SECURITY IN EUROPEAN TOURISM WITH PARTICULAR ATTENTION PAID TO THE REPUBLIC OF CROATIA

Security and the sense of being secure represent an important component in choosing a tourist destination, but also the quality of life of domestic population and stay of tourists in a tourist destination. Therefore, in cooperation with participants in tourism, destinations must enable safe and adequate surrounding for its visitors, and encourage the coexistence with the domestic population. Protection and security in tourism are becoming complex multidimensional terms which cover a great number of components among which are political security, public security, health and sanitation security, protection of personal data, legal protection of tourists, protection of consumers, security in communication, getting authentic data, ensuring the quality of services, etc. Croatia is a member of the European Union, and it monitors trends in the development of tourism on the European Union level and Europe in whole. Personal safety is an important component of choosing Croatia as a destination, and is one of the advantages of Croatia in relation to the competitive countries. Within the research conducted in the paper the focus is on the analysis of safety in tourism of Europe and the Republic of Croatia. The goal is understanding the significance which "sense of safety" has on the choice of European destinations and the necessity of establishment of security measures and the protection of tourists during tourist travel on all levels. Based on the conducted analysis, measures of improvement of security and protection of tourists in European and Croatian tourist destinations will be suggested.