Importance of Events in Rethinking Tourism Development in The Zadar County

Tourism & Hospitality Management 2010, Conference Proceedings
C. Stipanovi, S. Stojanov: IMPORTANCE OF EVENTS IN RETHINKING TOURISM ., pp. 1251-1259
CHRISTIAN STIPANOVI, Ph.D., Associate Professor

Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management, Opatija, University of Rijeka, Croatia
SLAVO STOJANOV, M.Sc.
Laurana Tours, Pakotane, Croatia
IMPORTANCE OF EVENTS IN RETHINKING TOURISM

DEVELOPMENT IN THE ZADAR COUNTY
REVIEW
The tourism trade of the Zadar County must seek to respond to market turbulence in
conditions of recession by rethinking its development concept, which should be based on
qualitative improvements to, and the redesigning of, all segments of its tourism offering and
business. The only way it can attract new tourists in conditions of recession that cause
negative effects in tourism and position itself as a unique event destination is by
innovating its tourism offering, providing quality and being original, while promoting
distinctive attractions (for example, the Sea Organ and Greeting to the Sun) and indigenous
events in creating a unique experience. Through the originality and excellence of events and
creative animation, the Zadar County must distance itself from the poor and unimaginative
offering of its rivals and provide a qualitative response to new tourist preferences to help
multiply profits.
Keywords: rethinking development, Zadar County, events, innovation, localization
INTRODUCTION
Tourism development in the Zadar County is based on a wealth of natural
preconditions, on improved accessibility (road infrastructure) and on a desire to pass
beyond the stale model of mass tourism characteristic of the last century. The
development of tourist preferences, in combination with the recession, is setting new
qualitative criteria, in which only the most innovative destinations are able to overcome
downward trends in tourism. A key issue is how to innovate the tourism offering by
anticipating new tourist preferences in order to differentiate and distinguish a
destination from its rivals and intensify its distinctiveness. Using events and
experiences to assert local values, in contrast to uniform globalised values, is the
starting point in rethinking tourism development to reposition the Zadar County.
1251

1.
SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS OF TOURISM OF THE ZADAR

COUNTY
The process of rethinking development begins with a quantitative and

qualitative analysis of the present situation. Tourism supply (number of
accommodation units, capacities) and demand (number of tourists and overnights,
financial performance) are quantified. A qualitative analysis includes a description of
supply, a SWOT analysis and a benchmarking analysis of the Zadar County and
neighbouring destinations, together with an analysis of the attitudes and expectations of
tourists and their level of satisfaction.
Quantitative indicators of tourism supply reveal a poor pattern of
accommodation facilities (private accommodation and motor camps prevail) and a lack
of top-quality facilities (there are no five-star hotels, and only nine 4-star hotels).
Quantitative indicators of demand for 2000-2008 show upward trends in the number of
tourist arrivals and overnights in the Zadar County but also point to seasonality in
operations. The recession of 2009 has caused these upwards trends to falter (resulting
in an eight percent drop in tourist arrivals and a two percent drop in overnights, in the
first seven months)1, and it is making it an imperative to rethink the development
concept. The most vital financial data are often skated over and their importance,
minimised.
Table 1: Arrivals to the territory of the Tourist Board of Zadar County
2000- 2008
YEAR
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
DOMESTIC
143,059
148,642
157,187
169,239
177,726
190,724
210,407
238,295
235,189
FOREIGN
425,762
498,237
542,485
619,709
667,784
764,213
803,045
876,159
913,807
TOTAL
568,821
646,879
699,672
788,948
845,510
954,937
1,013,452
1,114,454
1,148,996
Source: Table constructed by the author from the documentation of the Tourist Board of the Zadar County,
Zadar, 2009, Forms TU-11 and TU-11v of the Central Bureau of Statistics
A qualitative analysis reveals that the accommodation offering is lacking in

range, the hospitality offering is poor and uniform, and the range of selective and new
forms of the offering is inadequately developed. The tourism product of the Zadar
County includes the followings forms: seaside and recreational tourism, nautical
tourism, health tourism, wellness tourism, sports and recreational tourism, adventure
tourism, rural tourism, excursion tourism, transit tourism, congress tourism, city
tourism, mountain, alpine and cave tourism, hunting and fishing tourism, and Robinson
1
Data of the Ministry of Tourism and the Tourist Board of the Zadar County, 2009.
1252

