Vlado Galicic, Ph
Vlado Galičić, Ph. D.
University of Rijeka
Faculty for Tourism and Hospitality Management Opatija
Primorska 42, P.P. 97
Tel. ++385 51 292 633
Fax ++385 51 291 965
e-mail:
SELECTIVE ARRANGEMENT OF TOURISM IN FUNCTION OF INCREASE OF TOURIST CONSUMPTION
Summary
Development of tourist entrepreneur is an integrated component and assumption for faster process of restructuration and development of Croatian tourist offer. Knowledge and stimulative surroundings, readiness for work, executable economic idea and capital are only some of prerequisite for successful development of entrepreneur and successful business dealing. More and more tourists coming on vacations wish different alternative programs within which high standard hotels are not the reason or motive for their arrival, but merely a presumption. The proof that we have been increasingly desisting from the old-fashioned Croatian tourist formula "sun and sea" vacation on the Adriatic summer resorts, are number of versatile activities, offered to tourists in recent years, interested for active and adventurous vacations. Tourists want to relax on their vacations and enjoy, discovering leisure as a category in the modern society, which is orientated on adventure.
Key words: tourism, selective forms of offers, tourist consumption, and entrepreneur.
1. INTRODUCTION
Actual fundamental characteristics of the world tourist trends: globalization, standardization, segmentation and informatization impose to all those in charge of tourist offer the need define such a tourist product, which shall be so attractive with its content to find the part of the public that shall consume it in the end.
This perception speaks in favor of the theses that for certain tourist offer, the very essential element of research of tourist market and defining of the segment of tourist demand for which by its activities should be: to call attention (Attention), rouse interest (Interest), challenge desire (Desire) and encourage action (Action).
Thus it concerns commercial and promotional message, which aim is to stress which of the four psychological rules should incorporate each advertising message. This message (AIDA) is valid for any message which is meant to win over, certain segments of ever growing demands and more hard to please tourist demands, which are meant for them.
As anticipated by the World Tourist Organization, tourism at the beginning of the new millennium shall be marked with increased interest of tourists for cruises, adventures, and eco-tourism, new ways of organization of introduction of natural, cultural, and social resources have been created. At the same time, marketing of new products is turned to agencies, in direct contact with guests, and prepared to make more serious partner relationships with them.
Everything that at the present moment is different from the classic tourist offer – sea and sun, has been already achieving great success. Some kinds of pioneers of tourist innovation, who have been brave enough to offer something new and fresh, are already harvesting fruits of their enthusiasm.
Thanks to ideas and efforts on part of individual entrepreneurs, something new is about to emerge, which shall already tomorrow bear full tourist offer, for determined tourist destination. Of course, classical rest with the sea and sun shall never die out, since, at least for now, we preserved coast and clean sea. On further development of similar, different from standard activities could result prolongation of tourist season, which represents one of the fundamental aims of the entire tourist offer.
2. NEW TOURIST VISIONS
When we come to the organization of the entire tourist situation, it should be pointed out that everything that does not fit the frame of classic tourist offer, puts great strain on those creating new types of offer, so as to increase tourist consumptions. Results achieved so far in development of selective types of tourist offer show that it is worth to make investments in courageous ideas, in spite of relative inertness of those managing tourist politics.
Impossibility to furthermore increase tourist turnover requires determined measures and enactment of strategic decisions. Strategic and operative market plans should give replies to concrete tourist product, position and role in area planning, including communication with the market.
Nowadays tourists, customers, have become aware that their vacations should undoubtedly free them from stress, and that they cannot achieved it on places where they are faced with same experiences from their everyday life (traffic noise, jam, bad food, fun in smoky rooms, etc.). We have here one really new type of tourists and tourism, which will certainly in the future change the theory, but also concrete behavior in this line of business, in the world same as in our country.
The program "rest for soul", diverse programs for ecologic, health, and spiritual engagements, exclusively with vegetarian food, suppose an innovation in the new tourist vision. All those engaged in tourist offer at a determined tourist destination should unavoidably make efforts to produce ecological food products, protect environment, promote personal ecology and educate public about need to mutually work on affirmation and realization of potentials that Croatia has, as the country of health food and rest.
The new stream of ecologic, health, and spiritually conscious tourist are formed on the emission tourist market, who more and more make emphases on importance of physical activity, stress reduction technologies and different negative emotions, encouragement of spiritual self development, information on ecoproducts and ecologic activities, and similar.
The new tourist programs and offers should be conceived in the way to cover total biopsychosocial human status, or they should consider physical activities, relaxation psychophysical methods, and spiritual self-development with a special accent on balanced health nourishment. Those programs should be on the trace of replacement of mass market on targeted segments, or one product from number of competitive ones, because the approach to the modern market protects subtle approach, enabling modern tourists to feel an offered service as an emotional fulfillment.
Different types and forms of tourist offers are proposed through its expansion, under the one fundamental prerequisite, supposing that to tourist demand is opposed a reach and set network offer from tourist firms, public services, hotels, merchants, and others. (Fig. 1)
Fig. 1.
Croatian tourist product is worn out and the positive trend of increased visits, which have been shown in the last few years, very soon could dwindle already in the few following years. However, recently ratified Strategic Market Plan of Croatian Tourism, in its most part points out precisely the need to overcome this problem, therefore, it stresses the basic strategic development guideline: No countries compete on the tourist market, on the contrary, concrete destination in which are offered specific offers are in competition.
One offer should present a package of alternative tourism for choosy guests, and such an offer shall suppose also the base for increase of tourist effects, or increase of tourist consumption by tourists.
