OCJENA TURISTIČKE PONUDE KVARNERA /

ASSESSING THE KVARNER TOURISM OFFERING

Redaktori / Editors:

Prof. dr. sc. Branko Blažević Prof. dr. sc. Milena Peršić

Recenzenti / Reviewed by:

Akademik Vladimir Stipetić /Hrvatska/ Prof. dr. sc. Peter Jordan /Austria/

Prof. dr. sc. Franc Pauko /Slovenija/

TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT

Tourism and Hospitality Management is an international journal published by the Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management in Opatija in cooperation with WIFI – Österreich Wirtschaftsförderungsinstitut, Vienna and T.E.I. - Alexandreion Technological Educational Institution of Thessaloniki, Department of Tourism Management, Thessaloniki, Greece. The THM publishes high-quality, refereed articles that advance the knowledge base of the hospitality and tourism field. THM publishes both original, empirical research that has a solid theoretical foundation, and theoretically based articles that contribute to the conceptual development of the hospitality management field. The journal has been published regularly since 1995, and it deals with issues relevant to the fields of tourism, the hotel industry, economics, management and finance in Croatia, and in the entire region. The Editorial Committee is pleased to accept articles, which are the result of both research and professional work. Two anonymous referees review each article. We kindly invite any comments or suggestion readers may have to improve the quality of our journal. Instructions to authors are listed at the end of the journal. Tourism and Hospitality Management is published in two issues per year in June and in December. Printed in 1000 copies / Naklada 1000 primjeraka

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Address: University of Rijeka, Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management in Opatija, Library, PO Box. 97, 51410 Opatija, Croatia, E-mail:knjiznica@fthm.hr

PUBLISHERS / Izdavači

University of Rijeka, Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management in Opatija, Primorska 42, PO Box. 97, 51410 Opatija, Croatia

WIFI Österreich Wirtschaftsförderungsinstitut der Bundeskammer der gewerblichen Wirtschaft, Wiedner Hauptstraße 63, A-1045 Wien, Austria

Alexandreion Technological Educational Institution (T.E.I) of Thessaloniki, Department of Tourism Management, P.O.Box 141, 57400 Sindos, Thessaloniki, Greece

Is published by financial support of Ministry of Science, Education and Sports, Republic of Croatia / Izdano uz financijsku potporu Ministarstva znanosti obrazovanja i športa Republike Hrvatske

ADDRESS OF THE EDITORIAL OFFICE / ADRESA UREDNIŠTVA

University of Rijeka, Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management in Opatija, Primorska 42, PO Box. 97, 51410 Opatija, Croatia Phone:++385/51/294-700, Fax. ++385/51/291-965

E-mail: zorani@fthm.hr ; www.fthm.hr

INDEXED IN / Tekstovi objavljeni u časopisu referiraju se u bazama

ECONLIT AND JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC LITERATURE, PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, U.S.A. CAB INTERNATIONAL, WALLINGFORD, OXON, OX 10 8DE, UK

C.I.R.E.T. – Centre International de Researches et d'Etudes Touristiques, AIX-EN-PROVENCE, FRANCE EBSCOHost Resesrch Datebases, Hospitality & Tourism Complete, Ipswich, Massachusetts, U.S.A.

Copyright © University of Rijeka, Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management in Opatija, Croatia

All rights reserved. ISSN 1330-7533

TEMATSKI BROJ ČASOPISA

SPECIAL ISSUE

TOURISM AND

HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT

rezultati II faze istraživanja na projektu /

project II phase research results

«TURISTIČKA REGIONALIZACIJA U GLOBALNIM PROCESIMA» /

«TOURISM REGIONALIZATION IN GLOBAL PROCESSES»

Projekt Ministarstvo znanosti, obrazovanja i športa br. 0116003 (2002. - 2006.), temeljen na Ugovoru od 22. kolovoza 2002. godine /

Klasa 402-02/01-8/39 // Urbroj: 533-02-01-946

Project of Ministry of Science, Education and Sport no. 0116003 (2002. – 2006.) based on the Contract from 22nd August, 2002.

