: Tourism represents an important originator of economic activities in Croatia, particularly in its seaside destinations. However, it is developed quite unevenly. The overall Croatian territory can be divided into three different natural and geographic regions, with different levels in tourism development: lowland or Pannonian and peripannonian Croatia, highland Croatia, and seaside Croatia. From the tourism development point of view, lowland and highland Croatia have been neglected, and therefore their comparative advantages have not been used to their advantage or not used at all because of the lack of interest in local inhabitants and poorly educated economists. Thermal spa tourism of North-West Croatia has been developing for a long time, so nowadays thermal sources of Krapinske, Stubicke, Tuheljske, Varazdinske, and Sutinske spas are situated in the area. All those thermal spas have natural prerogatives for tourism development, but their tourism product is outworn and has lost its quality and attraction it had in the past. Therefore the repositioning of tourism product of the area is necessary in order to make it desirable in the tourist markets of both Croatia and Europe.

Within the fast paced digital transformation of the tourism and hospitality sector, the modalities of booking a tourist accommodation have been radically transformed by the uptake of digital business models and digital platforms. This study examines the underlying mechanisms and key specificities of digital business models for two of the sector’s sub-segments—hotel accommodation bookings and yacht charter accommodation bookings. Based on the literature review findings, the case study method was applied in relation to key digital business models relevant for hotel bookings. On the other end, in relation to the yacht charter segment and its digital business models, an empirical research was conducted, encompassing a final sample of 162 yacht charter agencies from 42 countries worldwide. The analyzed digital business models have multiple similarities, while there are specific differences between the two hospitality segments. Even though digital business models are highly important in both segments, they are generally more developed and sophisticated in the hotel segment, which is related to the segment’s sheer size, in comparison with the younger and smaller yacht charter segment. The novelty is reflected in shedding more light on the characteristics of digital business models in the fast-developing yacht charter segment, including through an empirical study.

Cruising as part of nautical tourism is an important segment of maritime passenger transportation. Nautical tourism and cruise tourism have developed over the years and are experiencing increasing demand, with the exception of the pandemic period, when cruise tourism did not experience positive trends. In normal tourism conditions, high growth requires an increase in supply, which can have negative consequences for the environment. This is especially true when the destination where cruise tourism is developing has a fragile ecosystem. At a time when environmental sustainability and responsibility are becoming increasingly important, tourism supply is implementing the parameters of sustainability in its development, and cruise tourism is no exception. However, the fact is that the development of passenger terminals inevitably changes the view of the coast. The aim of this paper is to thoroughly define the parameters whose reconstruction is necessary for the construction of a passenger terminal and for which it is necessary to analyze the impact on the environment in order to make the construction itself environmentally friendly. Systematic analysis is the most appropriate method for delineating the parameters whose reconstruction could harm the environment and have negative effects on the sustainability of the ecosystem as well as on tourism and locals in the area. The results of the analysis conducted on the example of capacity construction in the coastal region of Zadar County show that special consideration must be given to protected natural values, landscape properties, population, purpose and use of space, noise and air. It can be concluded that disregarding all the construction parameters described in the study and emphasizing the financial benefits could affect the ecosystem in the long run. Besides the analyses, the proposal for the environmental monitoring program was elaborated on in this paper.

A healthy symbiosis of local populations and tourists visiting is a prerequisite for the success of a tourist destination, but also for sustainable development of tourism. The local population directly affects the tourism in the destination, and vice versa, tourism is increasingly influencing the local population in sociological, cultural, and economic terms. The purpose of this work is to investigate the impact of tourism development on the quality of life of the locals in a tourist destination, to scientifically formulate the research results, and to propose implementation of measures for creating a balance between the needs of the locals, tourists, and other participants in a tourist destination. This work aims to investigate the attitudes of the local population on the development of tourism on the Elaphite Islands (Lopud, Šipan, and Koločep). Namely, the local population constitutes an important interest group, and the quality of the tourist product depends on their satisfaction with the development of tourism in situ, and their participation in the competitiveness of the tourist destination. In order to prove the above hypothesis, this work undertakes to analyse the results of the author’s primary research. The results of the research show that the local population supports the development of sustainable tourism as well as the overall progress of the Elaphites and, with the exception of some minor harmful effects on the environment that have been observed, the local population believes that tourism contributes to economic and social benefits of the destination. Such research should be conducted when developing plans for sustainable tourism of ta destination, active support of the local population being crucial for such development to be achieved.

Beaches are the main part of an integral tourist product of a destination. They represent a highly valuable resource from the aspect of natural, social, economic and recreational potential. They make a tourist product attractive, and...

Energy supply represents not only the energetic and ecological undertaking factor of tourist economy bearers, but the factor of profitability and competitiveness within the foreign tourist market as well. Lower energy costs form the prerequisites for higher profit accomplishments, as well as better market price competitiveness. Instead of exploiting natural resources, tourism should make the most of them, which brings into relief the directing of tourist economy subjects towards the use of restorable energy sources, particularly solar and wind energy. In spite of favourable climate features of Croatia, expressed in terms of insulation and windstrength, the restorable energy sources are still used rather insignificantly. Some positive moves in such a trend are noticeable on the island of Pag and in the town of Sibenik, where the electric energy is obtained in wind power-plants. In accordance with the concept of sustainable development of tourism, both solar energy and wind-mill energy should represent the skeleton for the energetic supply of the Croatian tourist coastline in the future. And only then, with the right amount of energy and without dependence on the world energetic markets, Croatia can develop its own healthy economic and tourist future.