TOURISM RESOURCE MANAGEMENT ON THE EXAMPLE OF TOURISM DEVELOPMENT IN THE PUNAT COVE ON THE ISLAND OF KRK

Abstract

The Punat Cove is one of the most striking features of the indented coastline of the island of Krk. The bay is fairly well sheltered and in the past it was a Karst valley which was later flooded by the sea. This region has favourable natural resources as well as rich anthropogenic tourist resources such as the Old Croatian chapel of St. Dunata and the Franciscan monastery and church on the island of Kosljun. The tourist development of the Punat Cove began in the second half of the 19th cent, with the arrival of individuals and organized groups of holiday-makers visiting the Franciscan monastery and church on Kosljun island. As early as 1876, the Bishop requested that a list of visitors to the island be kept by the Franciscan monks. At the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, hotels and restaurants began to appear in the town of Punat. A Swimming Club was founded and in 1912 the first small private beach was opened. During the period between the two World Wars, new boarding-houses and hotels were built, a large new beach was constructed and the coastal zone was reforested and leveled. Following 1945, tourism in Punat was known for its company vacation homes and children’s rest homes, its newly built motor camps and hotels and its marina which was to become the largest in the Adriatic Sea. Companies which were founded through the various phases of tourist development in the Punat Cove played a profound role in the management of tourism resources and the development of tourism. The most evident effect of the modem tourist evaluation of Punat are the recently built settlements of holiday houses south of the old center of Punat. There are about 1000 of these holiday houses in the Punat Municipality, mostly belonging to owners from Zagreb and Rijeka.