Profitability management of tourism sector in AP Vojvodina

Tourism plays an increasingly important role in the economic flows of each country. Recognizing the tourist potential of AP Vojvodina is an important task for the creators of the economic policy of our country. In order to make a favourable tourism environment with quality tourist content and products, it is necessary for tourist entities to operate stably and successfully. The aim of this paper is to highlight the importance of financial performance of firms in tourism sector in terms of profitability. The subject of the paper is to analyse the effects of internal factors on profitability level of 3456 firms in tourism sector in AP Vojvodina for the period 2015-2019. The results of the analysis indicate that observed firms were profitable during the analysed period, where average ROA was 1.81% and average ROE was 3.4%. Empirical analysis shows that internal factors such as firm size, sales revenue, earnings before interest and taxes and financial stability have positive impact on profitability, while liquidity and debt negatively affect the profitability of firms in tourism sector.