Page 82 - 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. 82
challenges of tourism development in protected areas of croatia and slovenia
2017). In the mid-1950s, residents in Goveđari, a settlement located next to
the lakes, started to rent rooms in their houses to tourists but only few do-
mestic tourists were visiting the island at the time (Šubić, 1995). The turning
point in tourism development was the establishment of Mljet National Park
in 1960, the construction of the first hotel on St. Mary’s Island in the Great
Lake, and the construction of communal infrastructure (Šubić, 1995; Šulc,
2017). Tourists were attracted by preserved and protected nature, associated
with opportunities for a “sun and sea” holiday. Most of them would come in
summer and stay within the Park; though the island was spared from mass
tourism (in 1966 it recorded 1,603 tourist arrivals and 15,985 overnight stays,
all in Mljet National Park) (Tab. 1).
In the 1970s, overnight tourism started to develop extensively outside
the Park in the small coastal settlements Sobra and Okuklje, but it was
limited to a few private households (Šulc, 2017). In 1978, Hotel Odisej (with
400 beds) was built in Pomena, the entry port to the National Park, which
is the largest project on the island to date (Šulc, 2017). Increases in accom-
modation capacity were not followed by a cooresponding increase in the
number of beds, due to inconsistent registration, but it resulted in rapid
increases in tourism. In 1986, the pre-war peak year, the island registered
11,086 arrivals and 85,718 overnight stays, almost all in the Park (Tab. 1).
The tourism supply remained unchanged and based on the “sun and sea”
concept in highly-preserved natural area, with a rather long average stay
of 7.7 nights. The Park is also a favourite destination for day-trippers from
Dubrovnik, Pelješac Peninsula, and the nearby islands Hvar and Korčula
(Šulc, 2017).
In the late 1980s, tourism started to show the first signs of crisis (Šulc,
2017) and it completely declined when the War started in the early 1990s.
New tourism growth was initiated by the re-opening of the Hotel Odisej
in 1993 and continued to increase up to 2006, when the island reached its
pre-war level of visitation (14,707 arrivals and 70,036 overnight stays). In
the meantime, the other hotel closed and more residents got involved with
tourism by renting apartments in their households. Consequently, in 2006,
the share of the Park in all tourist beds decreased to 48%, while coastal set-
tlements reached 40% and interior settlements 12% (Tab. 1). Although the
structure and travel habits of tourists changed, spending summer holidays
in a preserved natural environment remained the most important motiva-
tion for visitors, due to which the Park still registered 75% of all tourists on
the island.
80
2017). In the mid-1950s, residents in Goveđari, a settlement located next to
the lakes, started to rent rooms in their houses to tourists but only few do-
mestic tourists were visiting the island at the time (Šubić, 1995). The turning
point in tourism development was the establishment of Mljet National Park
in 1960, the construction of the first hotel on St. Mary’s Island in the Great
Lake, and the construction of communal infrastructure (Šubić, 1995; Šulc,
2017). Tourists were attracted by preserved and protected nature, associated
with opportunities for a “sun and sea” holiday. Most of them would come in
summer and stay within the Park; though the island was spared from mass
tourism (in 1966 it recorded 1,603 tourist arrivals and 15,985 overnight stays,
all in Mljet National Park) (Tab. 1).
In the 1970s, overnight tourism started to develop extensively outside
the Park in the small coastal settlements Sobra and Okuklje, but it was
limited to a few private households (Šulc, 2017). In 1978, Hotel Odisej (with
400 beds) was built in Pomena, the entry port to the National Park, which
is the largest project on the island to date (Šulc, 2017). Increases in accom-
modation capacity were not followed by a cooresponding increase in the
number of beds, due to inconsistent registration, but it resulted in rapid
increases in tourism. In 1986, the pre-war peak year, the island registered
11,086 arrivals and 85,718 overnight stays, almost all in the Park (Tab. 1).
The tourism supply remained unchanged and based on the “sun and sea”
concept in highly-preserved natural area, with a rather long average stay
of 7.7 nights. The Park is also a favourite destination for day-trippers from
Dubrovnik, Pelješac Peninsula, and the nearby islands Hvar and Korčula
(Šulc, 2017).
In the late 1980s, tourism started to show the first signs of crisis (Šulc,
2017) and it completely declined when the War started in the early 1990s.
New tourism growth was initiated by the re-opening of the Hotel Odisej
in 1993 and continued to increase up to 2006, when the island reached its
pre-war level of visitation (14,707 arrivals and 70,036 overnight stays). In
the meantime, the other hotel closed and more residents got involved with
tourism by renting apartments in their households. Consequently, in 2006,
the share of the Park in all tourist beds decreased to 48%, while coastal set-
tlements reached 40% and interior settlements 12% (Tab. 1). Although the
structure and travel habits of tourists changed, spending summer holidays
in a preserved natural environment remained the most important motiva-
tion for visitors, due to which the Park still registered 75% of all tourists on
the island.
80
