CRISIS SITUATIONS IN TOURIST DESTINATIONS AND THEIR IMPACT ON THE ENVIRONMENT – LITERATURE REVIEW

The rapid industrialization of modern society has led to mass production and consumption, as well as to crisis situations that have caused environmental pollution, resource depletion and increased waste. Excessive dependence of destinations on the tourism industry makes them very vulnerable to global incidents and their negative effects, which can also create risks for tourism businesses at the political, economic and socio-technical level. In recent years, tourism has suffered a number of incidents, which were caused by human factors (eg the terrorist attack of "September 11" 2001 or the global financial crisis in 2008) and also by the natural ones (tsunami in the Indian Ocean in 2004 and earthquake in Japan 2011), which left significant consequences in tourist destinations. The growing unpredictability of crisis situations and their spread around the globe presents a problem for the tourism industry, which is highly dependent on international flows of people, money and resources. As one type of crises, natural disasters can have a serious impact on national, regional and local economies, as they disrupt the normal way of functioning, by creating human, material and environmental losses. It can be one or a series of events, caused by natural or unnatural factors, like human ones, which lead to numerous human victims, environmental pollution and loss of property. Volcanic activity has a significant impact on human lives, especially those living in the immediate vicinity of volcanoes, exposing them directly to hazards, as a falling tephra / ballistics, volcanic mud flow, landslides and gas emissions. Then, a shipwreck that can result in a number of harmful consequences, such as air, water and soil pollution and an explosion. In urban areas, especially near busy roads, motor vehicle exhaust systems, high traffic density and many industrial activities pollute the environment. In all mentioned cases, crisis management is here of great importance for tourist destinations, and above all, it requires sustainable development planning and awareness of tourism activities that have a relatively low impact on nature. In recent years, the emergence of new technologies and increased environmental awareness caused significant changes in the tourism industry that have shaped the paradigm of sustainable development, which aims to minimize the negative impact of tourism, while achieving long-term sustainability and destination welfare. In terms of tourism, the issue leads to the ecological sustainability of the destination and its negative impact manifested through environmental degradation. Sustainability in the context of natural disasters implies the ability of affected destinations to "suffer - and overcome" damage, reduced productivity and quality of life, which means the process of recovery by efficiently use of internal and external resources. Therefore, a balance between the three pillars of sustainability is crucial - environmental sustainability aimed at maintaining environmental quality, which is necessary for normal economic activities and quality of life, then social sustainability that seeks to ensure human rights and equality, preservation of cultural identity, respect for cultural differences, race and religions and the economic sustainability for maintaining natural, social and human capital.