Evolution of urban hotel geography - a case study of Belgrade

Abstract

This research analyses the changes of hotel geography in Belgrade, from the middle nineteenth century to the present. It confirms the influence that major political and economic factors have on hotel distribution, size, ownership, and rank. Prominent Ashworth and Tunbridge's Tourist-historic city model is used as the foundation of hotel spatial analysis in Belgrade, which is historically divided into three periods. The statehood development period is characterized by highly centralized hotel locations, mostly dependent on ethnical divisions, trade and early transport development. During the socialist period, in the absence of a market economy and private property, dispersion of hotels was caused almost exclusively by centralized political decisions. The transition period started with a complete political and economic overhaul of Serbia and Belgrade in the 1990s. After this difficult time, the Belgrade hotel industry started to recover, with the geographical factors that represented a re-establishment of market mechanisms and entrepreneur initiatives, as well as a focus on both the historic city and urban periphery.