GIS analysis of the forest fire occurrence possibilities and their impact on tourism offer of the Sokobanja municipality

Abstract

The tourism sector, which is a significant driver of economic development, is particularly vulnerable to the risks of forest fires. Forest fires are a natural disaster that can have enormous consequences for tourism. This paper analyses the possibility of forest fires occurrence and their impact on tourist facilities in the Sokobanja municipality. Forest fires can occur naturally or as a result of anthropogenic impact. For the purposes of this analysis data about land cover, relief characteristics (slope and aspect) and distance from roads and settlements were used and processed in GIS environment (open source software ?QGIS?). Based on the forest fire susceptibility index, areas with different degrees of endangerment were identified, which were then overlapped with the locations of tourist facilities. The applied methodology can be used except for the identification of endangered areas and the prediction of the degree of danger to the tourist offer and for the planning of appropriate prevention measures.