DARK-SKY TOURISM FOR SUSTAINABLE TOURISM RECOVERY opportunities50. DST can stipulate the creation of jobs and small businesses due to the inflow of tourists, bringing significant advantages to local communities. Recent research on Colorado Plateau has found that the economic impact of DST in that area is substantial and entails an increase in gross state product by over $3.8 billion51. In addition, DST has important cultural and educational functions. The dark skies always had an important role in cultures and traditions across the globe52. Many indigenous communities still use the dark sky to organize their daily lives and well-being. The starts and celestial objects have valuable information and are used for various activities, inter alia, navigation, weather forecasts and predictions of seasonal changes53. In the line with these, DST can make a valuable contribution to the preservation of the dark sky as a cultural and historical heritage by, for example, assisting in getting acquainted with the traditions of indigenous communities and obtaining astronomical knowledge through organized workshops. The international recognition of the dark sky as a tourism destination and the worldwide establishment of dark-sky areas have, subsequently, begun to attract various groups of the population, not specifically interested in stargazing. The tourism demand to visit dark sky areas is encouraged by fatigue from the urban life and the willingness to be closer the nature in remote, isolated and calm territories54. It is important to mention that the pandemic made dark-sky tourism even more popular. As Megan Eaves explained during the lockdown the sky was the only opportunity for people to sense the limitless of space55. As was mentioned before, the recovery of the tourism industry after the pandemic should be organized through the promotion and the gradual restart of 50 Petrevska B., Bjelajac D., Djercan B. (2021) Dark Sky Tourism: Prospects and Challenges for North Macedonia, Challenges of Tourism and Business Logistics in the 21st Century. 51 Mitchell M. D., Gallaway A. T. (2019) Dark Sky Tourism: Economic Impacts on the Colorado Plateau Economy, USA, Articles by College of Humanities and Public Affairs Faculty. 52 Stone, T. (2018) The Value of Darkness: A Moral Framework for Urban Nighttime Lighting. Sci Eng Ethics 24, 607–628; https://doi.org/10.1007/s11948 -017 -9924 -0. 53 Hamacher D.W., De Napoli K., Mott B. (2020) Whitening the Sky: light pollution as a form of cultural genocide, Journal of Dark Sky Studies, Vol. 1. 54 See for e.g., Son A. E. (2014) The role of ecological tourism in the modern world, Journal of Economics and Social Sciences, 4; Mair H., Reid D.G. and Wanda G. (2005) Rural Tourism and Sustainable Business, edited by Hall H., et al., Bristol, Blue Ridge Summit: Channel View Publications, pp. 165-179, https://doi.org/10.21832/9 781845410131-013. 55 Aeves Megan a delegate to the International Dark-Sky Association and a creator of Dark Sky London, an interview for The Travel Magazine, 1 March 2021, https://www.thetravelmagazine.net/why-astro-tourism-is-the- -perfect-travel-trend.html [accessed on 07.04.2022].
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