1. Introduction

Lately, when all advantages of tourism have become apparent, particularly the economic ones, many places have begun to use cultural attractions to attract tourists. The advantage of cultural tourist movements also lies in their equal monthly share (Galdini, 2007). The equal monthly share of tourist turnover also reflects favourably on the use of service capacities (Stanciulescu, 2008), thus also on the effects of the entire tourism economy.

The reason for such a great interest in cultural goods is partly a consequence of globalisation and the wish to learn about the cultures of various peoples. Cultural goods (moveable and unmoveable) are witnesses to an identity of a nation and the people who previously inhabited a certain area (Hadžić, 2005). The meaning of this learning has the deepest sense if one visits the localities in which these goods are located. It is certain that the impressions on cultural goods are different when seen at a museum and at the place where they were created.

Bar with its inland area belongs to the Balkan Peninsula. During its history, the Balkans were perceived as a bridge between the east and the west. The Balkan discourse is that of similarities and differences, simultaneously, according to Catherine Fleming (2001). The areas in which different cultures converged and permeated can be of particular interest for tourists, due to their multicultural legacy and the specific spirit in which they function (Maksin-Micić, 2008). Simultaneous distance from Europe, but also its vicinity, creates the impression of a “stranger within”, some sort of intimate alienation (Jovanović, 2008). Its multi-ethnic and multi-confessional character, expressed through the feeling of interfusion, incompleteness, ambiguity, amorphousness and racial hybridisation (Živković, 2001) is a special challenge for tourism workers when promoting and presenting its cultural legacy in tourism.

The area of the Bar municipality lies in the south of Montenegro, between the Adriatic Sea and the Skadar lake. The geodesic distance from the city of Bar to the Strait of Otranto is only 180 km and it is connected in a shorter and more direct way with all harbours on the shores of the Adriatic Sea than any other port on the Balkan side of the Adriatic coast (www.visitbar.org). After the main road and the Belgrade-Bar railway have been built, the traffic connections with the inland Balkan cities, Belgrade and the Danube have been strengthened. Via the port and the airport in Podgorica, the area has become accessible to the more distant tourist ‘emission’ countries, as well.

2. The Multicultural Legacy of Bar

The area of the municipality of bar is a rich treasury of cultural goods that testify of its rich cultural and historical past, where different cultural currents from the broader area of the Balkan peninsula often permeated one another. The historical sources mention this settlement for the first time in the IX century, under the Greek name of Antibareos (Roman Antibarum, and Slavic Bar). Objects found there indicate that the area was been inhabited as early as the prehistoric period. Although inhabited by the Slavs as early as the VII century, Bar was ruled by the Byzantine empire until the middle of the XI century. It was ravaged, for a long time, by continuous wars and plunders of the local lords. Constantly changing hands between Duklja - the first Montenegrin state, Raška – the Serbian state, Byzantium, Venice and the Republic of Dubrovnik, then shortly ruled by Bosnian rulers, reconquered by Venice and, lastly, the Turks, who ruled it from the XVI century until the independence of Montenegro was declared in 1878.

Among the most important persons in the earliest period of the city of Bar, prince Vladimir is mentioned, as the first independent ruler of the principality of Duklja or Dioclea (980-1016). The appearance of the prince Vladimir, who was later beatified, is also interesting because of the fact that the cult of St. Vladimir of Dioclea has been preserved to this day. The June procession to the summit of the Rumija mountain, which is popularly held to have once been the site of the church of St. Vladimir, is taken part in by the believers of all three confessions – the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic Christians, but also the Muslims. The multi-cultural and multi-confessional character of Bar is also underlined by the current structure of its inhabitants. The most numerous are the Montenegrins, Serbs, Muslims, Bosniaks, Albanians and Croats (RZSCG, 2004).

Different cultural currents and influences on the border of east and west have left a visible mark in that area, which was recorded in the spiritual and material culture (Kasalica, 2009). These influences and traces are witnesses to the fact that the dominant patterns of the once-ruling foreign cultures were not blindly followed (Rome, Byzantium, Islam, Venice) (Kasalica, 2000). It was here that the famous “Gesta Regum Sclavorum” (Genealogy of Bar) was written in the XII century – the chronicle of medieval Slavic lands and rulers in the Balkans (Mijušković, 1967).