Crusoe-type tourism. Despite some advancements, a SWOT analysis and an analysis of

tourist attitudes2 reveal that key advantages still include scenery and landscapes, safety,
and hospitality, while disadvantages are linked to all segments of the offering which
have not made any significant move away from conventional mass tourism.
Table 2: SWOT analysis of tourism of the Zadar County
STRENGTHS
- Natural beauty of the coast and islands
- Environmentally sound nature and sea
- Mild Mediterranean climate
- Hospitality of hosts
- Preserved areas for building new capacities in
line with sustainable development
- Good-quality, healthy food produced in the
Ravni Kotar and Vransko Polje regions
- Traffic links and accessibility to outbound
tourist markets
- Rich historical and cultural heritage
- Vicinity of numerous protected nature areas
- Personal safety and security of tourists
WEAKNESSES
- Lack of a tourism development concept
- Poor and inadequately profiled tourism product
- Low categories of accommodation facilities
- Conceptual and technological obsolescence, and
low quality level of some accommodation
facilities
- Low occupancy rates, pronounced seasonality
- Lack of animation, attractions and events
- Mismatched quality and prices
- Lack of quality entertainment
- Lack of recreational services and facilities
- Poor shopping offering
- Unsatisfactory selection of good-quality and
diverse facilities and services
- Low level of IT and signalisation
- Insufficient parking areas
- Poorly developed promotion
OPPORTUNITIES
- Opportunities for year-round operations
- New jobs
- Possibilities for increasing tourist spending
- Conservation of local identity and culture
- Appealing areas for capital investments in
building luxury hotels
- Opportunities for eco-food production
- Constantly growing interest of outbound
markets in Mediterranean destinations
- Adapting to tourists by developing new
elements of the offering, events and
experiences
- Development of all forms of sports tourism
- Development of selective forms of tourism
- Cooperation between tourism, the cultural
sector and activities in rural areas
- Research and promotional activities on new
European and world markets
THREATS
- Global recession
- Growing competition
- Failure to adjust to new tourist needs
- New, unchecked construction initiated by
political lobbies, resulting in environmental
devastation
- Foreign management of resources
- Conflicting development options
- Unchecked hunting tourism and underwater
poaching
- Ineffective implementation of spatial plans and
inconsistency with spatial planning legislation
- Lack of close cooperation at all political,
administrative, economic and social levels
- Disorderly development
- Drop in purchasing power
- Fiscal and monetary Government policies
Source: Authors elaboration
Qualitative and quantitative benchmarking with neighbouring destinations

suggests that the tourism trade of the Zadar County does stand out, and that this is but a
starting point for qualitative repositioning relative to rivals. Further tourism
development will need to anticipate change in the environment and turn it into
2
In 2007, the authors conducted a survey concerning the attitudes of tourists in the County of Zadar.
1253

development opportunities that can help to multiply strengths while constraining

weaknesses by implementing destination-based thinking and a new scenario of
qualitative tourism development of the Zadar County.
2.
DESTINATION-BASED
THINKING
IN
DEVELOPMENT OF THE ZADAR COUNTY
TOURISM
Managing tourism development is a precondition to preventing the generation

of disabling implications for tourism, as well as a precondition to intensifying positive
qualitative trends. The concept of a tourist destination represents a qualitative response
to challenges of contemporary trends in spending leisure time. The process of
destination rejuvenation must necessarily include the implementation of IQM (an
integrated quality system) through the synergistic effect of all destination stakeholders
in creating new value for tourists (CRM should be used to focus on each individual
tourist). IQM involves a system of measures and procedures with emphasis on a
systems approach to defining, designing and promoting a competitive, integrated
tourism product adjusted to the needs of twenty-first-century tourists to which the
internal processes and quality of all destination stakeholders must be geared.
Creating, designing and implementing a tourism offering must become a
systematic and continuous activity that requires the synergistic involvement of the
Tourist Board, all supply providers and residents, that is, it must involve the interaction
of the private and public sectors which are intertwined and support each other in all
segments of the offering with the aim to provide maximum experience for money and
service excellence.3 A destinations vision of development generates the development
of hotel and tourism enterprises and other supply providers, which must become a part
of the strategic development trends of the destinations offering. By differentiating
services and facilities and by qualitatively re-designing the offering, these actors should
gain their own competitive advantages based on innovation and differentiation with
regard to rivals. There is no greater attribute of excellence than a bias for action.4
The aim of destination-based thinking in the tourism development of the
Zadar County is to bring about the synergy of a micro-destinations natural and cultural
diversity in the form of a joint, integrated tourism product. Competition within the
micro-destination should result in new and higher qualitative criteria for the tourism
offering. Through its actions, destination management coordinates the design of an
offering that is ahead of demand. The success of the Zadar County as a unique
destination lies in its distinctiveness, its brand and its image, that is, in the way it is
favourably perceived. Repositioning depends upon anticipating and understanding the
new needs of tourists, enhancing the destinations competitive ability, being ready for
change, creating the destinations vision and implementing new strategic orientations.
The destination marketing of the Zadar County and the creation of a unique brand
based on a vision of the future will be played out through a tourism development
scenario, that is, by putting the concept into action using the development strategy that
offers the greatest likelihood for success.
3
Stipanovi, C.: Koncepcija i strategija razvoja u turizmu Sustav i poslovna politika, Faculty of Tourism
and Hospitality Management, Opatija, 2006, p. 127.
4
Peters, T; Waterman, R. H.: U potrazi za izvrsnou, Profil. Zagreb, 2008, p. 174.
1254

