engleski

A New Approach to the Positioning of Tourist Destinations and the Role of Intermediaries in Tourism

The development of tourist products based on experience as the key exchange value requires an interdisciplinary approach, which, with applied marketing activities and competitive positioning by means of identity affirmation, leads to the positioning of tourist offer from the aspect of the experience economy. The competitive positioning of Croatia as a tourist destination must take into account the concept of the experience economy, communicational attributes and economically rational tourist offer valorization chain. Experience economy facilitates the achievement of competitive advantage on the basis of differentiation by quality. Such a concept for the Republic of Croatia reflects advantage in (tourist) experiences promotion, based on unique attributes which do not utilise the competitive destination of the area. It is due to the nature of the resource basis itself that the experience dimension of the entire tourist offer of the Republic of Croatia should represent a dominant direction in consolidation of the tourist offer elements. Marketing actions must omit the stress from the traditional elements of receptive tourism and focus on the exploitation and promotion of the dominant resources, whose value is exceptionally high and/or on the unrepeatable quality of the local destination identity. The destination‘s attractive elements have to be completed with additional activities while the tourist destination‘s quality is measured solely on the basis of experience. The positioning of the Republic of Croatia as a tourist destination should be carried out while taking into account the current recognition of the destination through the motive of Mediterranean, affirming the principle of differentiation by quality and achievement of premium prices on the micro level. By the destination geographical position, resource base is valorized, which competitive tourist offers (destinations of the Mediterranean Basin) cannot valorize. The paper aims at presenting the current state of tourism in the Republic of Croatia, based on research conducted in the period from 2009. up to year 2011., on a sample of 335 respondents and concluded that visits to the republic of Croatia are motivated by new experiences and new adventures. It can be concluded that the positioning of the tourist offer of the Republic of Croatia, on the principles of competitiveness and experience economy, implied a higher level of achievement of the tourist offer added value, with the conception of a rational valorization chain of the tourist offer elements.

Tourist destination; innovation; tourism trends; experience economy; tour operators

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