Page 58 - Koderman, Miha, and Vuk Tvrtko Opačić. Eds. 2020. Challenges of tourism development in protected areas of Croatia and Slovenia. Koper, Zagreb: University of Primorska Press, Croatian Geographical Society
P. 58
challenges of tourism development in protected areas of croatia and slovenia
The goal of this chapter is to discern factors contributing to the afore-
mentioned trends and the impacts of such developments. Therefore, sta-
tistical indicators were analysed to show the development of the visitation
system in Krka National Park, as well as changes in the number of tour-
ist arrivals and overnight stays in the general vicinity of the Park. In or-
der to fully explore how the development of tourism relates to local devel-
opment, a case study of the Town of Drniš was conducted. Data collection
was based on interviews and conversations. Four interviews with local ac-
tors—representatives of the Town of Drniš administration, the local tour-
ist board, family agricultural holdings that offer tourism-related servic-
es, and Krka National Park—were conducted in August and October 2019.
Additionally, three interviews conducted in October 2015 within the scope
of the CRORURIS3 project, with the Town mayor, a representative of the
Local Action Group, and an entrepreneur were used to provide an overview
of the general development context and compare development trends. The
interviews lasted between 30 and 90 minutes.
The structure of the chapter is as follows. First, several points related
to the development of rural tourism, especially in the context of protect-
ed areas, are presented. Second, protection, recreation and tourism devel-
opment in Krka National Park are analysed, together with the trends vis-
ible in the surrounding areas. Finally, factors of development and impacts
of rural tourism are explored in the case of the Town of Drniš, as one of the
local government units participating in the territory of the Park.
Protected areas and rural tourism
Preservation and protection without serious consideration regarding the
area immediately beyond the boundaries of a given protected area were
the basic elements of the concept of protected areas until the middle of the
20th century. By the end of the same century, the paradigm had come to in-
clude an integrated approach in protected area policy, incorporating pro-
tected areas as well as their surroundings. This approach attempts to satisfy
the interests of protection and use, seeing (especially) larger protected ar-
eas as tools of sustainable regional development (Mose and Weixlbaumer,
2007), which can provide impulses for tourism development, marketing of
3 The research project CRORURIS (2014–2017) developed a set of alternative future
scenarios for Croatian rural areas in 2030 (See: Lukić and Radeljak Kaufmann,
2017).
56
The goal of this chapter is to discern factors contributing to the afore-
mentioned trends and the impacts of such developments. Therefore, sta-
tistical indicators were analysed to show the development of the visitation
system in Krka National Park, as well as changes in the number of tour-
ist arrivals and overnight stays in the general vicinity of the Park. In or-
der to fully explore how the development of tourism relates to local devel-
opment, a case study of the Town of Drniš was conducted. Data collection
was based on interviews and conversations. Four interviews with local ac-
tors—representatives of the Town of Drniš administration, the local tour-
ist board, family agricultural holdings that offer tourism-related servic-
es, and Krka National Park—were conducted in August and October 2019.
Additionally, three interviews conducted in October 2015 within the scope
of the CRORURIS3 project, with the Town mayor, a representative of the
Local Action Group, and an entrepreneur were used to provide an overview
of the general development context and compare development trends. The
interviews lasted between 30 and 90 minutes.
The structure of the chapter is as follows. First, several points related
to the development of rural tourism, especially in the context of protect-
ed areas, are presented. Second, protection, recreation and tourism devel-
opment in Krka National Park are analysed, together with the trends vis-
ible in the surrounding areas. Finally, factors of development and impacts
of rural tourism are explored in the case of the Town of Drniš, as one of the
local government units participating in the territory of the Park.
Protected areas and rural tourism
Preservation and protection without serious consideration regarding the
area immediately beyond the boundaries of a given protected area were
the basic elements of the concept of protected areas until the middle of the
20th century. By the end of the same century, the paradigm had come to in-
clude an integrated approach in protected area policy, incorporating pro-
tected areas as well as their surroundings. This approach attempts to satisfy
the interests of protection and use, seeing (especially) larger protected ar-
eas as tools of sustainable regional development (Mose and Weixlbaumer,
2007), which can provide impulses for tourism development, marketing of
3 The research project CRORURIS (2014–2017) developed a set of alternative future
scenarios for Croatian rural areas in 2030 (See: Lukić and Radeljak Kaufmann,
2017).
56