Klasa 402-02/01-8/39 // Urbroj: 533-02-01-946

Glavni istraživač / Senior researcher:

Prof. dr. sc. Branko Blažević

Istraživači i autori /Researchers and authors:

Prof. dr. sc. Branko Blažević Doc. dr. sc. Romina Alkier Radnić Doc. dr. sc. Slobodan Ivanović Mr. sc. Vanja Ivanović Doc. dr. sc. Sandra Janković Mr. sc. Adriana Jelušić Doc. dr. sc. Rade Knežević Prof. dr. sc. Dragan Magaš Doc. dr. Suzana Marković Mr. sc. Gordana Medved Biljana Mihelić Prof. dr. sc. Milena Peršić Doc. dr. sc. Dora Smolčić-Jurdana Doc. dr. sc. Christian Stipanović

Suradnici /Assistants:

Mr. sc. Dubravka Vlašić, Vanja Vejzagić, Suzana Bareša, Diana Grbac, Davor Mijolović, Katarina Poldrugovac, Mladenka Popadić

Studenti / Students:

Fakulteta za turistički i hotelski menadžment u Opatiji Sveučilišta u Rijeci /

Faculty of tourism and hospitality management Opatija University of Rijeka

Ognjen Blažević Emina Bošnjak Ana Budija Valentina Colnar Diana Grbac Martina Gregurek Diana Grbac (2) Lahorka Halmi Anastazia Ivančić Kristina Kajić Kristina Kranjčević Hrvoje Kikić Ivan Krivičić Silvija Klovar Marko Martinović Marko Mikašinović Uroš Mikašinović Maša Piškulić Katarina Poldrugovac Mladenka Popadić Ervin Salibašić Klaudio Šegarić Luka Škunca Matija Škunca Zoran Turuk Marta Uljanić Matea Valković Tihomir Viskić Tanja Vidas Melisa Višković Jovana Zoroja Davor Žic

SADRŽAJ / CONTENTS

ABSTRACT (XIII) (B.Blažević, M.Peršić) SAŽETAK (XVII) (B.Blažević, M.Peršić) 1. UVOD / INTRODUCTION (1)

(B.Blažević, M.Peršić) 2. OBILJEŽJA PROVEDENOG ISTRAŽIVANJA / CHARACTERISTICS OF THE CONDUCTED RESEARCH (5)

(A.Jelušić, S.Marković, D.Smolčić Jurdana) 2.1. Metode i instrumenti istraživanja /

Research methods and instruments (5) 2.2. Obilježja statističkog uzorka /

Characteristics of the sample (6) 2.2.1. Istraživanje stavova turista /

Research of tourists' attitude (6) 2.2.2. Istraživanje stavova stanovništva /

Research of residents' attitudes (8) 2.2.3. Istraživanje stavova turističkog menadžmenta /

Research of tourism managements' attitudes (9) 3. REZULTATI EMPIRIJSKOG ISTRAŽIVANJA STAVOVA TURISTA O

TURISTIČKOJ PONUDI KVARNERA I NJEGOVIH DESTINACIJA / EMPIRICAL RESEARCH RESULTS OF TOURISTS' ATTITUDES ON KVARNER TOURISM OFFERING AND ITS DESTINATIONS (11)

(D.Smolčić Jurdana, D.Magaš, R.Knežević) 3.1. Socio-demografski profil turista /

Social demographical tourism profile (11) 3.2. Motiv i način dolaska u destinaciju /

Motive and way of arrival into destination (14) 3.3. Ocjena kvalitete ponude destinacije /

Assessing the destination offering quality (20) 3.4. Stavovi turista o elementima turističke ponude Kvarnera /

Tourists' attitudes on Kvarner tourism offering elements (22) 3.4.1. Prostor, resursi, okoliš /

Area, resources, environment (24) 3.4.2. Sadržaji / Contents (facilities and services) (26) 3.4.3. Organiziranost destinacije /

Destination management (28) 3.4.4. Prepoznatljivost, sigurnost, informiranost /

Identity, security, information (29) 3.4.5. Stanovništvo, zaposleni /

Residents, employees (31) 3.5. Stavovi turista o elementima turističke ponude Crikveničko- vinodolske rivijere / Tourists' attitudes on Crikveničko-vinodolska riviera tourism offering elements (32)

3.5.1. Crikvenica (33) 3.5.2. Novi Vinodolski (35) 3.5.3. Selce (37) 3.5.4. Jadranovo (39)

3.6. Stavovi turista o elementima turističke ponude Opatijske rivijere / Tourists' attitudes on Opatija riviera tourism offering elements (41)

