engleski

Contribution of gastronomic tourism for achieving competitiveness of Croatian coastal destinations

Purpose – Gastronomy represents an important part of a destination´s tourist product. Today tourists are searching for new gastronomic experiences and are willing to travel due to them. In order to achieve their potential in developing a competitive gastronomic tourist offer, destinations must focus on offering traditional dishes that reflect the very essence of destination´s tradition that will attract them to pick that destination for their visit. The paper presents the current state of Croatian gastronomic tourist offer in coastal destinations, and proposed necessary acts for further improvement of this specific tourist offer. Methodology – research is based on a thorough analysis of scientific and professional literature in gastronomic tourism, and secondary data. The results of TOMAS Summer 2017-attitudes and consumption of tourists in Croatia were used to present the most recently determined attitudes of tourists towards Croatian gastronomic offer. Findings – the results indicate that gastronomy was a motive of visit for 29 percent of visitors, and the majority prefer restaurants and experiencing gastronomic offer. In terms of satisfaction, the results are unsatisfactory in relation to its potential (average grade for overall richness of gastronomic offer in a destination, quality of food in restaurants outside the accommodation establishments). Quality of food in the accommodation establishments and overall value for money were graded as high. Originality of research – The paper contributes in understanding the importance of developing Gastronomic tourist offer and its contribution to the competitiveness of a coastal destination ´s tourist offer. Based on the findings the authors proposed developmental guidelines aimed towards it further improvement.

Gastronomy ; Gastronomic Tourism ; Croatia ; Coastal Destinations ; Competitiveness

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