When we talk about Croatia’s tourist recognition in the world, we mostly refer to Dubrovnik and other coastal cities, so it is no surprise that these cities are the first in tourist spots and brochures. However, the whole world already knows about Dubrovnik, Hvar, or Zagreb. For this reason, the Ministry of Tourism and Sports must invest more money in the promotion of continental tourism, as few foreigners are aware of the beauties of continental Croatia. This was the conclusion of the last panel at the Regional Development Forum organized by the Croatian Association of Counties, whose theme this year was ‘Sustainable Tourism’.
– There is no need to promote Dubrovnik, which is struggling with mass tourism, as that is beyond reason. We need to maintain balance and promote lesser-known locations in continental Croatia, as this will allow us to develop tourism for the future and preserve Croatia’s natural resources – said Željko Kolar, the prefect of Krapina-Zagorje County, at the panel.
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Damir Krešić from the Institute for Tourism stated at the panel that the problems of continental and coastal Croatia regarding tourism are completely different, and for this reason, the government should consider two strategies for these two Croatias.
– It is very important to raise awareness of how crucial sustainable development is. When it comes to tourism, there is no alternative to sustainability – concluded Krešić.
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The increasing focus on the development of continental and rural tourism is very much appreciated by Mato Lukić, the deputy prefect of Osijek-Baranja County, who stated at the panel that tourists primarily come to continental Croatia, especially Osijek and its surroundings, for its natural beauty, although the most frequent guests are still domestic visitors.
– We are not for the ‘sterilization’ of nature. We must live with it, and we cannot just pave it over to have lines of foreign tourists. Agriculture will, and must, remain our main economic branch, but we have the capacity for tourism – said Lukić, adding that many visitors come for sports events and that it would be ideal to also work on the development of congress tourism, for which there is indeed demand.
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They take pride in nature in Karlovac County, as confirmed by Prefect Martina Furdek Hajdin, who said they do not want to be a county that is merely passed through on the way to the sea, but one that people come to.
– Our ailments are commendable. We are the most visited continental county after the city of Zagreb, although we have seen a slight decline in arrivals due to investment cycles in accommodation capacities – said Furdek Hajdin, noting that they invest heavily in tourism and have drawn four times more funds from EU sources than some other counties, as they recognized investments in tourism as a necessity.
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At the panel titled ‘How to align tourism growth with environmental preservation and local communities?’ Jure Struc from the Institute for Tourism Maribor spoke, emphasizing the importance of events for tourism and who held a presentation before the panel titled ‘Sustainable Tourism in Practice: The Example of Maribor’. Maribor has been declared a ‘City of Culture’ and a ‘City of Sport’ several times. This Slovenian city is visited by tourists throughout the year.
As he stated, one of the key KPIs in sustainability must be desezonalization, which can be achieved through a multitude of diverse content. Therefore, it can be said that the entire city of Maribor is a stage, and this year numerous opera performances will be held in parks while they also focus on the development of cycling.
– Maribor is not a typical tourist destination, but we have a wonderful story of how we transformed from an industrial city to a tourist wunderkind – stated Struc.
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