Tourism in function of development rural areas in the Republic of Serbia.

Rural tourism is rapidly began to develop after World War II, primarily in Western Europe, and then realizing the benefits of practicing, in Eastern Europe and North America. Today, the rural tourism has become a global trend. The character, intensity and dynamics of the development of rural tourism are conditioned by: natural geographical characteristics of the area, anthropogenic heritage, degree of socio - economic development, level of awareness of the local population about the advantages of dealing with rural tourism, etc. Rural areas are today burdened with numerous problems (accelerated aging of the rural population, population migration to urban urban centers, decline in macroeconomic indicators, etc.). Problems are present in all rural areas of Serbia. Bearing in mind that precisely the majority of the territory of Serbia consists of rural areas (85%) and that they have 43.6% of the population (Census 2011), it is justified to address the urgent problems in these orders. Tourism has a synergic character, since it enables the connection of a large number of commercial and non-commercial activities. It allows the creation of a large number of different tourism products and thus leaves positive multiplier effects on the local environment reflected in employment growth, macroeconomic indicators, stopping negative demographic trends, etc. The paper analyzes the impact of rural tourism on rural areas. It points to the scope and dynamics of the current development and points to the trends of future development.