Contemporary Issues in the Regional Development of Tourism in Croatia

Abstract

The aim of this research is an analysis of the tourism development of the smallest administrative units (towns and municipalities) as well as their typology within the Croatian tourism regions. The methodological approach is based on GIS analysis of seven relevant indicators of tourism development; this is a tool for defining typology. Such an approach helps in determining the conclusion concerning the role that tourism plays in each administrative unit inside the respective five Croatian tourism regions. Research shows pronounced differences in terms of the level of tourism development between the littoral tourism regions in comparison to the three continental regions. The differences are also visible when analyzing the level of tourism development of towns and municipalities inside the regions. Such a situation is a consequence of the concentration of tourism development at both the national and regional levels, which is more exaggerated in the continental parts of the country. Key words: regional development, GIS analysis, tourism, Croatia Suvremeni problemi regionalnog razvoja turizma u HrvatskojCilj je ovog istraživanja analiza turističkog razvoja najmanjih administrativnih jedinica (općina i gradova) te njihova tipologija unutar hrvatskih turističkih regija. Metodološki pristup temelji se na GIS analizi sedam relevantnih pokazatelja turističkog razvoja, koja služi kao alat za definiranje tipologije. Primjenom takva pristupa došlo se do zaključka o ulozi turizma u svakoj administrativnoj jedinici u pet hrvatskih turističkih regija. Istraživanje pokazuje značajne razlike u dosegnutom stupnju turističkog razvoja između primorskih i kontinentalnih turističkih regija. One su vidljive i u stupnju turističkog razvoja gradova i općina u svakoj pojedinoj regiji. Takva je situacija posljedica koncentracije turizma na nacionalnoj i regionalnoj razini, što je naglašenije u kontinentalnom dijelu zemlje.

Regional aspects of modern tourism development of Bosnia and Herzegovina

“…Therefore, polarised tourism development is also an occurrence in countries with a lower level of tourism development. The comparison with neighbouring Croatia (Curić et al, 2013) showed that the differences between tourism developments of certain regions were almost identical, and even greater in the case of certain indicators. Primjetno je da su u Bosni i Hercegovini jače naglašeni problemi monocentričnoga turističko-ga razvoja na regionalnoj razini.…”

“…They can be seen both at the national (regional) level and within each tourism region. The geographic concentration of tourism flow within a single or small number of tourism regions is a characteristic of almost all countries with developed tourism (Curić et al, 2013). On the other hand, there is a question of the extent to which such geographical disparities of tourism exist in countries that are not among the most important tourism destinations in the world.…”

Tourism Development Index of local self-government units: The example of Croatia

“…As indicators for pressures, they singled out: arrivals in hotels and similar establishments, non-residents, arrivals in hotels and similar establishments, residents, arrivals in other establishments, residents, airport rank, arrivals of tourists/km 2 , nights spent/km 2 , arrivals of tourists/1000 people, nights spent/1000 people, and number of congresses held in the region. Curić, Glamuzina and Opačić (2012) measured the level of tourism development of cities/towns and municipalities in Croatia using GIS analysis of seven tourism indicators: number of beds, number of arrivals, number of international arrivals, overnight stays, international overnight stays, number of arrivals per surface area of local self-government units, and number of arrivals per capita. Glamuzina, Madžar and Putica (2017) applied a nearly identical set of indicators in their research of regional aspects of tourism development of Bosnia and Herzegovina.…”

Intenzitet turizma u vodećim hrvatskim turističkim gradovima i općinama

“…The Town of Novalja on the island of Pag is located in the region of the northern Croatian littoral as its northern (Kvarner) part is more developed for tourism than its southern (Dalmatian) part (Curić et al, 2013). In the region of the south Croatian littoral, or Dalmatia, there are towns and municipalities with four of them located in north Dalmatia: Nin, Šibenik,Vodice and Zadar.…”

“…GIS analysis was also used for regional tourist differentiation for units of local and regional government and tourist regions in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina (Curić et al, 2012;Glamuzina et al, 2017) and also the tourist intensity rate as an indicator when branding destinations in Croatia and abroad (Mikulić et al, 2014;2016).…”