engleski

Tourism megatrends before the pandemic outbreak: A comparative analysis of two destinations

The paper deals with the issue of urban tourism and destination sustainability in the context of global megatrends. It builds on previous theoretical studies which identified and analyzed current global trends affecting tourism and its sustainable development. Based on the knowledge of the key trends and their potential impact on destination sustainability, the paper compares the situation in two selected European cities (Prague, Split) before COVID-19. It aims to evaluate the main problems putting pressure on these cities, their infrastructure and services. Moreover, it identifies possible performance gaps in managing sustainable development. For this purpose, participatory observation and an online questionnaire including closed questions for destination representatives were adopted. According to the results, these cities faced different challenges. Prague was significantly influenced by the expansion of the sharing economy and the presence of new demand segments (e.g. Generation Z). Split benefited greatly from the preferences of a healthy lifestyle and localism. As far as the approaches to dealing with the impacts of tourism on destination sustainability regards, representatives of Split had lower performance in the monitoring system and pricing policy. Prague needed to focus on innovative and customized product development.

global trends, sustainability, urban destinations

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