3.6.1. Opatija (41) 3.6.2. Lovran (43) 3.6.3. Ičići (45) 3.6.4. Medveja (47) 3.6.5. Mošćenička Draga (49)

3.7. Stavovi turista o elementima turističke ponude sub-regije Otoci / Tourists' attitudes on sub-region Islands tourism offering elements(51)

3.7.1. Krk (51) 3.7.2. Baška (53) 3.7.3. Punat (55) 3.7.4. Omišalj (58) 3.7.5. Cres (60) 3.7.6. Lošinj (62) 3.7.7. Rab (64) 3.7.8. Lopar (66)

3.8. Stavovi turista o elementima turističke ponude Rijeke i riječkog prstena Tourists' attitudes on Rijeka and surrounding area tourism offering elements (68)

3.8.1. Rijeka (68) 3.8.2. Kraljevica (70) 3.8.3. Kostrena (72)

3.9. Stavovi turista o elementima turističke ponude Gorskog Kotara /

Tourists' attitudes on Gorski Kotar tourism offering elements (74) 4. REZULTATI EMPIRIJSKOG ISTRAŽIVANJA STAVOVA STANOVNIŠTVA O TURISTIČKOJ PONUDI KVARNERA I NJEGOVIH DESTINACIJA / EMPIRICAL RESEARCH RESULTS OF RESIDENTS' ATTITUDES ON KVARNER AND ITS DESTINATION TOURISM OFFERINGS (77)

(R.Alkier Radnić, Ch.Stipanović, S.Ivanović) 4.1. Karakteristike uzorka /

Sample characteristics (77) 4.2. Socio-demografska obilježja stanovništva /

Social demographical residents' characteristics (78) 4.3. Stavovi stanovništva prema razvoju turizma /

Residents' attitudes on the tourism development (81) 4.4. Odnos stanovništva prema održivom razvoju /

Residents' relation towards sustainable development (87) 4.5. Razvoj menadžmenta turističkih destinacija Kvarnera /

Kvarner tourism destination management development (90) 4.6. Zadovoljstvo stanovništva turističkom ponudom Kvarnera /

Residents' satisfaction with Kvarner tourism offerings (93) 4.6.1. Prostor, resursi, okoliš /

Area, Resources, Environment (95) 4.6.2. Sadržaji /

Contents (Facilities and Services) (96) 4.6.3. Organiziranost destinacije /

Destination management (97) 4.6.4. Prepoznatljivost, sigurnost, informiranost /

Identity, Security, information (98) 4.6.5. Stanovništvo, zaposleni /

Residents, employees (99) 4.6.6. Top +/- 10 elemenata turističke ponude /

Top +/- 10 tourism offering elements (99) 4.7. Zadovoljstvo stanovništva elementima turističke ponude Crikveničko-vinodolske rivijere / Residents' satisfaciton of Crikveničko-vinodolska riviera tourism offering elements (105)

4.7.1. Crikvenica (105) 4.7.2. Jadranovo (107) 4.7.3. NoviVinodolski (109) 4.7.4. Selce (111)

4.8. Zadovoljstvo stanovništva elementima turističke ponude

Opatijske rivijere / Residents' satisfation of Opatija Riviera tourism offering elements(113)

4.8.1. Ičići(114) 4.8.2. Lovran (116) 4.8.3. Medveja (118) 4.8.4. Mošćenička Draga (120) 4.8.5. Opatija (122)

4.9. Zadovoljstvo stanovništva elementima turističke ponude sub-regije Otoci / Residents' satisfaction of sub-region Islands tourism offering elements (124)

4.9.1. Baška (125) 4.9.2. Krk (127) 4.9.3. Malinska (130) 4.9.4. Omišalj (132) 4.9.5. Punat (134) 4.9.6. Cres (136) 4.9.7. Mali Lošinj (138) 4.9.8. Lopar (140) 4.9.9. Rab (142)

4.10. Zadovoljstvo stanovništva elementima turističke ponude Rijeke i riječkog prstena / Residents' satisfaction of Rijeka and surrounding area tourism offering elements (144)

