TOURISM AND SPORT: MANAGEMENT OF EVENT OPERATIONS

Today, events represent a centrepiece of tourism, tourism strategy and marketing. Tourists want, need and expect that something is constantly happening during their stay in the destination of their choice, within and beyond the hotel. Events attract tourists and motivate them to select a place where they can spend pleasant holidays or to revisit a place. The objective of this paper is to define an event management model that can ensure Optimum results, and this means achieving tourist satisfaction and economic results. In particular, the paper focuses on sport events to which the same management model and methodology can be applied, but with certain adjustments to the specific characteristics of sports. The paper comprises several sections. First, events, the events industry, types of events, and event management are defined, followed by an overview of the operations that make up the event management model. The starting point and source are modern world theory and best practises of event operations management. The purpose of the paper is to underline the need to professionalise and standardise event management in Croatia and to point out the huge impact of event management on tourism development and tourism effects.