Did you know that the origin of the modern concept of tourism dates to the 17th century? As Europeana writes, during that century, young noblemen from Western and Northern European countries organized the famous Grand Tour, or journey across Europe, with the purpose of absorbing history, art, and cultural heritage. By the 18th century, this custom had spread among the wealthier classes as well as to other parts of the world, such as America.
In the mid-19th century, tourism found fertile ground in Croatia as well. And since then, as you’ll agree, much has truly changed.
– Tourism in Croatia has long ceased to be considered a side job. That was the case maybe 30 years ago or more, when tourism was associated with grandparents having a house by the sea where Hans and his Helga would come every summer. And they were in a happy marriage and happy tourism. However, today, the average traveler wants to visit 45 cities in the same day, which is the reason why tourism has become the primary business for many Croats. Economically, this is not bad, but in terms of the environment, it is unsustainable, – commented Marko Mišulić, executive director of the application for hotels, hostels, small landlords, and property managers, Rentlio, at the LEAP In conference in Split on April 11.
Dr. Ante Mandić, assistant professor at the Department of Tourism and Economics at the Faculty of Economics, University of Split, agreed with him, pointing out that besides individuals having bigger appetites today, there is also a larger number of people traveling.
– We need to break the stigma associated with mass tourism. Tourism will always be mass. Some 40 years ago, about 400,000 people traveled annually, and today the number has risen to 1.47 billion people. So, tourism is a mass phenomenon. The more money we have, the more we will travel. Before, people traveled once a year, and today we all travel two or three times a year. In fact, if you haven’t gone anywhere every two months, you feel like jumping out of your skin. There’s no doubt that tourism is massive, but the question is how we manage that massiveness, – he said.
In addition to discussing the changes Croatian tourism has undergone in recent decades, the conference also questioned what this country would be like without tourism. What can tourism workers do to improve it, and how can we prevent (or at least minimize) the negative impact of this activity on the environment? These and similar questions were posed to the panelists – the mentioned Marko Mišulić and Ante Mandić, as well as Iva Kegalj, executive director of the travel agency Litto Agency – by head of the Communication and Advocacy Department at Sunce, and panel moderator of Preserving Paradise: Sustainability at the Heart of Dalmatia, Maja Jurić.
“In terms of sustainability, Croatia mainly writes laws”
In her opening remarks, Maja first explained to the conference attendees that the concept of sustainable tourism could be defined as the intelligent management of tourist resources.
– In Croatia, we have a lot of natural and cultural wealth, we have great potential to create some special offerings, and it’s great that Croatia has embarked on the path of sustainability. What Croatia does very well in this regard is writing and incorporating EU laws into her strategies and laws. Because of that practice, we have predicted that tourism must be based on improving environmental protection, preserving natural resources, and sustainably managing tourist offerings. This is very important for achieving climate neutrality, which is the context of every strategy, including this one. Remember that there can be no tourism if we have floods and fires or if the sea level rises in front of the house you built a meter from the shore, – emphasized Jurić.
Croatian legislation and regulatory bodies are aware of all this, but as the professor from the Faculty of Economics explained, regarding sustainability, Croatia often looks good on paper, while in reality, that’s not the case.
– The only thing that prevented us from ending up like Loretta Mare and Zakynthos, the so-called concrete destinations, was the Homeland War. Because, while nothing was happening over those ten years due to the war in Croatia, those destinations were heading towards mass tourism, and everything was concreted there. However, the way we approach tourism now shows that we won’t be any better. Just look at the Makarsko Primorje region – people are there packed like sardines in summer. It’s an urban planning disaster because new settlements of luxury apartments are being built without, for example, connection to public sewage, – said Professor Mandić.
Green spaces in the city are extremely important
The reason such oversights occur, the professor explains, is that tourism development is managed without a concrete consideration of negative consequences. For example, as Marko added, a few years ago Booking informed them that Croatia was among the top five destinations in the world in terms of the number of accommodation units available on their platform. Unfortunately, this is a “top five” where you don’t want to appear because more accommodation units mean less greenery.
In general, green spaces in urban infrastructure are very important because they help reduce urban heat, filter polluted air, regulate climate, and improve human mental health and well-being.
Sunce was aware of this issue when it signed a cooperation agreement for the development of sustainable tourism with Split-Dalmatia County in 2019. As part of this agreement, Sunce became the holder of the Dalmatia Green ecological certificate, intended for private tourist accommodation facilities determined to green their business and provide guests with a unique stay in harmony with nature and the local community.
First, we need to educate tourism workers, and then travellers
– Everything in tourism is left to the private sector, and tourism develops thanks to entrepreneurs, but the public sector, tourist boards, and ministries need to start taking on some responsibility, especially regarding education, – says Ante, who educates numerous students on this topic every year.
However, just because someone who is now working in tourism isn’t educated in the formal system, it doesn’t mean they are a lost cause. The professor believes that people in the public sector should strive to ensure that information about sustainable tourism reaches all its stakeholders.
– There’s always room for improvement if there are those willing to listen, – the professor said briefly.
One of those who “listened” was Iva, once an economics student and now the owner of a travel agency whose guiding principle in business is sustainability.
– As a company, we implemented many sustainable practices, for example, we all drive electric cars, but I think we have the least say and the least impact on increasing sustainable management in Croatian tourism. The only thing we can perhaps do is promote accommodation that has implemented these sustainable practices, but unfortunately, our experience has shown that a small number of travellers seek such things when choosing accommodation. They appreciate this type of accommodation, but generally don’t seek it out. That’s why it’s important for tourism workers to change first, and then travellers will follow, – said Kegalj.
A change in the behavior of tourism workers must first happen in their awareness and then in practice. Marko, who is originally from Zadar, confirmed that this has not yet happened. As he described, when news came in March that Venice had banned anchoring at their shore and those ships redirected to Zadar, his fellow citizens celebrated it as a victory. Yes, this may imply more earnings in tourism, but this activity also causes a significant deterioration in the state of Posidonia oceanica meadows within the Natura 2000 area.
The arrival of more ships often entails concreting or the construction of marinas, which destroy our natural coastlines.
We still prioritize quantity over quality
– The city of Split as a destination is not sustainable because an investor who buys a 500-square-meter plot usually maximizes the space for construction on it and ultimately omits greenery. That’s our reality; those are our weekly meetings, and unfortunately, everyone gets permission for that. What it will look like in the future, I have no idea. Who will come to those apartments, who will rent them out, who will pay for them, and how will the infrastructure bear it? We really don’t know, – expressed Kegalj.
The other panelists agreed with her, further emphasizing that Croats still count every year how many tourists cross their border, thinking that the more there are, the better the tourism is. The truth is entirely different, and there are not enough people who understand it.
– I think sincere stories about sustainability still, like most things in our country, happen at an individual level. And you can now find in Croatia two chains, 20 hotels, and 2000 landlords who are extremely sustainable. However, that’s a drop in the ocean because Croatia has more than 300,000 units in private accommodation, more than 70,000 units in hotel accommodation, and highly developed nautical tourism. The pressure on destinations, people’s lives, real estate, greenery, and air has reached a level so high that it’s the question of whether we have tools to turn this around? – Marko wondered at the end.
Students participating in Sunce’s Career for Green, Digital, and Sustainable Tourism project also realized that sustainable tourism became a necessity. They learned that digital marketing could help raise awareness, educate travellers, and promote sustainable tourism worldwide. So they wrote articles on sustainable tourism for Sunce’s Live Green page. We hope that young people, aware of the dangers of mass tourism and armed with new knowledge, will be ready to implement sustainable tourism in practice.