The area of the municipality of Bar is a home to the 32 registered, protected and categorised monuments of culture among which there are exceptional works of art, such as the monastery complexes, churches, fortresses, etc (Kasalica, 2000). The greatest number of cultural monuments is related to the Slavic cultural stratum, especially those from the eras of rule of the Vojislavljević, Nemanjić, Balšić, Crnojević and Petrović dynasties (Zagarčanin, 2001). The monasteries there are founded within the time span of 13 centuries. The most important among them, are the monasteries of Starčevo, Beška and Moračnik, as the foundations of the Balšić princes of the Zeta region in the area of the Skadar Lake, as well as the Prečista Krajinska monastery, the once-seat of the Zeta metropolitan. There are also ruins of the Ratačka Virgin Benedictine monastery, the size of which still remains impressive (Ratković, 1989).

In the area of the municipality of Bar, there are a great number of Orthodox and Catholic Church temples, the oldest of which date from the VI century. Also, a very significant group of monuments consists of old urban agglomerations and fortifications. The most significant among them is the city of Bar (monument of the first category), which represents the largest ruined urban agglomeration in Montenegro (Peročević, 2000). The exceptional significance of the old city of Bar lies in the mixture of diverse styles visible in individual buildings, such as the Romanic, Gothic and Renaissance edifices, while in the era of the Ottoman Empire, the medieval city obtained some eastern traits (www.panacomp.net/crna_gora?s=stari_bar).

Among the most significant monuments of Islamic architecture, there are the Omerbašića mosque in the Old Bar and aqueduct, which is the only object of such kind in Montenegro (www.visitbar.org).

During all those changes of civilisations, states and rulers, peoples have left traces of material culture, some of which have perished in wars and earthquakes, but many have remained to this day, often in ruins, as monuments of culture and testimonies of rich and tumultuous past of the Bar area.

The presence of such a diverse and numerous monument fund, which complements a rich spiritual legacy of diverse ethnic communities in this area, speaks much of a unique blend of cultures. Thus, the municipality of Bar, besides the nautical and seaside tourism, should direct the development of the tourist capacities towards the programmes with cultural content, as well (Dašić, Jovičić, 2011). Nature and culture are complementary and cultural recognition of a community is related to the natural environment in which it (had) developed (Petrić, Mikulić, (2009).

3. Cultural Tourism as a New and Complementary form of the Tourist Offer

The subject of research in this paper are attitudes and observations of experts in the field of tourism, of workers in tourism, workers in culture and agents of local development in the municipality of Bar on potentials and possibilities for the implementation of cultural legacy in the tourist offer of Bar that would, as such, form an indispensable part of the tourist offer. Cultural tourism would thus be marketed as a new form of tourist movement and could develop according to all principles of sustainable development, forming a complementary tourist offer. Experts in the field of tourism are those people employed in tourism or complementary fields, related to tourism, competent for this research. From the public and the non-profit sector, the surveyees were the employees of the local self-government, dealing, among other things, with the matters of tourism and culture, then the workers in the tourist industry, tourist info centres, Cultural centre of Bar, the museums, galleries and cultural institutions, while those surveyees from the profit sector were employed in tourist agencies, hotels and entrepreneurial sector.

The goal of the research was to examine the attitudes of tourism and culture workers about the possibilities, directions or limitations in a more active inclusion of the multi-cultural legacy in the tourist offer of the destination of Bar, which is otherwise a typical maritime tourist region. The purpose of the research was to employ the attitudes obtained through the research to find a concept through which the cultural tourism would be presented as a new and complementary form of the tourist offer of the city of Bar.

The basic research was conducted by the means of a statistical method. In order to gather data, a technique of survey was used. Data was processed by using adequate statistical procedures. The sample of surveyees is intentional/controlled, seeing as the participants were chosen according to a previously defined set of criteria. Those criteria are related to a direct contact of surveyees with the visitors, as well as in the connectedness of the surveyees with the protection of cultural heritage, creation and promotion of the tourist offer of the municipality of Bar.

The sample consisted of 85 participants, four of which were not considered due to irregularities. The character of the sample is representative, because it meets the basic criterion, which is to represent the part of the population that possesses the important traits of that population and can thus be used to obtain representative data. The very organisation of research was conducted in such a way that the surveyees completed the questionnaires themselves. The aim of the conducted research was to include the cultural resources in the tourist offer of Bar through concrete activities that should be implemented in developing the products of cultural tourism.

4. Implementation of Cultural Legacy in the Tourist Offer

Out of 81 surveyee, 32 are men, 49 women. They belong to all age groups, with the young groups being dominant. As many as 33% of surveyees belong to the 20-30 age group, 25% of participants to the age groups of 31 to 40 and 41 to 50 years of age. More than a half of the surveyees, 53%, have graduated from a university, 17% have graduated from college, 17% have vocational secondary education and 10% have graduated from lyceums of a general type.