3.
TOURISM DEVELOPMENT SCENARIO OF THE ZADAR

COUNTY IN RECESSION CONDITIONS
The concept of and strategy for enhancing the competitiveness of the Zadar
County in the marketplace should valorise the destinations natural and environmental
assets and attractions in building a competitive destination product based on indigenous
and authentic values, and on original solutions geared to sophisticated tourist
preferences of the twenty-first century, with special emphasis on sustainable
development. Commitment to quality rather than to quantity and the establishment of a
new value system should become the fundamental principles of tourism development
of the Zadar County as a destination. These principles are the only match for a
longstanding tradition in transforming all inherited natural and cultural attractions and
resources into a highly competitive tourism product grounded on intellectual capital
and knowledge. An essential precondition to increasing occupancy rates of
accommodation capacities (prolongation of the tourist season) and increasing tourist
spending (within and outside of accommodation facilities) is raising the quality of all
accommodation capacities, as well as enriching the offering with additional services
and facilities, such as services and facilities for children, cultural events, entertainment
and sports facilities, the offering of travel agencies (excursions), distinctive and
appealing events, the quality of eating establishments and the offering of healthy food,
and the quality of the congress offering. Essentially, efforts should focus on
establishing tourism as an industry of entertainment, activity holidays and events.
Because of its static nature and the time needed for adjustments, the tourism offer
should not be adjusted to current stimuli from the marketplace. The biggest danger in
times of turbulence is not the turbulence itself but actions done by yesterdays logics.5
At the very beginning of any effort to make changes of any magnitude, if a sense of
urgency is not high enough and complacency is not low enough, everything else
becomes so much more difficult.6 By the time the product is launched on the market,
tourists are already looking for something different. Supply providers need to define
future demand through proactive marketing and the timely launching of an offering,
and by delivering value to tourists and engaging in continuous innovation. Their
priority is to create a new offering with new facilities and services, and to accustom
tourists to its advantages. In this way, they are able to gain an advantage over their
rivals, because leadership in the marketplace cannot be achieved by copying the
facilities and services of others (even the best copy is not as good as the original).
The future product matrix of the Zadar County suggests that, providing
continuous improvements are made, event and experience tourism, nautical tourism,
sports and recreational tourism, cultural tourism and business tourism will have the
greatest appeal and will be the most competitive types of tourism in the offering.
5
6
Drucker, P. F.: Inovacije i poduzetnitvo, Globus, Zagreb, 1992, p. 123.

Kotter, J. P.: Smisao hitnosti, Lider press, Zagreb, 2009, p. 9.
1255

Figure 1: Matrix of the future (desired) product of the Zadar County
APPEAL
High
Medium
Nautical
tourism, event
and experience
tourism
Cultural tourism,
Robinson
Crusoe-type
Sports and
recreational
tourism
Business
tourism,
adventure
tourism
Low
High
Medium
Low
COMPETITIVENESS
Source: Authors elaboration
To assert localisation, together with diversity and distinctiveness, it is

