by COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of the Geographical Institute "Jovan Cvijic", SASA, 71(2), 181-194.
  • Demirović Bajrami, D., Petrović, M. D., Sekulić, D., Radovanović, M. M., Blešić, I., Vuksanović, N., … & Tretiakova, T. N. (2022). Significance of the work environment and personal resources for employees' well-being at work in the hospitality sector. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(23), 16165.
  • Tepavčević, J., Dubover, D. A., & Nikolić, G. (2023). Mining meaning from online hotel reviews: identification of determinants of (dis-) satisfaction using Latent Dirichlet allocation. Journal of the Geographical Institute "Jovan Cvijić" SASA, 73(3), 339-354.
  • Čerović, S., Blešić, I., Tepavčević, J., Vukosav, S., Garača, V., & Bradić, M. (2020). The influence of heavy work investment on work outcomes in the hospitality industry in Serbia. Amfiteatru Economic, 22(14), 1243-1264.
  • Tepavčević, J., Vukosav, S., & Bradić, M. (2021). The impact of demographic factors on work-family conflict and turnover intentions in the hotel industry. Менаџмент у хотелијерству и туризму, 9(2), 25-36.
  • Cimbaljevic, M., Bajrami, D. D., Kovacic, S., Blesic, I., & Pivac, T. (2023). Education Effects on Job-Related Constructs Among Frontline Employees in the Hotel Industry. Enlightening Tourism. A Pathmaking Journal, 13(2), 1-34.
  • Ivkov, M., Blešić, I., Janićević, S., Kovačić, S., Miljković, Ð., Lukić, T., & Sakulski, D. (2019). Natural disasters vs hotel industry resilience: An exploratory study among hotel managers from Europe. Open Geosciences, 11(1), 378-390.
  • SY_CULTour – Synergy of culture and tourism: utilisation of cultural potentials in less favoured rural regions. Transnational cooperation programme, South East Europe – Application ID: SEE/B/0017/4.3/X (2011-2014).
  • Project for the preparation of the "Feasibility Study for the Construction of a High-Category Hotel with an Aqua Park", JP Sports and Business Center "Vojvodina", Novi Sad and Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Novi Sad (2017).
  • "The Role and Significance of Social Tourism in the Context of Sustainable Tourism Development in Vojvodina", Program of Interest for the Development of Scientific Research Activity in AP Vojvodina in 2022.
  • "Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Function of Preserving the National Identity of the Montenegrin Ethnic Group in Vojvodina", program for financing scientific research and development research projects of national minorities – national communities in AP Vojvodina in 2023.
  • "Contemporary Problems and Sustainability of Urban Settlements in the Territory of Vojvodina", Provincial Secretariat for Higher Education and Scientific Research Activity, (2021/2024)
  • "Cultural Tourism in the Function of Preserving the National Identity of Vojvodina Croats", Provincial Secretariat for Higher Education and Scientific Research Activity, (2019/2020)
  • "Effects of Tourism Development in Rural Areas", Provincial Secretariat for Higher Education and Scientific Research Activity, (2017-2018)
  • "Cultural Tourism of Vojvodina in the Function of Preserving the National Identity of National Minorities", Provincial Secretariat for Science and Technological Development, (2013-2014)