The World Tourism Organization is a partner in establishing the Center for Sustainable Tourism in Croatia

Minister of Tourism and Sports Nikolina Brnjac and Secretary General of the World Tourism Organization Zurab Pololikashvili today in the National and University Library in Zagreb, the Ministry of Tourism and Sports and the World Tourism Organization (UN Tourism) signed a Memorandum of Understanding on mutual cooperation and the establishment of the Center for Sustainable Tourism in Croatia.

The memorandum is the basis for the establishment of a research and development center that will be an independent public institution, and within the framework of the MoU, UN Tourism and the Ministry will cooperate in the implementation of initiatives and projects, with a focus on research and development related to sustainable policies in tourism, promoting sustainable tourism, creating guidelines and recommendations for the development of sustainable tourism, sharing knowledge and best practices for sustainable tourism, as well as transferring knowledge about managing the development of sustainable tourism.

The establishment of the Center is an initiative of the World Tourism Organization, motivated by the recognition of Croatia as a leader of positive changes and innovations in the creation of sustainable tourism policies at the global level.

"The establishment of the first Center for Sustainable Tourism in Croatia in cooperation with the most relevant global organization for tourism, UN Tourism, is a great honor and the best compliment to our reform. It is also a fantastic opportunity to strengthen the recognition of Croatia as a leader in sustainable tourism, as well as for our academic and the scientific community, for whom this Center is an additional opportunity to improve global cooperation in various areas that affect the development of sustainable tourism. That is why it is great news that the University of Zagreb has expressed interest in being a partner in this project and involving a wide range of stakeholders from Croatian and international academic and scientific communities", she said Grinjak and added that during her mandate she tried to involve the academic and scientific community in the creation of policies, because she believes that the creation of tourism policy in Croatia is an extremely responsible job, which must be based on data and analysis.

"This is precisely why the academic and scientific community was involved in the creation of our most important documents, from the Scientific Council for Tourism and Space of HAZU, to which we first presented the draft of our Law on Tourism, to the Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management in Opatija, with which cooperated on the creation of the Strategy, the Institute for Tourism, with which we are developing satellite accounts of sustainable tourism, as well as eminent professors and scientists who are members of the working groups for the drafting of by-laws of the Tourism Act. of expert advice with the task of proposing measures and activities that will contribute to the sustainable development of tourism."

The minister recalled that in this mandate, a strategic framework was created for the management of tourism development in the direction of sustainability, the first Law on Tourism was passed which will enable such management, and record funds of 1,3 billion euros were secured to achieve the goals.

"By establishing the Center for Sustainable Tourism, we will achieve the prerequisites for transparent and responsible creation of tourism policy through the availability of up-to-date and relevant research in all areas that can contribute to the development of sustainable tourism. If we want to truly manage the development of tourism, we need such research", she concluded Grinjak.

"Croatia leads as an example in the development of sustainable tourism and that is why it was chosen as the location of the first Center for Sustainable Tourism, which will further encourage innovation and positive changes in the tourism sector. The new research center in Zagreb will contribute to the creation of data-based policies at the regional, national and destination level, ensuring responsible and inclusive tourism development, for the benefit of communities everywhere. Tourism is a key economic sector, and as trade in services was the third largest export earning category after fuels and chemicals in 2019, we need a science-based approach to tourism sustainability ", said the general secretary, welcoming the cooperation Pololikashvili.

According to the rules of UN Tourism, the Center will be established as an independent legal entity in cooperation with the academic community. The partner in the project to establish the Center for Sustainable Tourism is the University of Zagreb, the largest and best-ranked university in Croatia, with the capacity for interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary research that needs to be connected in order to develop sustainable tourism, as well as to ensure the independent performance of the Center's administrative and financial functions.

"The establishment of the Center for Sustainable Tourism in Croatia is an exceptional opportunity for our academic community to actively participate in the creation and promotion of sustainable tourism practices that are key to the future of tourism in the Republic of Croatia. It will enable us to further develop our scientific and professional knowledge in the field of sustainable tourism , which will not only contribute to the academic excellence and reputation of the University of Zagreb, but will also have a wider social and economic impact, promoting Croatia as a destination committed to sustainability and innovation in tourism. We believe that this center will become a leading regional center for research and development sustainable tourism, and we expect that the fruits of this partnership will be long-lasting and that they will significantly contribute to the education of our students and the preservation of the natural and cultural resources of our country.", pointed out the rector Stjepan Lakušić.

The signing was also attended by representatives of the Croatian tourism sector, who contributed to the creation of the reform of tourism development management.

"The development of sustainable tourism has no alternative. We realized this in time and through the Tourism Act in Croatia created a good platform for managing tourism in a responsible manner. This has been recognized at the international level and this is an acknowledgment that we are on the right path. I am sure that we will know how to justify the trust given to us and become a leader in the development of tourism of the future - sustainable tourism"he said Željko Kukurin.

"This future Center will make an exceptional contribution to us hoteliers, because we will now have data based on professional foundations on which we will base the further development of our offer. I am happy that Croatia is the center of the development of sustainable tourism and that we have also contributed to this through our participation.", she pointed out Josipa Jutt Ferlan.

"I would like to thank the minister for all the activities so far that have really positioned us as a leader in the development of sustainable tourism, which made us more recognizable on the world map, but also more importantly more competitive", he said Tomislav Fain.

"All of us in the tourism sector are extremely proud of today's signing, which will make Croatia a center for the development of sustainable tourism. It is actually the fruit of all the previous activities, and I am sure that we will continue in this direction.", He said Rudolf Stefan.

Croatia has been a member of the World Tourism Organization (which this year re-branded as UN Tourism, abandoning the previous acronym UNWTO) since 1993. For the third time, she was elected as a member of the Executive Council of UN Tourism for the term until 2025, as well as for the vice-chair of the Committee for Tourism and Sustainability for the term until 2026. In the last four years, the Ministry of Tourism and Sports has intensively cooperated with UN Tourism in the development and promotion of sustainable tourism, including the organization of a joint round table at the UN High-Level Forum for Sustainable Development in New York on the topic of sustainable tourism, as well as through active participation in the negotiations regarding the Resolution on sustainable tourism, which UN Tourism prepares every year for adoption at the General Assembly of the United Nations.

Source and photo: MINTS