engleski

Small and medium-size entreprises in the hospitality industry: Some European trends and Croatian Experiences

After the initial explanations regarding the selection of the issue of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in tourism, the author offers a series of key indicators which speak about the role of tourism in the economic structure of the united Europe (15 EU countries). Then he elaborates the notion and basic characteristics of the so-called economy of small scales putting it in the perspective of the tourism industry. SMEs account for a lion's share of the tourism industry in the European Union, and their importance is constantly on the rise in the third world countries, especially in the former socialist countries. Given the fact that competition in the tourism industry is becoming more and more acute, largely as a consequence of globalization, Member countries as well as the EU itself are paying more attention to SME's by encouraging their growth and putting different measures of the tourism and general economic policies in place. Recently, the EU has put forth recommendations and other instruments in view of reinforcing competitiveness of SMEs and providing for their positive impact on the overall national economy, regional development, employment and quality of service and customer satisfaction. Finaly, the author gives a brief overview of some Croatian experiences with SMEs in tourism. Despite a number of good programme guidelines and some good projects, in practice, there are still huge opportunities that are waiting to be explored.

small and medium entrepreneurship; small-scale economy; tourism; trends; European Union; Croatia

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