3. MEASURES FOR PROMOTION OF DEVELOPMENT OF SELECTIVE
FORMS OF TOURISM
The aim of the program for promotion of selective forms of tourist offer should definitively include creation of favorable credits for promotion of all forms of tourist offer, stressing those influencing continuation of the season (agro tourism, health tourism, nautical, business, hunting and excursion tourism), but also promotion of tourist offer by reconstruction and modernization of existing capacities, and financial consolidation of entrepreneurs through refusal to finance existing credits.
Since in our country complains by the guests very often, if not most often, refer to lacking, old-fashion, or boring outside entertainment, at the same time developed tourist country do not risk that the guest leaves without unforgettable experience, remembrances, souvenirs. The reason is that they have long time ago found out when are most successful in that when they promote a tourist from a passive onlooker into and active participant.
Tourism is one of a very important economy in Croatia. Comparative advantages with destination characteristics are the opportunity for the Croat tourism. It is justified that in the following period we can expect its contribution to even revival and economic development of our country as a whole.
Particularity of present tourist demands is expressed ecologic consciousness, interest in experiencing typical native settings, and characteristics of the locality, including attraction and diversity of recreational, entertainment, and sports activities. Taking care of mentioned characteristics of Croatian tourism we should redirect them towards increase of quality, while the accent should be put on destination varieties.
Making distance from inherited model of cheap and poor offer in structure of tourist destination is the prerequisite for faster adaptation to the world trends. As far as tourist and hospitality services are concerned and their adaptation to demand, strengthening of the role of the entrepreneur in tourism is considered one strong factor which should be the carrier of the successful business and development.
In order to have easier understandings of particular activities, the Croatian tourism in regard to its characteristics, could be put into several groups: maritime, continental, urban tourism, tourism of tourist centers and rural tourism.
Mentioned groups make specific destination characteristics and their activities play a very important part in them. Geographical, culturological, historical, infrastructural and other characteristics of space and destination influence also certain uniqueness of tourist activities. Accordingly also other special for tourism is developed: health, religious, cultural, nautical, hunting tourism, farm tourism, fishing, gastronomic, residential, homeland, sports and recreation, adventures, educational, transit, camping, tourism close to nature, eco-tourism, mixed types of tourism and other kinds.
Globalization, liberalization, and standardization are the fundamental trends of the world development. Within those trends, the tourism is also adapting and gradually changes from mass and extensive tourism, into responsible and intensive one.
Tourist development opens all the possibilities for finding the market for numerous Croatian products, which stimulates the economy as a whole. The role of small and medium enterprises is believed to play a very important role in that process, because encouragement of such entrepreneur means increases of employment, variety in tourist offer and spending, increase of development stability with expansion of business and development risk.
By founding of small and medium firms development of tourism is realized on the supposition of viable development, existence to local inhabitants is provided, and especially development of rural and island areas. In connection hereto we express the importance of encouraging special forms of tourism (cultural, religious, rural, health, hunting, nautical and others), which should be built on conception of "viable tourist development".
Of course, role of the state is unavoidable in all the fields relevant for tourism. It especially refers to the direct financing of construction of infrastructure, special-purpose transfers from the state budget, subventions and credits approved to family, small and medium firms.
Development of small family hospitality, tourist objects with local and other specific characteristics is one of the elements of the process of restructuration and development of our tourist offer on which we persist and encourage.
4. DEVELOPMENT OF SELECTIVE FORM OF TOURIST OFFER
It is positive that each year we record bigger and bigger number of valuable and encouraging economic initiatives and innovative tourist projects. The biggest problem is poor traffic connections (which is the biggest limiting factor for success of Croatian tourism), because good road infrastructure opens great development possibilities.
Tourist offer should be formulated in more meaningful, more attractive, and more active way. Selective forms improve total Croatian tourist offer, while limitation of tourist development is not found in tourism, but first of all in political and development surroundings, and as long as it is not accepted and we do not start to look the tourism as one of the methods of economic development, its development potential will not be exploit to greater degree.
Responsible creators of the entire tourist politics have the assignment to create new tourist and road maps, which shall direct tourists to areas where they can consume selective forms of tourism. Since it concerns newer forms of offer, these maps should be updated and clear to potential users of services, offered by selective forms of tourism.
These forms of tourist offer are reflected in adventure tourism, offer of extreme sports, antistress programs, Robinson tourism on lighthouses, ecotourism, agro tourism, different forms of the offer within nautical tourism, wellness programs either in close or open hotel pools, different forms of health tourism, and others.
When we add to that congress, health, farm, cultural, sport, hunting, weekend, fishing, ecologic and all the other specialized offers rather than the summer one, we can easily realize that classic and old-fashioned form of offer, season swimming and sunbathing supposes only a smaller part of the total tourist consumption.
5. CONCLUSION
In recent years interest of European tourists is redirected towards closer destinations, which they can reach by car, ships, or trains, and Croatia is one of the nearest of them.
When we know that there exists European all year around demands, and on the other part insufficiently used capacities, it is impossible not to accept the tourist sector as one of the biggest and fastest realizable developing chance for Croatia.
For transfer to the all year around business deals it is necessary make full turn of thinking of all participants in the tourist offer, and transfer to the essentially different system of action, different to the present one, in which summer, the greatest tourist demand, will be only an oscillation, but under no circumstances exclusive support of business.
For increase of total tourist consumption and exploitation of all available complementary potentials for development of tourism, it is necessary to create the national plan, which should resolve and coordinate questions, which shall defined tourist markets, managed all year around, secure mass and free of charge education of small tourist entrepreneurs and agencies for aggressive marketing through Internet, and give an effective support to the development of all possible selective forms of tourist offer.
Fig. 1 Structural elements of tourist offer in regard to tourist demands
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