Criteria for planning sustainable tourism development zones in coastal regions: case study of Croatia

Abstract

Spatial planning of tourism zones outside settlements is of crucial importance to tourism development in Croatia as the characteristics of tourism zones significantly impact on the competitiveness of tourism products being created there. The issue is of particular significance for tourism development of Croatia’s highly pressured protected coastal area. Despite the country’s long established tradition of spatial and tourism planning a critical, multidisciplinary and integrated planning of tourism zones is still largely missing. This paper proposes a system of interrelated ecological, social and economic criteria for evaluating and planning of tourism zones in Croatia. The system is envisioned as a tool contributing to spatial planning of sustainable tourism development.