National Strategy for the Development of Sustainable Tourism (Sustainable Tourism Strategy until 2030)

The drafting of the new Strategy was preceded by the National Development Strategy of the Republic of Croatia until 2030, which is a starting point for further development of tourism and in which the development of sustainable, innovative and resilient tourism is mentioned as one of the priorities.

The Strategy will prescribe the vision of tourism development, taking into account the principles of sustainable development, development needs and development potentials of tourism, as well as prescribe strategic goals, key performance indicators and target values of indicators. The strategy will also include public policies of other sectors that are in close interaction and interdependence with tourism, and will be a basis for coverage and further concretization of issues and measures affecting the tourism sector in the development of their national plans.

The method of drafting the Strategy will be participatory, and a wide range of stakeholders will be involved in its drafting through a working group and public consultation, which will enable a harmonized and coordinated approach to the development of sustainable tourism.

As part of the development of the Strategy, the Ministry of Tourism and Sports plans, in accordance with the Environmental Protection Act and the Nature Protection Act, to conduct a strategic environmental impact assessment and the main assessment of acceptability for the ecological network.

The Strategy will support the development of innovative, resilient and green tourism above all.

It will address the following issues:

•                          improvement of the environmental sustainability in Crotia’s tourism

•                          reducing the environmental footprint of the tourism sector

•                          conservation of natural resources

•                          reducing operational costs (waste management, energy, water consumption and deployment of green technologies and procedures, improving management processes, certification, etc.)

•                          improvement of the tourism management in protected areas

•                          raising awareness about the importance of natural heritage

•                          promotion and developement of innovative and competitive special interests tourism

•                          encourage investment in sustainable and low-carbon growth

•                          increase the population living standard