Sustainability at the center of interest of world tourist destinations: Guests are increasingly choosing sustainable travel

How best to preserve the resources that enrich the most visited destinations? How to win the fight against mass tourism? How to protect cultural and historical heritage?

These are the questions answered by the panel discussion participants "Journey to sustainability - destination experiences!", held in the organization Croatian National Tourist Board as part of the traditional tourist event Days of Croatian tourism, which this year will be held in Rovinj on November 9 and 10 and will be attended by more than 1200 participants. 

He gave an introduction to the discussion Kristjan Staničić, director of HTZ, while emphasizing the very good tourism results in the current part of this year, during which Croatian tourism achieved 20 million arrivals and over 106 million overnight stays. As he said, compared to last year, the above represents a growth of 9 percent in arrivals and 3 percent in overnight stays, while compared to the record year 2019, the above represents an equalization of the results. As a confirmation of the excellent season, director Staničić also recalled the income from tourism, which, according to the Croatian National Bank, should amount to around 14.3 billion euros this year, or around 1.3 billion more than last year.  

"Sustainable tourism contributes to the creation of jobs, increases living standards, improves infrastructure, encourages the development of small businesses and promotes shared responsibility towards the environment and society. As the leading tourist destination of the Mediterranean, we must strive for a balance between tourism development, environmental protection and the satisfaction of the local population", he said director Staničić, adding that the topic of sustainability will remain at the center of interest for many destinations in the coming years. 

The participants of this panel discussion also agreed with this, i.e Viviana Vukelic, director of the HTZ Representative Office in Italy, Danijela Mihalić Đurica, director of the HTZ Representative Office in France, Ivana Vladović, director of the Split-Dalmatia County Tourist Board and Rudi Grula, director of the Tourist Board of Međimurje County.

That's right Vukelic stressed that mass tourism is one of the main obstacles to sustainable tourism. "Italy is struggling vigorously with tourist overcrowding, the best example of which is Venice in an area that cruise ships are not allowed to enter from 2021, while a new challenge will soon be charging for entering the city. Furthermore, Milan is soon planning to introduce a speed limit for cars in certain areas of the city, all in order to implement green goals as quickly and efficiently as possible." she pointed out Vukelic. 

Mihalić Đurica emphasized that France as a country has set itself the goal of being the first country in the world in terms of sustainability by 2030. "Sustainable tourism is actually responsible tourism towards cultural heritage, nature and ourselves. A whole series of activities and measures have already come into effect in order for France to achieve sustainability, such as, for example, as an alternative to air transport for short routes, an extremely developed network of railways has been introduced, with which tourists, as well as the local population, can visit their desired destinations in a very efficient way., she ordered Mihalić Đurica. 

She spoke about the challenges faced by the most popular destinations in the Split-Dalmatia County Ivana Vladović, the director of the county tourist board, who said that due to too much concentration in a small area, we have come to pressure on the infrastructure in a short time.

"We are forced to introduce potential guests to all destinations that they have not discovered, both on the coast and islands, as well as inland and with all the smaller places that enrich our overall offer. Also, we must encourage them to visit us throughout the year, not only during July and August when Dalmatia is overcrowded" she stated Vladovic.   

Međimurje, the first Croatian region and the fourth in the world to join, knows how much the status of a sustainable destination can help in further promoting the destination and attracting new guests. Green Destination certification. Rudi Grula, the director of the county tourist board emphasized that sustainability is actually evolution and that for its realization the most important thing is the systematic resolution of spatial plans which, behind people and humanity, are the fundamental resource for achieving a green transformation. 

In the continuation of today's program at the Days of Croatian Tourism, a panel discussion "AI with personality" will be held, organized by the Croatian Chamber of Commerce, while in the evening, the annual tourism awards ceremony will be held with a live television broadcast.

See the entire panel below in the attachment:

Photo: HTZ