DEVELOPMENT CONCEPT OF OUTDOOR TOURISM AS A GENERATOR OF DESTINATION COMPETITIVENESS

• Published in: Tourism and hospitality management Vol. 29; no. 2; pp. 309 - 311
• Main Authors: Zubović, Vedran, Stipanović, Christian
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Opatija University of Rijeka, Faculty of Tourism & Hospitality Management 01.05.2023
• Subjects: Competitive advantage; Data processing; Entrepreneurs; Entrepreneurship; Focus groups; Hypotheses; Hypothesis testing; Innovations; Knowledge management; Mann-Whitney U test; Outdoor activities; Qualitative research; Questionnaires; Small & medium sized enterprises-SME; Strategic management; SWOT analysis; Tourism development; Tourist attractions; Variables; Krk; Istria
• ISSN: 1330-7533; 1847-3377

The purpose of this dissertation is to research the development of a tourist destination, small and medium enterprises, following the creation of a successful model that ensures the competitive advantage of the destination in accordance with the new market demands and new trends in tourism with the aim of differentiating the tourist product. Since the island of Krk has all the natural conditions for the development of outdoor tourism, it is necessary to implement a model of the concept of outdoor tourism development at all levels of destination management and all stakeholders involved in the creation of a tourist product. A pilot survey was conducted on a total of 30 participants to determine if there were any problems with understanding the questions in the questionnaire. Since the comments of the pilot participants were insignificant and the interventions to refine the questionnaire were very small, the pilot phase was not repeated. Statistical data processing included the following phases: * Data description - description of the variables in the questionnaires using the usual statistical measures of description - percentage of responses (distribution of results) and, for quantitative variables, the arithmetic mean (average) and the measure of dispersion of responses (standard deviation). * The test of statistical significance of the differences between the subjects on the island of Krk and the other destinations was performed using non-parametric difference tests. The development of the outdoor offer with an emphasis on international outdoor events, along with geomorphological characteristics of the space suitable for outdoor activities, good image of the destination, traffic connections, positive attitude of the local population towards tourists and ecological development of the destination, are the advantages that enable the island of Krk to create the basis for achieving a better competitive advantage.