Tourism in the Slovenský Raj National Park – an analysis of its contribution to sustainable rural development

The structure of this thesis is as follows: In the context of the study area of the Slovenský Raj National Park, section 2 looks into the process of institutional change in the CEE from the ex-post analysis. The ex-post institutional analysis helps to understand how the present came about and how the future might develop. In order to understand the process of the institutional change, this section highlights the importance and necessity of assuming the existence of previous institutions and the influence of this interaction on the durability and stability of new institutional forms. In search for driving forces behind and 15 barriers to sustainable development, Section 3 focuses on the current capacity of the study area to deal with slow and imperceptible changes in the circumstances of the transition countries. Special attention is paid to the concept of robustness, which plays an important role in the context of CEE, more precisely in the area of the SRNAP, where the economic and political transition process has been followed by an increased tourist inflow to the National Park and consequent slow environmental changes, without adequate strategies and considerable societal response. Analysing current situation of the study area helps to identify potential problems and understand what changes and innovation in the current conditions are needed to ensure sustainable development. By applying multi-criteria evaluation, section 4 explores different options with regard to tourism development in the study area and the necessary changes in the institutional arrangements in relation to these options. By analysing the process of institutional building from different time perspectives section 5 (conclusions) illustrates the driving forces behind and barriers of the study area towards robust and sustainable rural development and describes some policy implications.