Goran Petković

The freedoms of movement of people, goods, services and capital are key achievements of European integration, the basis for the prosperity of the community as a political and economic organization. In such an economic space, key market policies are focused on consumer protection and competition protection. Both are based on transparent reports and procedures that should provide insight into business operations and compliance with regulations in that business. The protection of consumers of services is a priority for regulators, also in the case of tourism authorities in CEFTA members. However, consumer protection mechanisms differ from each other in each market, and they also differ from European standards that are based on monitoring the volume of business activities in the business books of tourism service providers. The purpose of this research is to contribute to the answer on the question why regulators of tour operators and travel agencies in CEFTA members do not base their consumer protection clauses on accounting data of business entities in their markets?

Loyalty as the basis for developing long-term relationshipswith customers is researched in the frame of Social ExchangeTheory. Companies invest a lot in loyalty programs toensure adequate customer relationship management. Thesurvey on random sample of Serbian citizens aims toidentify factors that cause satisfaction or dissatisfactionwith loyalty programs and, through understanding them,direct further efforts in the development of these programs.The research tested and proved the influence of the instantof rewards, but also the functionality of the applicationsespecially on mobile phones, indicating differences inpurchasing food and non-food products.

Background: The beginning of the new millennium brings the emergence of several different trends in the industry. The development of information and communication technologies causes changes in consumers' lifestyles, which requires implementing an omnichannel sales strategy. Increasing competition and market concentration create a need to develop innovative business models for leading retail chains. More than just the traditional marketing mix elements need to be present to achieve the desired business results. Creating "own branded products" appears to be an essential goal of companies in the retail trade. Purpose: The paper aims to determine whether one of the decisive motives for using "Private label," the achievement of a higher level of profit, is stated while ensuring a better negotiating position for the company in modern marketing channels. Study design/methodology/approach: The paper compares the business results before and after using "private label" items within the range of the observed companies by calculating the gross and net profit margins. The optimal solution of the business models is reached using linear programming methods, which will maximize retail companies' overall profitability. Findings/conclusions: The results of empirical research showed that the company increased its realized profit by introducing the three "Private label" products. Thus, the initial hypothesis that the introduction of a private trademark improves the overall level of profit is verified. Limitations/future research: This research's limitations are caused by the fact that it was conducted in one market. The general validity of the conclusions should be tested in other geographic areas and markets of other product categories.

Mega events are changing host destinations in various aspects since they became a strong business-oriented eco-system that creates a strong legacy impact on the host destination. The paper provides an extensive literature review of the legacy concept in the meetings and events industry, research if after organizing a mega event there is always a legacy that remains for the hosting destination, and research in what directions legacy should be managed. Unfortunately, due to an inconsistent approach to measuring and reporting, it is not possible to compare the success of previous EXPOs. That is the reason why host destination should develop their own approach based on the entire urban development strategy and destination management development strategy, where EXPO is only one important milestone to reach. Special focus has been given to the EXPO financial cost-benefit impacts analysis for the period 2010-2021. Based on the extensive literature review, in the process of understanding and implementing the EXPO legacy framework, there are three major legacy areas identified: destination marketing and branding, urban development and urbanization process, and monitoring and measuring economic impact. Available funds for destination marketing should be joined from the public and private sectors in order to reach a long-lasting and sustainable brand and image of a destination. A customized economic impact model needs to be based on the macro-economic data that has been monitored for at least 10 years, on the local, regional and national levels, while the destination should have a clear urban development strategy, in which EXPO is an important milestone to reach.

In the tourism and hospitality sector, digital skills become one of the critical factors as they enable organizations and professionals to effectively utilize and adapt to the latest technological developments, improving the overall travel experience and/or operational efficiency of service providers. Based on the previous, this paper aims to evaluate the digital skills of supply-side stakeholders in Serbia's tourism and hospitality sector and to determine the main factors that influence their level of proficiency. By analyzing primary data from 418 respondents, the findings indicate a notable gap in advanced digital skills, which is particularly emphasized among administrative officers, primarily tourist inspectors. Additionally, multinomial logistic regression shows that the education and employment sector (catering, tourism agencies, tourism guides, tourism organizations, tourism inspectors and administrative officers) are factors associated with the level of digital skills. The results allow stakeholders to review the possibilities for improving skills, especially in the public sector, to address current skills gaps and prepare the workforce for future technological developments to ensure the sector's resilience and competitiveness in the global market.

