The importance of sustainable tourism in the socio-economic development on the example of Croatia

Abstract

Tourism is one of the largest and simultaneously the most rapidly expanding industries in theworld. Every year, millions of people across the planet are involved in the act of travelling. When vastnumbers of tourists travel to a particular location, a tourist destination, they have a considerable impacton the local community and environment, spatial planning and more. Moreover, in many regions,tourism is a major source of economic development. However, often the interests of the tourism sectorand the local economy are incompatible with those of the environment. The development of tourism inmany cases can cause many positive changes, such as raising the standard of living, the inflow of capital, although – as often happens – along with numerous positive changes, the development of tourismcan cause a series of negative changes. These are visible, in particular, in air pollution, overexploitationof the environment, lack of respect for a region’s culture and history, such as non-planned activities andbuilding “second homes” near monuments or on a unique green area. So far, the development of tourismwas based on meeting the aspirations of entrepreneurs and tourists, their convenience and interest,without caring about the interests of conserving natural resources or caring for the local community.At present, what is crucial for the successful management and also for the market positioning of eachparticular branch of the economy, especially tourism, is sustainable development. Tourism can also besustainable if the development meets the needs of both tourists and local residents, whilst preservingand protecting both tangible and intangible assets. The aim of this article is the presentation of the principlesof sustainable development based on the example of the tourism sector in Croatia. The objectiveof this study is to analyse the positive and negative impact of tourism on tourist destinations, the localcommunity, the environment and the economy. The author wishes to demonstrate that, by introducinga model of sustainable tourism development, it is possible to achieve an increase in socio-economicgrowth, as well as overall sustainability and balance in the region.