engleski

Synergy of Local Community and Private Sector in the Development of Rural Istria as a Tourist Destination

The development of rural tourism as a component of the regional development policy needs to be stimulated with the aim of valorizing the resources of the rural area. In this process, the employment of local population in passive areas and the affirmation of small and medium enterprises have to be seen as means to achieve prosperity. The subject of this paper is the relationship of synergy between the local community and the private sector in the clusters of Central Istria as a tourist destination encompassing rural Istria. The local community plays an important role in the stimulation of rural tourism development in its area. This role is of crucial importance since rural tourism directly reflects on the natural resources as the most important and valuable asset of the local community. It is the intention of the authors to point out the importance of the local community as one of the important “ stakeholders” in the shaping of the business operation of the private tourist sector on the level of destination. While the interest of the private sector is, before all, focused on achieving financial results, the interest of the local community is much broader than the mere financial effect. The paper researches all the other aspects of employment of the local population, use of natural and social resources, a balanced development of the rural area and environment protection. The results of the research should serve as basis for further research of public and private relationships in tourism as well as an optimal achievement of mentioned individual interests in the conditions of sustainable development of rural tourism in Istria.

rural development; region of Istria; local community; private sector; tourist destination

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