engleski

Libraries as new tourism resources for destination cultural rebranding

Concept of sustainability and selective forms of tourism such as cultural tourism is recently increasingly emphasized. Researches show that tourists are interested both in natural resources and for local cultural and traditional attractions. Being among the oldest among cultural institutions, libraries still play an integral role in the development of society. Public libraries, as widely distributed and accessible local libraries, act as a vital force in education, culture and information (UNESCO, 1994) in their local communities as well as in the broader society as a whole. As institutions of non-profit sector, they don't only participate in tourism by performing their basic functions, but also as place-making resources and tourism attractions as well. However, tourism potentials of libraries are generally not sufficiently recognized neither by the library or tourism sector, nor by the general public. Croatia is perceived as the destination of sun and sea, and because of this, seasonality is the main feature of Croatian tourism, with tourism being mostly concentrated in the coastal areas of the country. However, in order to expand the tourist season throughout the year, both on the coast and in the continental parts of the country, some of the main goals of Croatia's tourism development strategy include adding new amenities to the cultural tourist offer. Still, libraries are not sufficiently included in these plans. In addition to that, research shows that international tourists are dissatisfied with destination programs during bad weather (Tomas, 2018), and in that aspect, libraries could help create innovative tourism offer. All this is connected to the necessary cultural rebranding of numerous tourist destinations in the country. The main goal of this paper is therefore to point out that libraries can enrich the cultural tourism offer with their resources and contribute to the rebranding of Croatian destinations as cultural destinations. This will help extend the season in seaside destinations and attract more visitors, and also contribute to the development of tourism in continental destinations in Croatia.

library ; library resource ; destination cultural rebranding ; Croatia

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