4.10.1. Kostrena (145) 4.10.2. Kraljevica (147) 4.10.3. Rijeka (148)

4.11. Zadovoljstvo stanovništva elementima turističke ponude Gorskog Kotara / Residents' satisfaction of Gorski Kotar tourism offering elements (150) 4.12. Ocjene dostignute razine turističkog razvoja i njegova utjecaja na kvalitetu života stanovništva u turističkoj destinaciji / Assessing the accomplished tourism development level and its influence on residents quality of life in tourism destination (153)

5. REZULTATI EMPIRIJSKOG ISTRAŽIVANJA STAVOVA TURISTIČKOG

MENADŽMENTA O TURISTIČKOJ PONUDI KVARNERA I NJEGOVIH DESTINACIJA / EMPIRICAL RESEARCH RESULTS OF TOURIST MANAGEMENTS' ATTITUDES ON KVARNER AND ITS DESTINATION TOURISM OFFERINGS (159) (M.Peršić, B.Blažević, S.Janković, B.Mihelić )

5.1. Pristup istraživanju i obilježja uzorka / Approach to research and sample characteristics (159)

5.2. Upravljanje turističkom destinacijom / Tourism destination management (163)

5.2.1. Izbor modela upravljanja turističkom destinacijom / Selection of tourism destination management model (164)

5.2.2. Područje i način djelovanja destinacijskog menadžmenta Tourism destination management area and performance (168) 5.2.3. Integralna kvaliteta i održivi razvoj turizma /

Total quality and sustainable tourism development (172) 5.3. Mogućnosti razvoja selektivnih oblika turizma /

Development possibilities of selective tourism forms (178) 5.4. Stavovi menadžmenta o elementima turističke ponude Kvarnera / Managements' attitude on Kvarner tourism offering elements (189)

5.4.1. Stavovi menadžmenta o zadovoljstvu turista ukupnom ponudom turističke destinacije Kvarner / Managements' attitude on tourist satisfaction with Kvarner tourism offerings(189) 5.4.2. Prostor, resursi, okoliš /

Area, resources, environment (196) 5.4.3. Stanovništvo, zaposleni /

Residents, employees (198) 5.4.4. Organiziranost destinacije /

Destination management (207) 5.4.5. Prepoznatljivost, sigurnost, informiranost /

Identity, security, information (211) 5.4.6. Sadržaji /

Contents (Facilities and services) (213) 5.4.7. Top +/- 10 najboljih i najlošijih elemenata turističke ponude turističke destinacije Kvarner / Top +/- 10 best and worst Kvarner tourism offering elements (218) 5.4.8. Stavovi menadžmenta o zadovoljstvu turista ponudom turističke destinacije Crikveničko-Vinodolska rivijera - CVR / Managements' attitude on tourist satisfaction of Crikveničko-Vinodolska riviera tourism offering (220) 5.4.9. Stavovi menadžmenta o zadovoljstvu turista turističkom ponudom turističke destinacije Opatijska rivijera / Managements' attitude on tourist satisfaction of Opatijska riviera tourism offering (226)

5.4.10. Stavovi menadžmenta o zadovoljstvu turista ponudom turističke destinacije Otoci / Managements' attitude on tourist satisfaction of sub-region Islands tourism offering (231) 5.4.11. Stavovi menadžmenta o zadovoljstvu turista turističkom ponudom turističke destinacije Rijeka i riječki prsten / Managements' attitude on tourist satisfaction of Rijeka and surrounding area tourism offering (244) 5.4.12. Stavovi menadžmenta o zadovoljstvu turista ponudom turističke destinacije Gorski Kotar / Managements' attitude on tourist satisfaction of Gorski Kotar tourism offering (248)

6. KOMPARATIVNA ANALIZA ELEMENATA TURISTIČKE PONUDE /

TOURISM OFFERING ELEMENTS COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS (251) (M.Peršić, B.Blažević, V.Ivanović, A.Jelušić) 6.1. Pristup komparativnoj analizi /

Approach to comparative analysis (251) 6.2. Zadovoljstvo elementima turističke ponude

- DESTINACIJA KVARNER / Tourism offering elements satisfaction – KVARNER DESTINATION (252)

