Tourism and Hospitality Management (Jun 2014)
Spatial resources in the development of tourism destinations (case study Kvarner)
Abstract
Purpose – This paper studies the problems and specific issues related to tourism and coastal urbanism, namely through an analysis of the tourist's, the resident’s and tourism management's evaluation of the elements of the tourist offer related to space, environment and sustainable development in the tourist region of Kvarner (Croatia). Design - The strategic guidelines for tourism development must be based on the principles of sustainable development, that is, on a balanced relation between the economic, physical, environmental and social factors of development. This includes the preservation of urban and spatial alignment and overall development. Methodology / Approach – Empirical research was conducted using a sophisticated questionnaire adapted to each target group (tourists, residents, tourism management), printed in Croatian, English, German and Italian. A Likert scale with both open- and closed ended questions was used, ranging from 1(worst) to 7 (best). The latter part of the questionnaire evaluated 37 tourism offer elements. The collected questionnaires were encrypted and statistically analysed. The method of one-to-one interviewing was mostly used in gathering data, although the questionnaire was self-administered by respondents in a small number of cases. Findings – It is indicative that tourists (5.79) have, on the average, rated the elements of the tourism offering with a higher score than residents (5.31), while the score given by tourism management is somewhere in between (5.61). This suggests that residents are more critical, but also more aware, of the need for improvement in all elements of the tourism offering. Priority is given to the natural factors (5.56). These results indicate that all target groups agree that natural factors - space, resources and the environment- must be protected. Originality of the research – This study provides reliable and actual basic quantitative and qualitative information about the attitudes of tourists, residents and tourism management toward the tourism offer of Kvarner and its destinations.
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