POSSIBILITIES OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF RURAL TOURISM IN CONTINENTAL CROATIA

The goal of this paper was to analyse the current status of rural tourism in Croatia and to identify possibilities and guidelines of its sustanibale development. The research has shown that rural tourism in Croatia falls behind the sun-and-beach holiday tourism in coastal Croatia and that numerous and diverse natural and social resources in continental Croatia are insufficiently employed. Past research of rural tourism in continental Croatia relied on individual entrepreneurial initiative and scarce funding resources, so that consequently a heterogenous and fragmented rural tourism offer, based on various tourism forms and special interest tourism types, has developed in an unorganised way. Since the area in question is ecologically preserved and its resources need to be protected for future generations, the issue of rural tourism development unequivocally introduces the concept of sustainable development. From these results the basic hypothesis of this paper is derived that long-term sustainable development of rural tourism in continental Croatia may be provided only through integrated tourism offer of special interest tourism.