REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN EU'S BORDER AREAS: CROATIA AS A REGIONAL MODEL FOR DESTINATION BRANDING STRATEGY IN BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

The newest member joined the European Union (EU) with a well-conceived destination branding strategy. Croatia is becoming more and more identifiable world-wide by creating a distinctive brand in order to maintain a solid positioning as a destination place. As competition is becoming more intense, an increasing number of countries struggle to make themselves visible in the global tourism market. Tourism dominates the Croatian service sector, where the bulk of the tourist industry is concentrated along the Adriatic Sea coast. Although not very successful in public diplomacy, a complex system of coordinated activities that Croatia implemented resulted in strengthening the perception and image of the overall destination brand. This research aims at exploring the Croatian destination branding strategy as a potential model for its closest neighboring country, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIH). Sharing a common history, borders and people, BIH and Croatia represent a unique comparative case study for regional spill-over development between the EU and non-EU countries. Therefore, this study takes into account what has been done so far on both sides regarding destination branding strategy, thus exploring what lessons could be learned from Croatia and what is the best future regional approach for creating a BIH's destination brand.