Abandoned Tourism Resorts in Croatia: The Consequences of Discordant Spatial Planning and Tourism Development Policies
The paper critically examines the problem of abandoned tourism resorts in Croatia which have primarily resulted from incompatible legal regulations and the lack of institutional cooperation. Legislative incompatibility and the lack of cooperation are the
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Abandoned Tourism Resorts in Croatia: The Consequences of Discordant Spatial Planning and Tourism Development Policies Jasenka Kranjčević
INTRODUCTION1 The relationship between tourism development and spatial planning is especially complex (Chettiparamb & Thomas, 2012). This is due to the corollary of economic, social, cultural, ecological and political relationships between innumerable stakeholders. Against this complexity, it is open for discussion as to what extent are policy planners, especially at the national level, engaged in critical analysis and assessment of the synergy that exists between spatial planning policies and that of tourism development and their influence on the existing and planned tourism zones. On the Adriatic’s east coast, there are some twenty abandoned tourism zones or resorts, most with hotel complexes within them. These zones are located in some of the most picturesque locations, they are well planned and have all the necessary infrastructure, and some had enjoyed centuryold tourism activities. It is important to note at the outset that the land of most of these zones remains in state ownership, while the buildings, such J. Kranjčević ( ) Institute for Tourism, Zagreb, Croatia © The Author(s) 2017 L. Dwyer et al. (eds.), Evolution of Destination Planning and Strategy, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-42246-6_9
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as hotels, might be in private ownership or it might be owned by the local municipalities. The reason for the abandonment of these tourism zones can be viewed from a number of perspectives. However, in this study the focus was on the government’s policies on spatial planning and tourism development. These tourism zones were abandoned some 25 years ago, during the Homeland war (1991–1995), and as a result of the subsequent socio-political changes. The new social and political organisation of the country required new legislation which brought about changes in policies in all sectors of governance, including urban and regional spatial planning and tourism development. Thus, the analysis about these abandoned tourism resorts offers an opportunity to investigate the congruence between tourism development and spatial planning policies and its impact on tourism development. This close relationship between tourism and spatial planning policies was evaluated by analysing two very famous but abandoned tourism resorts: the Haludovo, on the island of Krk in the northern part of Adriatic, an area which was not directly affected by the war, and Kupari resort near Dubrovnik in the south part of the Adriatic, which was damaged by war during 1991–1995 period. The research was based on the inductive and deductive methods used to analyse tourism and spatial planning policies, the time-slice analysis of tourism development. Although the term policy can be used for all levels of government such as local, regional and national, in this study the term “policy” refers to the policy of the government at the national level. Finally, comparative analysis was used in the case of the two
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