Abstract
Benchmarking is essential for developing destinations to improve and develop their service delivery. Croatia is a well-established summer tourism destination, but more remote (inland) destinations seek to increase their competitiveness to help sustain Croatian tourism year-round—to diversify tourism offerings beyond the (more traditional) sea and sun opportunities. Expanding Croatia’s tourism offer will require additional investments, not only in coastal destinations but in rural continental areas as well. Looking at how more established rural and winter destinations are planned and managed, this paper seeks to discuss how Croatia can learn from its neighbour Slovenia which has well-established winter sports destinations (in rural areas). This is where a benchmarking approach, building on a comparative analysis conducted through fieldwork research contributes new insight. Research was conducted in both Pokljuka (Slovenia) and Gorski kotar (Croatia) between 2015 and 2017. Three different procedures were used to collect data: (1) documental research of the destinations, facilities and events, (2) on site visits involving qualitative interviews and conversations with key stakeholders and (3) direct observation of the destination while attending events. Three emergent themes best reflected the analysed insights from the data collection: infrastructure, business operations and community involvement/stakeholder participation. To assess different points of service offering and delivery, discussions in Pokljuka were framed around sports tourism opportunities and their established business models to understand planning, management, organisation and service delivery. These same three points are then discussed as opportunities for Gorski kotar. To reiterate the benchmarking focus, first research must present a comparative analysis and then put emphasis on planning and managing service delivery to help highlight how insight from a well-established destination informs emerging destinations with tourism potential.
Highlights
Benchmarking is used in business studies and across a range of disciplines to evaluate and compare practices based on an industry standard (Moriarty, 2011)
We consider the ‘rural’ as well because this paper draws from cases in more remote mountainous areas, as this is in line with attempts and national tourism strategies to further diversify Croatia’s tourism offering beyond the coastal destinations
When we look at the events and supplemental experiences offered in Pokljuka, it is useful for planners in Gorski kotar to attend some of the service offerings to inspire similar activities locally
Summary
Benchmarking is used in business studies and across a range of disciplines (including tourism) to evaluate and compare practices based on an industry standard (Moriarty, 2011). While the aim of benchmarking is to adopt best practices based on industry demands and standards, this can prove difficult in emerging tourism destinations because such an industry relies on a range of stakeholders and a place is dependent upon various factors such as funding, involvement of the community, quality of infrastructure and the natural environment. Research has highlighted that benchmarking is a systematic approach used to develop strategy (Xiang et al, 2007), but as this paper argues, lessons from how an established destination approaches service delivery needs addressed and critically evaluated in a developing destination. This points to the need for comparison and analyses conducted through fieldwork and direct interaction with destination stakeholders. Croatia is regarded as a competitive summer destination, with extensive sea and sun opportunities that have brought much investment and development to the country’s coast, but problems persist in more remote inland destinations that have valuable natural resources but largely remain underdeveloped, or lack strategic planning and management agendas aimed at competitive service delivery
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