6.2.1. Prostor, resursi, okoliš / Area, resources, environment (257)

6.2.2. Stanovništvo, zaposleni / Residents, employees (259)

6.2.3. Organiziranost destinacije / Destination management (261)

6.2.4. Prepoznatljivost, sigurnost, informiranost / Identity, security, information (264)

6.2.5. Sadržaji / Contents (Facilities nad Services) (266)

6.2.6. Rang nabolje i najlošije ocjenjenih elemenata turističke ponude turističke destinacije Kvarner / Range of the best and the worst evaluated Kvarner tourism offering elements (269)

6.3. Zadovoljstvo elementima turističke ponude - CRIKVENIČKO-VINODOLSKA RIVIJERA-CVR / Tourism offering elements satisfaction – CRIKVENIČKO-VINODOLSKA RIVIERA (271)

6.3.1. Novi Vinodolski (283) 6.3.2. Selce (286) 6.3.3. Crikvenica (289) 6.3.4. Jadranovo(292)

6.4. Zadovoljstvo elementima turističke ponude OPATIJSKA RIVIJERA / Tourism offering elements satisfaction – OPATIJA RIVIERA (295)

6.4.1. Opatija (309) 6.4.2. Lovran (313) 6.4.3. Ičići (316) 6.4.4. Medveja (319) 6.4.5. Mošćenička Draga (322)

6.5. Zadovoljstvo elementima turističke ponude - OTOCI / Tourism offering elements satisfaction – ISLANDS (324)

6.5.1. Baška (337) 6.5.2. Krk (340) 6.5.3. Omišalj (343) 6.5.4. Punat (345) 6.5.5. Cres (348) 6.5.6. Mali Lošinj (350) 6.5.7. Lopar (353) 6.5.8. Rab (355)

6.6. Zadovoljstvo elementima turističke ponude - RIJEKA I RIJEČKI PRSTEN / Tourism offering elements satisfaction – RIJEKA AND SURROUNDING AREA (358)

6.6.1. Kostrena (373) 6.6.2. Kraljevica (376) 6.6.3. Rijeka (378)

6.7. Zadovoljstvo elementima turističke ponude - GORSKI KOTAR Tourism offering elements satisfaction – GORSKI KOTAR (381) 7. ZAKLJUČAK / CONCLUSION (395)

(M.Peršić, B.Blažević) 8. LITERATURA / BIBLIOGRAPHY (402) PRILOZI / APPENDICES (403 - 435)

ABSTRACT

This paper presents the results of the second phase of research conducted by the teaching staff of the Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management in Opatija within the framework of project number 0116003 entitled “Tourism Regionalisation in Global Processes” and supported by the Ministry of Science, Education and Sport of the Republic of Croatia. The goals set for this research were, indeed, ambitious ones, but they can be accomplished, as results obtained up-to-date have indicated. Not only does this represent a significant contribution, in terms of theory, to researching the quality of a destination’s tourism offering, but it also has a great practical importance in securing an information basis for destination management. With research focusing on the destination management of the Kvarner tourist destination, the research team’s prime operative objective was to secure a methodological basis and provide continuity to ensure a well-crafted management information basis. This approach was selected to provide support to a balanced (sustainable) tourism development scenario for the Kvarner destination and to reinforce activities in restructuring and repositioning, and efforts in devising and assessing strategies for destination management within an IQM (Integrated Quality Management) framework. The research followed the principles of “Qualitest”, a concept aimed at ensuring a higher level of organisation for a tourist destination, as well as a higher quality level for all structural components of a destination’s tourism product. The second research phase has continued along the lines of the first phase conducted in 2003 on the Kvarner tourism offering, the results of which were published in the Journal of Tourism and Hospitality Management (Vol. 1/2004) under the title “Assessing the Kvarner Tourism Offering”. Research in this second phase has also followed as a logical need to make a qualified judgement of the trends of the tourism offering of the Kvarner destination and the level of development it has achieved, a judgement that will serve as a basis for assessing regional tourism development in Croatia. Research was conducted throughout the summers of 2005 and 2006 to provide for

