The area of Kolpa river is a unique place with a huge tourist potential due to its formation and diversity in Slovenia. This thesis identifies this potential as a key turning point and proposes appropriate solutions for sustainable tourism development around river Kolpa within the municipalities of Črnomelj and Metlika. Kolpa river creates diverse spatial features, attractive landscape images and contributes to a rich cultural heritage. All these aspects and areas are significant in tourism development, but can at the same time be destroyed by it. The purpose of the thesis is to prepare a spatial strategy for tourism development, which will take into cosideration the balance between protection of these areas and development, and will positively affect local economy. Spatial planning of watercourses, tourism and riverside tourism represents specific planning, so the first part of the thesis explains the key points for its understanding. Defined are appropriate guidelines for tourism activities, such as sustainable tourism and ecotourism, as well as good practices for the development of riverside tourism from abroad. Due to long-term development, strategic planning is one of key starting points for the development of tourism in this area, along with all existing strategic documents related to tourism, thus they are precisely defined as well. Basic guidelines for tourism planning in Bela krajina were developed, based on spatial analysis and the analysis of tourist trends destinations for this area. The overlap method shows the areas that are most attractive for tourism and the areas where tourism is limited. Practical part of the thesis covers four key objectives used in the development of the spatial strategy for the development of the area around the Kolpa river. The strategy includes a descriptive and a graphic part and provides an overview of tourism development for each program area. Key measures are identified for integrity and practical aspects of the content of the strategy. They indicate possible stages and activities for achieving the ultimate goals of sustainable development of the area around Kolpa river.
|