The potential of Lazar Canyon (Serbia) as a geotourism destination: Inventory and evaluation

The aim of this paper is to present the Lazar's Canyon area as a potential geotourism destination. The region of eastern Serbia, where this canyon is located, has the highest concentration of geosites in the country. This makes the Lazar's Canyon area a good candidate for becoming a Geopark in the future. Despite it's rich geodiversity, this region lacks the infrastructure and qualified staff required for further development of the area. The main purpose of this paper is the tourist evaluation of Lazar's Canyon and a proposed inventory of attractive geosites in the surrounding area. The evaluation method is partially based on the needs and views of tourists that visited the site and gave their opinion through a survey that was conducted during that visit. The paper also briefly discusses and analyses the existing problems and necessary criteria that are preventing this area from becoming a Geopark at the moment.