A GIS-based analysis of tourist distribution in Montenegro

Montenegro is facing significant changes in tourist turnover. Tourism activity has become increasingly more skewed toward the Montenegrin coastal area, which confirms the concern about regional inequality of tourism. This study analyzed the spatial and temporal distribution of foreign and domestic tourists in Montenegro, based on spatial statistical tools as a set of Geographical Information Systems. The results indicated that during the analyzed period (2007–2016), the spatial distribution of domestic and foreign tourists was different. Main geographical center of foreign tourists is Budva and of domestic tourists is Cetinje. There was apparent uneven dispersion of tourist demand between Coastal (on the south) and Northern region. Moreover, the results revealed tourist distribution clusters in order to identify the tourism centers with the highest number of tourists in different geographical areas of Montenegro. Understanding the spatial and temporal distribution is a very important tool for the reduction of regional economic inequality. Also, the results of the spatial distribution of tourists can be used for the forecasting of future tourist behavior.