Department of Geography, Tourism and Hotel Management developed from the Chair of Geography which was established in 1962 as part of the Faculty of Philosophy in Novi Sad. Today it belongs to the Faculty of Sciences. The Department has demonstrated a high level of teaching and scientific and research work. For the past forty-eight years, the area of expertise has been in the field of Geography and for eighteen years in the field of Tourism; the fact which only contributes to its extensive experience and achievements so far. Up to 3,209 students have graduated at the Department with 2,000 of them in the field of Tourism. There have been 40 specialization papers, 63 master papers, 104 magister theses and 91 doctoral dissertations defended at the Department.
The Department has 67 full-time employees, 21 part-time professors and lecturers and 21 postgraduates engaged in the teaching process. Currently, there are 1,845 students at primary level, 67 students at master level and 25 students at doctoral level.
The primary activities of the Department are educational, scientific and publishing. Educational process is organized at undergraduate, master and doctoral level. Many years of experience in scientific research were realized or are currently in the process of realization through a number of local projects (financed by Republic Ministry Offices or Provincial Secretariats) and several projects in cooperation with foreign partners. Moreover, teachers and associates are engaged in some other scientific areas within the fields of geography, geographic information systems, tourism, sustainable development, marketing, management etc.
The Department publishes three scientific journals. The Proceedings of the Department (39 issues published so far) has the longest tradition. The Journal "Geographica Pannonica" (international journal with international editorial board published in English) and journal "Tourism" (published in English since 2008) have been published for 14 years. The Department also publishes a scientific magazine "Gea", which has gained a great popularity among students, pupils and their teachers.
The Department has also hosted numerous scientific meetings. In 1985 the XIII Congress of Geographers of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was organized. Since 1996, during the Fair "LORIST" the annual International Scientific Meeting "Contemporary Trends in Tourism, Hotel Management and Gastronomy" has been organized with the topics covering the fields of tourism, hotel management, hunting tourism and gastronomy. Teachers and associates from the Department have taken part in more than 250 scientific meetings in the country and abroad so far.
Student researchers receive great attention too. Their participation in the scientific work is conducted through the Society of Young Researchers of Geography "Branislav Bukurov", and the branch of European Geography Association for Students and Young Geographers "EGEA' in Novi Sad.
The Department of Geography, Tourism and Hotel Management is characterized by quality of teaching, competent and outstanding teachers and associates, comfortable premises, high-quality technical equipment, extensive library (about 16,500 books) and its long tradition. Owing to international contacts of our teachers, the Department purchases a great number of scientific journals from all over the world, which enables active participation of the employees and students in the newest scientific achievements.
Students who graduate at the Department of Geography, Tourism and Hotel Management have a wide range of job opportunities in primary and secondary schools, universities, environmental research centers, demographic research centers, urban planning institutes and various municipal services, in tourism, marketing, hotel management, traffic companies, travel agencies, scientific institutes dealing with research in tourism and its impact on sustainable development.
The Department of Geography, Tourism and Hotel Management consists of six different chairs: the Chair of Physical Geography, the Chair of Social Geography and Teaching Geography, the Chair of Regional Geography, the Chair of Tourism, the Chair of Hotel Management as well as the Chair of Hunting Tourism.
At the Department there are several foreign professors who take part in giving lectures to students and are distinguished experts in the field of economy and tourism. Two of them come from Hungary, and one comes from Italy, Australia, Croatia, the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium and Greece respectively.
There are a number of research centers at the Department: GIS centre, Centre for Climatic and Hydrologic Researches, Centre for Foreign Languages for Specific Purposes, Centre for Regional Information, while the Centre for Tourism and Hospitality Education is in the process of its establishment.
Professor Lazar Lazić, PhD, Director
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