Sustainable Tourism Valorization of Lakes in Serbia Using the Fuzzy TOPSIS Method

Lakes represent valuable natural resources with significant potential for sustainable tourism development. Their tourism valorization requires a comprehensive assessment framework that integrates environmental, infrastructural, socio-economic, and governance dimensions. This study applies the Fuzzy TOPSIS method to evaluate the sustainable tourism potential of ten selected lakes in Serbia. A multi-criteria framework was developed based on ten indicators, including water quality, tourism pressure and carrying capacity, biodiversity, environmental conservation, tourism infrastructure, accessibility, economic effects, and community involvement. Expert evaluations, supported by available evidence, were transformed into triangular fuzzy numbers in order to account for uncertainty and subjectivity in the assessment process. The Fuzzy TOPSIS model was used to calculate the relative closeness of each lake to the ideal solution for sustainable tourism valorization. The results reveal significant differences among the analyzed lakes. Lake Đerdap achieved the highest ranking (Ci = 0.818), followed by Lake Zaovine (Ci = 0.723), Lake Perućac (Ci = 0.644), and Lake Vlasina (Ci = 0.640), reflecting their favorable overall performance across the selected environmental, infrastructural, accessibility, and tourism-related criteria. Lower-ranked lakes were characterized by infrastructural limitations and less favorable performance in selected tourism-related criteria. The study illustrates the applicability of the Fuzzy TOPSIS approach for sustainable tourism evaluation and provides a practical framework for tourism planning, destination management, and policy-making aimed at supporting sustainable lake tourism development in Serbia.