comparability in terms of space and time. The suggestions of reviewers aimed at improving previously conducted research were taken into account, as well as the attitudes expressed by research users during a series of presentations to localised destinations within the Kvarner destination. The second phase of research features certain innovations in terms of methodology and context. These innovations were based on the need to find relevant answers to open issues on how to structure an optimal range of products at the level of the Kvarner destination and its sub-regions, and at the level of individual tourist resorts. Focus has been placed on all life-cycle stages of the destination’s tourism product, which is designed in accordance to the adopted concept of sustainable development and embraces an eco-oriented approach. Emphasis has also been placed on exploring the preconditions to building tourism offerings in various selective forms of tourism. The implementation of such offerings should help to ensure the competitive ability of a tourism product that will be accepted by environmentally aware tourists of target markets seeking new values and supported by capital investments. The framework of this research has also served as a starting point in creating a singular database at the tourist destination level, upon which other similar research will build and which will encompass other input essential to the decision process in destination management. This approach has initiated the design of a substantial documentation basis essential to a comparative analysis of the level of development of the Kvarner destination and its sub-regions. Common to both phases of research is the use of a questionnaire-based survey to assess the quality level achieved in the crucial components of the Kvarner’s tourism offering. The research phases differ, however, with regard to target groups; the representative sample in the second phase assesses the attitudes of TOURISTS, RESIDENTS AND TOURISM MANAGEMENT, whereas the first phase included a fourth target group – RENTERS – which has been omitted in the second phase at the recommendation of reviewers. Identified in the survey, the perceptions of each target group regarding the same element of the tourism offering were subjected to comparative analysis that both provided an indication of the achieved development level

and pointed to areas requiring priority action. Hence, research results provide individual, as well as shared assessments for each issue investigated. In addition, for each target group, attitudes were assessed on issues of exclusive interest to the target group in question. Also, in the second phase, the suggestion to expand the previous 5-point assessment scale to make a 7-point scale was accepted. For each surveyed element of the tourism offering, the number of respondents and the number of responses obtained were indicated, and the arithmetical mean and standard deviation were calculated. The SPSS statistical package was used to process data. Using the experience gained in the previous research and taking into account the “Qualitest” concept, the scores obtained per individual elements of the tourism offering were analysed within target categories representing the common denominator of related elements. The category “AREA, RESOURCES, ENVIRONMENT” had the highest score (Ø score 5.32), resulting from the individual scores that tourists, residents and tourism management attributed to the items: climate, landscape, the preserved environment, and sea water quality. The category “RESIDENTS, EMPLOYEES” (Ø score 4.96) followed; this is a set of elements used to rate the friendliness of residents, the hospitality of tourism workers, and the foreign language skills of tourism workers. “DESTINATION MANAGEMENT” (Ø score 4.53) ranked third. The items rated in this category include road/rail transport links, local traffic, parking spaces, urban design and planning, walking lanes and promenades, parks, the maintenance and cleanliness of beaches, crowded beaches, the working hours of catering and other services (banks, shops…) and shopping opportunities. Pre-arrival communication, user-friendly tourist landmarks in the destination, the souvenir offering, and a feeling of safety and security are items belonging to the category of “IDENTITY, SECURITY, INFORMATION” (Ø score 4.40), which ranked fourth according to the attitudes of respondents. The category “CONTENTS (Facilities and Services)” (Ø score 4.21) was ranked last, an alarming result considering that facilities and services represent the starting point in designing a competitive tourism product. This makes it essential for tourist destination managers to undertake efforts to improve the current level and quality of the overall tourism offering, which includes events, cultural and historical heritages,

facilities and playgrounds for children, accommodation facilities, catering establishments, cultural events, entertainment opportunities, sports facilities, meeting and conference facilities, health tourism, the nautical tourism offering, excursions, the local cuisine, and to bring the price/quality relationship to a satisfactory level. Results reveal that the target group “TOURISTS” has, in average, given the individual items ratings (Ø score 4.93) that are higher than the ratings of the “TOURISM MANAGEMENT” and “RESIDENTS” target groups (Ø scores 4.29 and 4.32, respectively). This leads to the conclusion that the latter target groups take a more critical view in rating the tourism offering as they have greater insight to the current situation and recognise the potential for taking action to enhance the quality of the overall tourism offering, improve their position on the target market, and achieve the desired business performance. It can be concluded that the results of this research have provided the opportunities for taking direct action in practise, especially in those fields which expect to see improved tourism management, a higher quality of facilities and services, and a stronger valorisation of comparative advantages, as the preconditions to building a competitive and distinctive tourism product of the Kvarner destination. The results of this research can be “read” at various levels, ranging from the tourist resort level to the level of the tourist region, and broader. They can be compared across levels, as well as with related studies, thus providing the initial documentation basis needed to prepare information essential to the tourism managers in deciding on new product lines and how to improve the quality of the offering, based on the primary priorities of each hierarchical level of the decision process. Throughout the research, a high degree of cooperation was achieved with tourism policy makers at the local and regional levels, a fact we believe will help to ensure that the results of this research are acknowledge and implemented in practise. The relevant scientific and research, as well as methodological, basis was applied in collecting data and interpreting the results of the research conducted on a representative sample of the Kvarner tourist destination, its sub-regions and tourist resorts as the most localised parts of this destination. In addition to investigating the specific attitudes of each target group (tourist, residents and tourism management), special attention was