necessary to distinguish the micro destinations within the Zadar County. These are:7
The coastal zone of the Zadar County This zone has exceptional
opportunities for developing holiday tourism, family tourism, and sports
and recreational tourism, as well as business tourism, entertainment
tourism, nautical tourism, adventure tourism, eco-tourism and ethnotourism.
The islands of the Zadar County Real opportunities exist for developing
sports and recreational tourism, nautical tourism, Robinson Crusoe-type
tourism, eco-educational tourism, holiday tourism and cultural tourism,
that will stand out for its indigenous and unique features.
The hinterland of the Zadar County Good conditions exist for developing
agritourism, eco-tourism, sports and recreational tourism, hunting and
fishing tourism, excursion tourism, adventure tourism, as well as an
indigenous gastronomic offering.
Events have a key role in rethinking development in order to diversify the
offering and adjust it to the modern tourist. The need for travel and leisure results
from the need for human progress, from curiosity, from the need to experience the
world and its values and rarities. This is a feature of people, as natural and sociocultural being, because they search for knowledge. Their curiosity and doubts are
contained within their travels, in an urge to experience the secrets of nature and human
achievements.8
7
Stojanov, S.: Koncepcija i strategija razvoja u funkciji konkurentnosti turizma Zadarske upanije, Master's
thesis, Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management, Opatija, 2008, p. 145-149.
8
Kuli, S.: Znanstvno kritiko razumjevanje turizma kao sociokulturne djelatnosti, Ekonomski pregled, Vol.
47, 1-2/1996, p. 60.
1256

4.
TOURIST EVENTS IN REPOSITIONING THE ZADAR COUNTY
Attractions and tourist events are evolving into a major travel motivation for
potential tourists to the Zadar County. Tourist events include a variety of programs
such as fishermens feasts, Dalmatian feasts, concerts of harmony-singing groups,
folklore, art exhibitions, sports events, and local and native customs. Using events to
rejuvenate tourist destinations is aimed at:9 increasing the number of tourists,
prolonging the tourist season, providing entertainment, enhancing a destinations
reputation, providing a unique experience, gaining media coverage, augmenting
revenue and profits, etc. A key factor in asserting events is an awareness of the
importance of this form of the offering in attracting potential tourists.
Acting as an umbrella establishment, the Tourist Board of the Zadar County
encourages the staging of cultural, entertainment, sports and other events and projects
aimed at improving the tourism product and giving the destination a distinctive image.
Entertainment for visitors to the county is mostly organised and financed by the local
tourist boards of towns and municipalities, and by entrepreneurs and event managers
who are capable of spotting new trends in tourism. The most important attractions, in
addition to the heritage of cultural monuments (Kalelarga, the Church of St. Donato,
the Church of St. Stasia, etc.) are:10
The Sea Organ represents a monument unique in the world. Commanding
the attention of all tourists visiting the Zadar County, it has become a
symbol of the town of Zadar. The Sea Organ is put into action by the
power of sea waves, making it directly dependent upon the motion of the
sea.
The Greeting to the Sun is an installation made up of 300 multi-layered
glass plates placed level with the stone-flagged waterfront, and it is in the
shape of a circle 22 metres in diameter. It is designed as a spatial
installation in the form of an amphitheatre, around which will be a stylised
presentation on the stone squares of all planets of the Solar System and
their orbits. At sunset, the lights built into the circle are turned on, and a
light show begins according to a specially programmed scenario to the
rhythm of the waves and the sound of the Sea Organ.
The more important tourist events that have become a tradition include:
The Zadar Summer of Theatre Held traditionally in July and August, this
is a summer theatre festival featuring contemporary performances in all
genres from the repertoire of the national theatre. Performances are held at
the cultural and historical venues of town of Zadar.
The Night of the Full Moon An event that is making Zadar distinctive, it
brings together the culture and the customs of the hinterland, coast and
islands of the Zadar County. Rich tables and traditional music underline
the uniqueness of this destination.
Van der Wagen, L.: Event Management Upravljanje dogaajima, MATE, Zagreb, 2008, p. 125.
http://www.zadar.hr/Hrvatski/Atrakcije/Zanimljivosti.aspx accessed on 1 July 2009.
10
1257