The basis for the development of a form of tourism lies in the existence of attractive resources at a destination, in this case a cultural one. The perception of their importance by tourism workers is also very important, thus the research was initiated by looking for the answer to that question.

When it comes to the cultural legacy of Bar, it is undeniable that it is a rich treasury of testimonies to the past centuries. The results of the survey indicate that the workers in tourism and complementary fields are aware of that fact, because as many as 97% of surveyees agree that the cultural legacy has a significant potential to aid the development of cultural tourism.

Graph 1. The cultural legacy of Bar underlies its important potential for the development of cultural tourism

Cultural tourism can greatly aid the preservation of tradition and customs of an area, which proved true in many cases around the world. As many as 93% of the people questioned agreed that cultural tourism can positively affect the preservation of tradition and customs (chart 2). The surveyees recognised cultural tourism, which, as a form of tourist movement, has the possibility to revive the customs of this area, which are, in most cases, neglected and to properly valorise, promote and offer them to the visitors. The development of cultural tourism in Bar should be encouraged, but one should also be wary of the influence of the global culture on local culture and lifestyle.

Graph 2. Cultural tourism can contribute to the preservation of tradition and customs of this area

The development of cultural tourism should be seen within the context of a strategic plan of overall development of tourism at a destination. It is necessary to establish a broad partnership between the authorities, the local community and all subjects in the field of culture and tourism. In addition to that, one must secure the broadest support among the local stakeholders. Obtained responses, related to the idea of the development of cultural tourism in Bar, are affirmative in as many as 99% of the cases (graph 3).

Graph 3. I like the idea about the development of cultural tourism and I support it

Participation is a basic prerequisite for the success of sustainable tourism projects in general and especially those of cultural tourism. It is thus important to know how ready the people are to take part in the development of cultural tourism. As many as 88% of the surveyees state that they would be glad to take part in the development of cultural tourism in Bar (graph 4). Seeing as this shows that there is an undeniable majority formed by the workers who have a direct relation with the tourist-related activities in the city, it can be concluded that there is a good will to act in that direction.

Graph 4. I would be glad to take a part in the development of cultural tourism in the municipality of Bar

The cultural sector represents a significant resource base for the development of cultural tourism. It represents an important part of overall economic development, as has been recognised by many countries that invested significant resources in the development of cultural tourism, which started yielding profit after a proper implementation of development policies (Dojčinović, 2005). The will of the majority of respondents should be seized upon and concrete steps should be undertaken to begin to create a cultural tourism offer.

Cultural heritage goods have an elementary importance in the development of cultural tourism (Tomka, 2004). As for the main instruments of development of cultural tourism in Bar, the participants have mostly agreed that promotion should be increased, but also that the increase of assortments is necessary as well as the improvement of various cultural content programme offers (graph 5).

Graph 5. Development of cultural tourism in Bar should rely on

Respondents feel that the promotion of cultural goods is an elementary “tool” in the development of cultural tourism. Also, a large percent of surveyees is of the opinion that the organisation of the festival and its employment in the function of cultural tourism should be one of the pillars of development. Also important is the role of cultural routes in the promotion of understanding of history, thus establishing connections which unite various cultures and regions (Šešić-Dragićević, Stojković, 1994).

As regards the ways of development of cultural tourism, the majority of respondents feels that cultural tourism should be complementary with other forms of tourist movements in Bar, while an almost equal number of participants is of the opinion that cultural tourism should develop independently, as well as that cultural tourism should represent a form of tourist migration in the off-season period (graph 6).

Graph 6. According to your opinion, cultural tourism should

Cultural tourism offers the possibility to create a year-round tourist offer. Today, the area of Bar is dominated by the seaside swimmer tourism. The development of cultural tourism would contribute to the extension of the season, which has, in the last couple of years been the main problem of tourist workers. Through the affirmation of cultural potential, the domestic population will be given the opportunity to get better acquainted with the values of their own culture, as well as to become an active element in the creation of cultural content.

The graph 7 shows answers given by the surveyees regarding the subjects that should be included in the planning of cultural tourism. The greatest number of surveyees think that at least the residents of the municipality of Bar should be included in the very planning of cultural tourism, along with the institutions of culture, the tourist organisation, local authorities and subjects of business economy.

Graph 7. Who should in your opinion, be included in planning of cultural tourism

The development of cultural tourism depends on a number of factors, some of the most important ones certainly being a successful partnership at the destination, the making of strategic plans and their implementation. Jegdić (2010) emphasizes that every partner brings their qualities and competences and has a certain role in designing and implementation of projects and activities. A successful development of cultural tourism of a certain destination cannot be achieved without a large number of interconnected participants, from the public sector and state institutions to private sector and local communities (Dojčinović, 2005).

