Two New Strategies for Better Competitiveness – Sustainable Tourism and Digital Croatia

Croatia enters 2023 with two new strategies – sustainable tourism development until 2030 and digital Croatia until 2032, which should improve the competitiveness of tourism and the overall economy in the next decade.

Both long-term strategic documents – the Strategy for Sustainable Tourism Development until 2030 and the Strategy for Digital Croatia for the period until 2032 were adopted by the Croatian Parliament at the end of 2022. They share the common goal of being more concretely implemented from the beginning of 2023, as well as aligning with the national development strategy until 2030 and the fundamental documents and policies of the EU, as well as the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NPOO).

The Strategy for Sustainable Tourism Development until 2030 for Tourism in Harmony with Nature and the Population

The Strategy for Sustainable Tourism Development until 2030 has been in effect since January 1 of this year, and its four main goals, in addition to green and ecological business standards in tourism, include the quality and well-being of the local population, respect for cultural-historical and natural heritage, addressing the shortage of both quantity and quality of workers, and reducing the impact of climate change on tourism and its negative effects on space and housing.

Its first goal is the development of year-round tourism evenly across the country, thereby reducing the high seasonality of tourism and moving away from the predominant offer of ‘sun and sea’. The second goal is tourism with preserved environment, space, and climate, while the third is a more competitive and innovative tourism with better solutions for human resources and accommodation structure. The fourth goal is resilient tourism with a more efficient legislative and management framework, along with the improvement of the tourist board system and better monitoring of various data.

Thus, it is about balancing the economic, social, and ecological aspects of sustainability, and based on the strategy, a National Plan for Sustainable Tourism Development until 2027 will be created, operationalizing priority areas through concrete measures.

For the first time, the strategy is also supported by financial resources secured from the NPOO, the multiannual financial framework, and the state budget.

The Strategy for Digital Croatia 2032 aims for better competitiveness on the digital map of Europe.

The Strategy for Digital Croatia for the period until 2032 is a multisectoral strategic document that emphasizes the importance of comprehensive digitalization in the country for the first time, and through its implementation, Croatia will enhance its digital transformation and position itself as an economically competitive country on the digital map of Europe.

The main goal is for Croatia to become a country of digitally and economically competitive enterprises and a digitized public administration by 2032, reaching the EU average in terms of digitalization, unlike its current 21st place among 27 EU member states.

It has four strategic goals, the first of which is a developed and innovative digital economy, which among other things means digitalization in micro, small, and medium enterprises, digitizing public services for entrepreneurs, transforming and strengthening the competitiveness of creative and cultural industries, and optimizing Croatian tax and parafiscal legislation and administration.

The second goal regarding digitized public administration leads to upgrading the state IT infrastructure to achieve full interoperability of public administration and enabling access to data for citizens and businesses, as well as strengthening organizational and human institutional capacities, digitizing all key public services, and more.

The third strategic goal regarding developed, accessible, and utilized networks of very high capacity plans to ensure prerequisites for spatial planning and faster construction of networks, especially in areas where there is no commercial interest for investment, as well as encouraging the use of high-speed services.

The fourth strategic goal is developed digital competencies for life and work in the digital age, which should also lead to an increase in the number of ICT professionals in the labor market, as well as the development of digital skills for citizens for life and work using ICT, and implementing digital transition as support for the development of the educational and research system.

Achieving all goals would also lead to a multiple increase in the share of the ICT sector in Croatia’s GDP, from the current 4.5% to 13% by 2032.