The Garden Festival Taking place in Petrane, this ten-day event

presents the live concerts of bands and DJs playing all types of club music
at three festival sites located in a pine forest by the seashore with parties on
board the Argonaut.11 This is an example of a successful entrepreneurial
endeavour promoting clubbing tourism and setting new qualitative criteria
for organising events.
DM Millennium Jump This event is a massive-scale jump into the sea
with more than 1,500 people participating (2009). Involving five jumps
into the sea and aiming at reinforcing a sense of community and
togetherness, it is changing the perception of tourism of the Zadar County.
Musical Evenings at St. Donatos Church Traditionally held in July and
August (since 1960) at St. Donatos Church and other sacred venues
throughout the town of Zadar, this festival consists of two cycles: Musica
Antiqua (medieval, renaissance and early baroque music) and Musica da
Camera.
In July 2009, 64 events were staged in the Town of Zadar, the most important
being12 a concert by Jose Carreras at the Forum, a concert entitled Tribute to Swing,
the International Festival of Contemporary Theatre Zadar Snova, the Mitra Zonata
Festiva, the Street Art Festival Kalelargaart, and others. Well-known events in the
County of Zadar include Kualjski uzance, the Pag Summer Festival, the Pag Summer
Carnival, the Fishermens Evenings at Starigrad Paklenica, the Pakotan Summer, the
Biograd Summer, the Knight Games in Vrana, the Nin Cultural and Musical Summer,
the Nin okolijada (gastronomic event), the Sali Tourism Summer, and other events.
All events are concentrated in the two peak months of the high tourist season,
as a result of the tourism trades seasonality. Despite qualitative and quantitative
advancements, the number of events staged is still too small. The underlying issues are
how to create attractions and events that will attract a greater number of more
sophisticated tourists and how to diversify the destination from its rivals and how to
original in the twenty-first century. In addition to valorising natural attractions
(landscapes, scenery, climate, flora and fauna), it is also necessary to promote artificial
attractions (cultural and historical, as well as sports attractions and events). Tourists
wish to learn about the culture, religion, attitudes, way of life and customs of residents
through events but they also want to relax and have fun.
In further development, it will be necessary to encourage creativity,
innovativeness, animation and original solutions in creating original, indigenous and
distinctive events that are suited to a Mediterranean setting. All supply providers
should actively participate in activities linked to staging such events. Their actions
should be coordinated and their comments and suggestions taken into consideration
(intellectual capital and information are key resources) to enhance the quality and
successful outcome of an event. These efforts would result not only in prolonging the
tourist season, which is the primary interest of all tourism actors, but also in
11
The number of tourists in the town of Petrane increased by an unbelievable 50% (4,505 overnights,
mostly by foreign tourists) in only ten festival days http://www.thegardenfestival.eu/#/hr/festivalskavibra/prica-o-festivalu/ accessed on 8 July 2009.
12
http://www.tzzadar.hr/events-calendar.php?id=2&activeMenu=5&activeSubMenu=5 accessed on 31 July
2009.
1258

augmenting profits. This, together with achieving tourist satisfaction, is the underlying
goal of all activities. In the future, efforts will be needed to enhance the quality and
quantity of events of an indigenous nature, such as performances by harmony-singing
groups and cultural and performing societies of the Zadar region, events linked to
cultural heritage, fishermens feasts, etc.
Exceptional opportunities exist for
advancements in achieving new quality in tourism in this direction. This diversity of
events needs to be used in promotional purposes, and it can help reposition the
destination and make it more distinctive. It is the positive impressions of tourists that
spread the best image of the Zadar County as an appealing and attractive destination.
CONCLUSION
The Zadar County needs to qualitatively improve all segments of its tourism
offering by rethinking its development concept. Preconditions to development are a
new value system, a new awareness of twenty-first-century tourism as event tourism
and activity holidays, and the ability to anticipate change on the tourist market. The
tourism management of the Zadar County has recognised the importance of events in
reinforcing local values (local culture and natural preconditions) in the process of
enriching the offering, attracting tourists, and increasing spending, in conditions of
recession. Positive examples of attractions and events confirm the correlative link to
increasing tourist numbers and multiplying profits as a guarantee of tourism
development in the Zadar County, which will position the County as an event and
experience destination.
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Drucker, P. F.: Inovacije i poduzetnitvo, Globus, Zagreb, 1992.

Kotter, J. P.: Smisao hitnosti, Lider press, Zagreb, 2009.
Kuli, S.: Znanstvno kritiko razumjevanje turizma kao sociokulturne djelatnosti, Ekonomski pregled,
Vol 47, 1-2/1996., 45-63
Maga. D.: Destinacijski menadment modeli i tehnike, Fakultet za turistiki i hotelski menadment,
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Peters, T.: U potrazi za izvrsnou, Profil, Zagreb, 2008.
Richards, B.: Marketing turistikih atrakcija, festivala i posebnih dogaanja, Potecon, Zagreb, 1997.
Sonder, M.: Event Entertainment and Production, The Wiley Event Management Series, Hoboken,
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1259
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Tourism & Hospitality Management 2010, Conference Proceedings

C. Stipanovi, S. Stojanov: IMPORTANCE OF EVENTS IN RETHINKING TOURISM ., pp. 1251-1259

CHRISTIAN STIPANOVI, Ph.D., Associate Professor