AN OVERVIEW OF YACHTING TOURISM AND ITS ROLE IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF COASTAL AREAS OF CROATIA

Authors : Stelios IOANNIDIS

Pages : 30-43

View : 45 | Download : 9

Publication Date : 2019-12-24

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :The economic growth, which took place in the last 3 decades in Europe, helped for yachting tourism to be placed as a considerable option for holidays. Croatia has achieved to become the top yachting destination worldwide during the last years. The current paper, overviews the literature of yachting tourism and meta-analyzes the significant role of yachting in the economic development of Croatia, based on data sourced from the Croatian Bureau Of Statistics. An overall image of the tourism activity in Croatia is provided, from which the differences between the coastal and non-coastal areas of the country become clear. Content analysis of the literature review on yachting tourism, along with data analysis have been conducted. With the use of comparative content analysis, the connection between yachting tourism activity and economic development in Croatia is clearly demonstrated. Furtherly, data on accommodations and tourists arrivals for the period 1998-2018 has been employed to highlight the disproportion in the rhythm of development between the Adriatic zone of the country and the inner parts of Croatia. For all coastal areas, the contribution of yachting tourism in local and state economy and the local communities it is more than characteristic. Official data about marinas and employment in marinas for the period 2012 – 2017 is presented and furtherly edited for this purpose. 
Keywords : Yachting, marina, Croatia, economy, tourism

ORIGINAL ARTICLE URL