Off-season travel and rural destinations are at the top of Balkan countries’ sustainable tourism strategies.
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Nikolina Brnjac was elected Croatia’s tourism minister at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, at a time when international travel has been hit harder than ever before.
Despite the challenges that lie ahead, she is committed to not only rebuilding the Balkan country’s battered tourism industry, but also making Croatia a touchstone for sustainable travel.
Ahead of the summer season, she spoke to EuronewsTravel about her plans for the future of tourism in Croatia.
New law helps Croatia’s rural destinations attract more tourists
“Tourism was one of the industries most affected globally during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the crisis has also highlighted the need for major changes in the way tourism is developed and managed,” Bourniac said.
“Strengthening tourism’s resilience by establishing measures to ensure its adaptability to various challenges is part of the larger vision of building sustainable tourism.”
Her team’s vision now? To develop an environmentally and socially sustainable tourism industry.
Croatia enacted its first tourism law, which came into force this year.
In a country where tourism is developing unevenly across regions, it aims to decentralise the industry and adapt it to local and regional needs.
“Until now, tourism has developed solely based on economic gain,” Bourniac explains. “We wanted to find ways to strengthen resilience, implement sustainable practices and move away from a perception of success based solely on overnight stays and tourism revenues. In other words, we wanted to find the right balance between the economic, environmental and social pillars of sustainability.”
She hopes the Tourism Law will help local communities develop their destinations with the support of the central government, giving them the tools to improve the quality of life for local residents and reduce the negative impacts of tourism on the environment.
This is also clearly enshrined in law and provides a framework for investment incentives in tourism, based on sustainability criteria.
Croatia welcomes Europe’s first sustainable tourism centre
Croatia joined the European Union in 2013 and will join the Schengen Area in January 2023.
Brnjak has worked hard with the EU to achieve the goal of sustainable tourism, securing private subsidies through the EU Recovery and Resilience Plan, the EU Multiannual Financial Framework and the Croatian national budget.
“We have also secured more than 180 million euros in grants towards the greening and digitalisation of private tourism infrastructure,” she told EuronewsTravel.
“We are convinced that this investment cycle will make a significant contribution to the sustainability, greening and digitalisation of our country’s tourism industry, which is essential for its future competitiveness and success.”
Croatia is recognised as a leader in the development of sustainable tourism, notably by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the European Commission.
The United Nations has also taken notice, with the World Tourism Organisation recently announcing an initiative to establish Europe’s first Sustainable Tourism Centre in Croatia.
Experts will work together with the University of Zagreb to research, develop and promote sustainable tourism policies.
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The Centre’s team will be able to share knowledge and best practices on sustainable tourism, including the Croatian statistical framework and its application in wider policy development.
Why did Nikolina Bourniac lead the decision to focus on sustainability in tourism?
“Recent research shows that tourist travel habits are changing and there is a growing interest in sustainable destinations,” Bourniac explains. “Travellers are becoming more climate-change conscious, which is also influencing how they think about vacation travel.”
“They are aware of the potential impacts of extreme temperatures, seasonal changes and unpredictable weather conditions,” she adds. “We are confident that in the future, our sustainability efforts will have a positive impact on their overall experience in Croatia.”
She expects it’s not just tourists who will be impressed with the country’s sustainability efforts, but other countries too.
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According to Brnjac, that’s already happening.
“At the policy level, I have had many bilateral and multilateral contacts with colleagues in the tourism industry who have experienced similar challenges and are interested in learning from Croatia’s example,” she says.
Croatia has seen prices rise since adopting the euro, but it’s a win for sustainability
Some say the Balkan nation has become too expensive for many tourists after it joined the Schengen area and adopted the euro as its currency in 2023.
But Bourniac says her efforts toward sustainability are bolstered by higher prices that provide tourists with an all-around better experience.
The increased costs also contribute to greater sustainability in other ways, such as encouraging tourists to visit Croatia outside the peak summer season.
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“Croatia had its best ever off-season performance last year, and for the entire year, tourism numbers were on par with the record-breaking year before the pandemic, and the economy was at an all-time high,” Brnjak said.
In fact, Croatia is expected to see 20.6 million tourists staying for 108 million nights in 2023, a 9% increase on the previous year.
For Bourniac, any criticism doesn’t seem to deter him from pursuing sustainability.
“To us, this is more than just a buzzword,” she says. “It’s the foundation for improving the quality of our products and services.”
“Tourism is primarily an experience industry and sustainable tourism development is linked to providing quality experiences to guests, with preserved natural and cultural resources, traditions, hospitality, safety, as well as attractions and infrastructure tailored to the needs of tourists.”
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That could mean prices continue to rise, but Bourniac is determined to stay the course: “Sustainable tourism development guarantees you get value for money,” she says.