focused on the scores that individual items of the tourist offering received from each of the three target groups. These are the starting points on which all chapters have been structured according to predefined objectives, vital to improving the Kvarner destination’s tourism offering and shaping its competitive tourism product that will take into consideration all the specific features of the localised destinations within this tourist region as a whole. Research results are presented in individual and collective tables and in the form of graphs. The interpretation of these results is aimed at illustrating the current situation of the Kvarner destination’s tourism offering and the changes to its structure. The primary objective, however, is to motivate the reader to think about these issues and to encourage further research and bring about concrete forms of operative action in practise, so that action taken on the part of individual economic agents and organisations can be raised to the level of the tourist destination as a whole. The entire research focuses heavily on securing an information basis for tourist destination management; not only does it provide insight to the attitudes of respondents towards each individual element of the tourism offering and each hierarchical research level, it also provides the summary and average scores for various respondents and aspects of the Kvarner destination’s offering, distinctive in its “unity of diversities” within the potential and achieved results of the overall tourism offering.

Expert opinion on the second part of the project No. 011603

Peter Jordan, PhD. Assoc. Prof. Austrian Academy of Sciences

Institute of Urban and Regional Research Postgasse 7/4/2

A-1010 Wien Austria

www.oeaw.ac.at/isr peter.jordan@assoc.oeaw.ac.at

peter.jordan@univie.ac.at

„Regionalisation in Tourism under the Aspects of Globalisation“

[Turistička regionalizacija u globalnim procesima] elaborated by

the Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management Opatija on behalf of

the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports

Main researcher: Prof. dr. sc. Branko Blažević

The Kvarner as a tourism destination faces not only growing global competition, but has also strong competitors in its own country (Istria, Dalmatia). The Kvarner’s major strengths in this competition are a favourable location in relation to major markets, good accessibility, an extraordinary attractive landscape, rich tourism traditions having left a good tourism infrastructure, a population acquainted with tourism and skilled in languages and, last but not least, a Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management training not only skilled managers and personnel for the regional (and national) tourism economy, but also functioning as a brain trust for tourism development in the region, well-embedded into the local population as well as into the management and political scene. This is again demonstrated by this study forming the second part of a larger

scientific project on Regionalisation in Tourism under the Aspects of Globalisation and of a master plan for tourism development in the County of Primorje-Gorski Kotar [Primorsko-goranska županja]. It has been elaborated by a team of 13 noted researchers, well-supported by students, on behalf of the Croatian Ministry of Sciences, Education and Sports.

Supplementary to the first part completed in 2003, the second part of the study focuses on the quality of the offer, on trends in achieving higher quality standards and on characteristics indicating a balanced and sustainable development also in the ecological sense. It establishes a comprehensive data file, which is to serve as a knowledge base for tourism destination management, i.e. for the elaboration of development strategies, at the regional, sub-regional as well as at the local (destination) level in the sense of an Integrated Quality Management (IQM).

The method applied is an inquiry among three major groups of participants in tourism, i.e. tourists, local residents and managers in tourism. Room renters, which had been an additional target group in the first project phase, were omitted this time. The research was conducted during the summers (15th May – 15th September) of 2005 and 2006 and included 1828 respondents among tourists, 1064 among residents and 167 among tourism managers, considerably more than in the first phase (813, 750, 86, respectively). Also a much larger number of destinations were included into the survey: 22 compared to 10 in the first phase. The 22 destinations are to represent sub-regions of the County of Primorje-Gorski Kotar. For the Riviera of Crikvenica-Vinodol [Crikvenička-Vinodolska rivijera] stand Crikvenica, Jadranovo, Novi Vinodolski and Selce; the Riviera of Optaija [Opatijska rivijera] is represented by Ičići, Lovran, Medveja, Mošćenička Draga and Opatija; the island of Krk by Baška, Krk, Malinska, Omišalj and Punat; the islands of Cres and Lošinj are represented, but not by specific destinations; the island of Rab is represented by the town of Rab and by Lopar; the Gorski kotar is represented, but not by specific