Contemporary destination management implies a broader mandate that has shifted the focus from traditional marketing and promotional activities to strategic planning, coordination, and management activities, integrating various stakeholders with a common goal. However, environmental influences, especially negative ones, to which tourism is highly susceptible, as shown by practice in recent years, also affect the overall destination management process. The integration of crisis management into the destination management process assumes that specific procedures exist, adequate task forces are organised, and all necessary resources are recognized, planned and activated at the onset of the crisis. Recent experiences have shown that destinations like Serbia, which failed to establish a destination management system, face much more significant challenges regarding crisis management in tourism. Given that we are increasingly living in the so-called VUCA environment, tourism crisis management is exposed to unique challenges and requires special skills and leadership that will be activated in risky moments. In addition, it is essential to establish institutions with clearly defined tasks and capacities because only the synergy of skills and knowledge, on the one hand, and institutions (structures) will enable successful crisis management in tourism.

CEFTA members formulated the Additional Protocol VI (AP6) in order to promote trade in services. This act entered into force in January 2021 and is part of an initiative aimed at establishing a common regional market (CRM). As a pilot project, the area of trade in tourist services was chosen for at least two reasons: first, tourism is an important and growing activity in all CEFTA members, and second, during the preparation of AP6, no member proposed any exemption from the application of any part of this document.

Background: The subject of the paper is lighting, which represents one of the instruments of shopper marketing. Review of the relevant literature suggests that lighting can have a significant impact on the appearance of the observed product. Purpose: The aim of this paper is to evaluate whether lighting in a retail facility affects the behaviour of shoppers on the Serbian market. Study design/methodology/approach: Data for testing hypotheses were collected from the sample on the market of Serbia. In order to collect data, an online experiment was conducted. Data were processed using repeated measures one-factor analysis of variance. Findings/conclusions: Based on the research results the conclusion is that different treatments of lighting colour and temperature affect the shoppers' perception of the quality of the observed product, but do not affect shoppers' price perception of the observed product on the Serbian market. Limitations/future research: Limitations of this research are: research on the basis of one characteristics of lighting, online research, one subject of observation, number of treatments, light source and influence of the device screen characteristics. Future research should include: research in more realistic conditions, usage of various stimulus and sources of artificial lighting and identification of the device by which the respondent accessed the questionnaire with the aim of comparison of the obtained results.

According to the concept of authenticity, competitiveness of a tourist destination depends on the complex interdependence of numerous destination components and their interaction with the visitors of the destination. The global standard for measuring competitiveness of countries is the TTC Index of the World Economic Forum, the ranking list where Serbia holds a relatively weak position. This position has been cyclically improving and deteriorating, and opposite trends of indicators within individual sub-indices also contribute to this, suggesting that activities are uncoordinated. The Tourism Development Strategy of Serbia (TDS), as an umbrella document to coordinate efforts to develop and improve the competitiveness of Serbian tourism, identifies priority products and destinations in Serbia. Such established priorities should contribute both to the coordination among key stakeholders and, consequently, to competitiveness in the international market. The analysis conducted in this paper indicates that TDS has only partially identified the products and destinations chosen by visitors.

Research Question: This study investigates both direct and indirect effects of employee ICT skills on business e-commerce potential, evaluated through e-commerce website functionality. Motivation: The study aims at expanding the existing knowledge regarding organisational ICT implementation by investigating the relation with e-commerce potential. Idea: The main idea of the paper is to understand how e-commerce potential can be improved by developing the digital skills of employees, mainly in the context of the implementation of cloud computing, portable technologies and e-commerce outsourcing. Data: A sample of 238 businesses from Serbia was considered. Responses were gathered by the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia, using EUROSTAT-based questionnaire. Tools: Confirmatory factor analysis and covariance-based structural equation modelling were employed for data analysis. Baron-Kenny approach was used for assessing the mediation effects in the model. Findings: Employee ICT skills showed no direct influence, but were found to have an indirect effect on e-commerce website functionality, which is manifested through organisational implementation of cloud computing and portable technologies. Findings to a certain extent suggest that certain differences between companies from transition and developing economies exist, especially regarding cloud technology adoption. Outsourcing of certain e-commerce activities showed no link with employee ICT skills, but was identified as the most influential factor in website e-commerce facilitation. Contribution: This study contributes to ICT use and e-commerce development literature, as it is the first one to investigate the direct and indirect relation between organisational ICT implementation and website e-commerce potential.