Megatrend Revija (Jan 2018)
Croatia as a tourist destination from the perspective of tourists from Serbia
Abstract
Armed conflicts during the 1990s led to the breakup of Yugoslavia and subsequent deterioration of relations between Yugoslav nations, particularly Serbs and Croats. Twenty odd years later, the situation is greatly improved and tourism is regarded as an important factor for promoting peace in both countries. In the recent years, Croatia has been making great efforts through its tourism development strategy to remind Serbian tourists of the charm and beauty of the Croatian coast. In this article, the authors present the results of a survey conducted from December 2012 to March 2014 involving 850 residents from Serbia. The aim of the research was to determine how satisfied Serbian tourists are with Croatia as a tourist destination. The results of factor analysis single out five dimensions of visitor satisfaction of Serbian respondents: 'Tourist infrastructure', 'Services', 'Coast maintenance', 'Safety' and 'Communications'. Authors point out that the general attitude towards Croatia can be explained through 'Coastal maintenance' as the most dominant factor. Destinations which visitors from Serbia choose as the most attractive and the safest are coastal places in the northwest part of Croatia (Istra), whereas inland Croatia and southern parts of the Croatian coastline are still not singled out as potential tourist destinations. Regardless of the above, this research shows that tourism may play a part in the development of peaceful relations between the two nations.