destinations; for Rijeka and its surroundings stand Rijeka itself as well as Kraljevica and Kostrena. This selection is certainly representative for the tourism scene of the sub-regions as well as of the County in total. It remains, however, unclear, why most of the sub-regions are represented by specific destinations, while the islands of Cres and Lošinj and also the Gorski kotar are just taken as one destination.

Stratification of tourist respondents corresponds to tourist arrivals by destination and the typical share of accommodation categories and countries of origin in 2004 according to data provided by the State Statistical Agency [Državni zavod za statistiku]. Stratification of resident respondents corresponds to the number of residents as of 2004, again provided by the State Statistical Agency. It was aimed at inquiring at least 1.5% of the individual destination’s population. For Rijeka as a large city just a share of 0.5% was achievable. Contrary to the former two target groups the principles of selecting the 167 tourism managers are not explained in the study. They represent the sub-regions reasonably, but surprisingly no respondent comes from Lošinj, although it has 13% of the tourist and 9% of the resident respondents. This may easily be due to missing returns and does not really affect the in total statistically very representative results.

Many questions of this second inquiry were already asked at the first round in 2003 making comparisons between the two inquiries (2003 and 2005/2006) possible. These comparisons are perhaps the most interesting result of this second phase, since they indicate trends in perception, while rankings of strengths and weaknesses remained very much the same. As already documented by the first inquiry, satisfaction among all three groups of actors is highest with the natural components of the offer, especially with climate, landscape and sea. But also the relatively good state of the environment is highly estimated. Components also highly appreciated are hospitality and language command of the local population

as well as of employees in tourism. In contrast, dissatisfaction was usually expressed with tourism “content”, i.e. tourism facilities and services in the narrower sense. It may, however, be regarded as remarkable and even comforting that tourists (i.e. consumers) expressed in general the more favourable opinion, while residents and especially tourism managers (i.e. producers) were much more critical. This justifies hopes that locals and in particular tourism managers are already working at the necessary improvements.

When tourism managers are asked for the weaknesses, dangers, strengths and chances of tourism in the Kvarner region, they draft indeed a very realistic picture. They criticise the traditional and undifferentiated sun & sea product with a distinct seasonality, the shortcomings in accommodation structure and quality, in tourism and transportation infrastructure and conceive conflict between different land use options, over settlement and visual destruction of the environment as major dangers. The inquiry among the tourist group conveys in fact the impression that tourism structure has hardly changed compared to the pre-transformation period: it is still dominated by the motive of recreation with rather long durations of stay, by individual and private car tourism from the traditional Central European markets. Camps and private room renting as well as lower class hotels have still a large share and average expenses are modest.

But trends, as to be derived from the comparison between the 2003 and 2005/06 inquiries, look encouraging. Improvements were perceived as most remarkable with local kitchen – an impression that can only be supported by personal oberservations and expands the offer considerably. Improvements refer also to the quality of accommodation, the cultural offer, the sports and entertainment offer, to care for the environment as well as the price/offer relation. Just in the fields of excursions, congress and health tourism, souvenirs and children programmes respondents stated decline. For a long-term visitor this is perhaps most obvious with souvenirs,

where the former in fact external, but original filigree, wood and copper work has not been replaced by typical autochthonous handwork, but by ubiquitous stuff, mostly imported from Taiwan and Korea.

Results for sub-regions and in many cases also for individual destinations deviate very often considerably from the regional average. This underlines their individuality and urges specific measures and strategies. It is the particular merit of the study to make all these deviations transparent by presenting and interpreting the results of the inquiry not only for the region in total, but also for sub-regions and individual destinations. This is not only done in verbal form, but very lucidly also by standardised tables and graphs. In conclusion, however, also the results for the region in total are evaluated enabling also action and measures at the regional level.

It is now up to tourism managers and politicians to make proper use of these data by developing strategies and new directions for tourism and in general regional development. It would, however, also be recommendable to start this undertaking again as a concerted effort in co-operation with science.