Many countries have had a positive experience of forming of NGO’s for the support to the development of cultural tourism. Also, it is known that cultural tourism also consists of customs and lifestyles of a certain community, hence cultural tourism must have the support of the local community, seeing as local population is often its best promoter. This has also been recognised by the surveyees and the greatest percentage of them has pointed to the population of the municipality of Bar as being indispensable participants in planning of cultural tourism. Naturally, the development of cultural tourism improves the cultural offer, the infrastructure, certainly advancing the quality of life of the domicile population.

5. Resources and Enviroment Necessary for the Development of Cultural Tourism

Based on the results obtained through the research, it can be concluded that the municipality of Bar possesses cultural resources, as well as the ambient for the development of cultural tourism and that cultural tourism is possible in this area. Taking into account the attitudes of the participants, it is necessary to undertake certain activities in order to include cultural tourism in the tourist offer of the city of Bar. Tourism in Bar must be based on local attractions and must be authentic, in addition to being economically sustainable and contribute to the development of the local communities. The importance of research is reflected in the readiness of the people who work in tourism, cultural institutions, local self-government and similar organisations to recognise the chance for the development of tourism and to get acquainted with the effect it entails, on the basis of the existing resources. Also, the results indicate that there has to be a broad range of partnerships between the government, local community and all subjects in cultural tourism and that it is of great importance in order to better use the cultural potential and eliminate the possible negative influences. The surveyees have recognised that the development of cultural tourism in Bar should rely on the promotion of cultural goods.

As indicated by the results of the research, the inhabitants of the municipality of Bar must control the development of tourism by setting goals, identifying resources and formulating a development strategy. Also, the inhabitants of Bar are responsible for the realisation of projects of cultural tourism, as well as for the development of the overall tourist infrastructure. Certainly, the development of cultural tourism enables the inhabitants a quality employment, which is an indispensable part of tourist development on a local level. In a certain sense, all inhabitants of Bar should profit from the development of cultural tourism. The very concept of development of cultural tourism needs to be such that the cultural goods remain preserved in accordance with the internationally acclaimed standards and criteria. The perception of cultural tourism needs to be authentic and local community should contribute to it, as well, reflecting the local culture. Conversely, creating an unrecognisable image of local community should be avoided. The gain from cultural tourism is manifold and, in the case of local community, the gain is reflected in the inclusion of own products, through employment, increase of means for preservation and revitalisation of cultural goods, and improvement of work conditions of cultural institutions, then revival of tradition and culture as well as the benefits from the infrastructure built for tourism needs. According to the results of the respondents, education should be the result of the development of this form of tourism trends, and to thus affect the training of personnel who would later be in charge of the correct policy development. Therefore, the training of personnel in the field of cultural tourism is inevitable, of course, in cooperation with the local sector, which is responsible for the development of the municipality. The tourist sector of Bar needs to be focused on offering quality service, permanently. That is why education and staff training is important, seeing as they have a decisive role in the implementation of projects of cultural tourism.

6. Conclusions

The presence of a diverse and numerous monument fund, which complements a rich spiritual legacy, tradition and customs, gastronomy and folklore, represents a good resource base for the development of cultural tourism in Bar. With the cultural-historical legacy of the past centuries and civilisations which have passed through the Balkans, Bar should be promoted as a model of cultural tourism that reflects a wealth of diversities, with the key designation of “between” (the sea and the Balkan mountains, east and west, past and present, reality and legends...). Hence, Bar as a model of cultural tourism of the Balkans. Taking into account the good traffic connection, via sea and land, Bar could become a destination and an important stop for cultural routes along the coast and towards the Balkan inlands, led by the principle of “meeting and pervading of cultures”. They would connect different cultural niches (Orthodox monuments, the culture of Islam, roads of Roman emperors in the Balkans, Byzantine art, etc.).

However, the development of cultural tourism implies a need that the inhabitants of Bar must become hospitable and forthcoming and must become aware of purposefulness of this sort of tourist movement and wellbeing that it brings. The approach to tourists must appealing, not repelling. One of the most significant obstacles can lie in incompetence, uninformedness, non-collegiality, untimeliness,disorganisation, lack of education and other bad characteristics of management and tourism employees. Thus, education in the field of cultural goods must be an indispensable part of education of all those who are included in the activities of cultural tourism, which is especially true of interpreters of cultural goods who are in a direct contact with guests.