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In-Depth Information
postponed much-needed marketing, product
and spatial diversification (Hall, 2003).
Croatia, and since then has lived and worked
abroad as a tourism academic in the 'West'.
By contrast, Sanda
D
orak is currently the
Director of the Institute for Tourism, which as
a governmental research institution, constantly
needs to maintain a balance between the aca-
demic agenda and research for tourism industry
and policy needs. Working in the Institute for the
last 20 years, and being at the interface between
various tourism stakeholders within the private
and public sectors, she has a rich experience of
observing
Aims and Objectives: from the
Economic to the Cultural
Against this backdrop, the aim of the chapter is
twofold. First, it will present an overview of tour-
ism development in Croatia in the local context
of post-conflict recovery and the regional con-
text of new Europe. Building on Hall's (2003)
work on rejuvenation and diversification of
tourism in the Eastern Adriatic, we will provide
a brief historical background with the particular
focus on the last few years. Second, we respond
to the urge made by Coles and Hall (2005,
pp. 53-54) to 'go beyond the rhetoric and
hyperbole of sweeping generalisations made by
(EU) tourism industry spokespersons', to pro-
vide an insider/cultural perspective by Croatian
authors. Hall (2002, 2003, 2004) has raised
this point elsewhere, pointing to the CEE's eco-
nomic transition literature which dominantly
stresses political and economic factors whilst
social, cultural and psychological conditions
remain overshadowed.
Therefore, the first part of the chapter will
give a structuralist account of likely and future
tourism development. The second part will
deconstruct the economic (mostly statistical)
generalizations in an attempt to unravel the
complexity of culture and values that shape
tourism processes 'on the ground'. Facing the
prospect of joining the EU in 2007, which basi-
cally requires conformity to EU governance and
economic and social reorganizations, the issue
of local values, traditions, attitudes and prac-
tices is critical. Our articulation of the cultural
is necessarily founded on a reflexive under-
standing of insider perspectives. We argue that
growing up in the early stages of the Croatian
tourism boom in the 1970s, and subsequently
making tourism the choice for our academic
careers, provide a useful historical and ethno-
graphic position from which to comment on
what lies behind contemporary change.
We draw on our similar but distinctive life
experiences. Irena Ateljevic was born in a small
Adriatic fishing/tourist village and spent her
first 27 years 'breathing and living' tourism in
dynamics
of
tourism
processes
in
Croatia.
Tourism Development in Croatia: a
Historical Background
The origins of Croatian tourism can be traced
back to the 19th century when a few popular
seaside/health resorts, such as Opatija and Hvar
were hosting the European aristocracy of the
time. After World War II, the coast became
popular as a holiday destination for the domes-
tic population of Yugoslavia. Because of a
shortage of formal accommodation facilities, the
local population started to be involved heavily
in tourism, renting their own rooms, apartments
and houses to tourists. Statistical data were first
collected by the Central Bureau of Statistics in
1960 with 10 million overnights recorded (see
Fig. 22.1) (Weber, 1998). The initial domestic
demand was followed by the rapid growth of
international tourism in the late 1960s and early
1970s as a result of three key factors:
Yugoslavia
fully
opened
its
borders
to
●
tourists from Western Europe;
the state began supporting tourism devel-
opment by giving very favourable loans
for major hotel investment which became
'socially owned' enterprises; and
●
the accessibility of the Adriatic coast and
islands was improved by building new
roads, notably the Adriatic Highway, and
improving ferry links.
●
When tourism brought prosperity to
coastal Croatia, it slowed down the depopula-
tion (mostly economic emigration to Western
Europe and the USA) that had characterized
much of maritime Yugoslavia and particularly
the islands (Weber
et al
., 2001). Being part of
