Trends and Challenges
The purpose of this chapter is to elaborate on changes that impacted the tourism sector of the so-called ‘transitional economies’ of south-eastern Europe since the fall of the Berlin Wall. Three factors are to be considered: the political and economic transition from communism/socialism to democracy and market economy; the dramatic developments as the violent disintegration of Yugoslavia impacted on the infrastructure at large; and the change of the European political map due to the European Union’s enlargement and creation of new nation states. Several political and military events and economic turning points were linked to the reduction or increase of tourist visits. New national strategies of the states’ economic sectors are briefly discussed and elaborated in detail, using the example of the new state of Croatia.
Westerners’ attention was focused on the post-socialist transition from around 1990, as communism started to fade away. Ian Jefries’ (1993) discussion focused on the generalities of the transition in the post-soviet republics and the former communist countries of east-central Europe; very limited interest was shown for the instable south-eastern Europe, in particular the western Balkans. Williams and Balaz (2001) switched from Jefries’ country-by-country general analyses to the discussion of problems of several sectors of the economy – in their case tourism, retailing and consumption. By covering a variety of aspects in human geography, Turnock (2002) on this issue is more complex. Tourism is viewed as a major economic tool to be used in development. Again, the lack of discussion of the progress of the tourism economy in the area of former Yugoslavia is more than evident. The ongoing wars might have been the reason. Instability, violence and wars have made ways in tourism literature much earlier. But, aspects of security and instability related to tourism are recently again in the foreground of public interest (Mansfeld and Pizam, 2005). Vukonić’s (1997) book on Tourism in the Whirlwind of War was an excellent prelude to this exceptional book. In the next chapter we will follow Vukonić’s discussion by empirically analysing the effects of the military confrontation on the territory of former Yugoslavia (‘Balkan wars’) on tourism in Serbia and Montenegro.
Based on measurements of visitor arrivals, tourism amenities and receipts, south-eastern Europe was and is, as a tourist destination, lagging behind western Mediterranean destinations. With 35 million visitors per year, 110 million bed-nights and 1.6 million tourist beds available, the region could not compare with such giants as France, Spain or Italy. Neighbouring Italy alone registers twice as many visitors, has close to 150 million bed-nights and has more tourist beds to offer than all the nation states of south-eastern Europe together. In 2004, Greece was the leading tourist destination of the region (14 million visitors, 45 million bed-nights), followed by Croatia (8m, 43m), Bulgaria (5m, 7m) and Romania (4m, 8m). Comparing accumulated tourist bed-nights and the nation state population, Croatia is leading (9.5), followed by Greece (4.3) and Slovenia (2.1) (Table 24.1).
With the exception of Greece, countries of the region have, since the Second World War and up to the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989, experienced communist rule and centrally planned economies, the ‘socialist economy’. Despite the named ‘prerequisites’, the Mediterranean area of Yugoslavia was in the 1980s listed among the five most-visited European destinations. The coasts of the former Yugoslav provinces (republics) Slovenia, Croatia and Montenegro have observed growth similar to Spain’s. That progress came to a halt with the disintegration of Yugoslavia. In 1991/2, ethnic violence erupted in Yugoslavia, as several republics declared independence. The subsequent military confrontations minimized and/or hindered international arrivals. What had been one of the world leaders in tourism found its tourist industry struggling. In the aftermath of the confrontations, sovereign nation states Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro and Slovenia made their entry on the global tourist market. Emerging new countries had to struggle with the destination recognition at first. Croatia in particular managed its promotion well. In 2005 Croatia (again) became the most desired destination of the German tourist market. Bulgaria, Romania and Albania experienced the effects of the transition from the ‘socialist’ to market economy simultaneously. Where peace and democracy, together with a market economy, were soon established, current tourist arrivals are already comparable to their best in history. Progress has been made in each of these countries, with Slovenia and Croatia being in the forefront of a successful transition.
Table 24.1 South-eastern Europe: international inbound tourism (in 000s)
+ = including one-day visitors
** = Tourists’ Bed-nights vs. Population, 2004
Source: Savezni Zavod Za Statistiku (1971), UNWTO (1981, 1991, 1999, 2005b)
South-eastern Europe is one of eight major economic regions of Europe. The size of the region (766,000 sq. km) is comparable to the seven other European regions; population-wise (65 million inhabitants) the area is below European average, with a density of only 85 inhabitants per sq. kilometre (Table 24.2). Geographically the region is the south-easterly periphery of Europe and next to the continent’s land bridge to Asia, to the Near and Middle East. The tourist attractions of the area are related predominantly to the Mediterranean climate/ geomorphology (the Black Sea, the Aegean Sea, the Adriatic Sea) and the heritage of Western culture (Greece). The abundance of cultural, ethnic and religious wealth in the rough Mediterranean hinterland (with its karstic alpine ridge, and the mineral rich Carpathian/ Balkan mountains) are the result of a constant struggle of world powers to control the area. The term ‘shatter belt’ is used in political circles to identify the troubled past and present of the region. The iconographies of the Orthodox and Catholic Christian religions are enriched by the presence of the only autochthonous Islamic community in Europe: the Bosnians. Two nation states of the area, Greece and Slovenia, are members of the European Union; Croatia is joining in 2013. With regard to economic characteristics, the majority of the countries of south -eastern Europe are not aligned with most demographic and economic indicators of the European Union. The GDP per capita (US$4,000) is on average 5 times lower than the EU average; the GDP per capita of Bosnia-Herzegovina (US$1,310), the least-developed nation state of the area, is, due to its recent tragic past, 16 times below. On another scale, the population figures for young people in Albania is 4 times larger than those for the older generation, Albania being therewith the most ‘reproductive’ nation state of Europe. The same country produces almost no CO2 emissions (0.9 per cent); total CO2 emissions of the region, another indicator of development, are just two-thirds of the EU average.
Table 24.2 The basic economic geography of south-eastern Europe, 2002
Source: von Baratta et al. (2005)
The general political and economic setting of south-eastern Europe, where ethnic disputes in its core (Yugoslavia) lasted through the last decade of the twentieth century, and where the transition from communism to democracy has been slow, the 1990s were characterized by the hindrance of traffic, forced migration, limits to the free flow of people and goods and slow economic development, even downfall, in particular in the tourism sector (except in Greece). The examples of Serbia and Montenegro are typical. There, international visits had fallen from above 2 million tourists to just a couple of hundred thousand a year. After democratic and economic reforms in 2002 the arrivals have jumped to a half a million (Table 24.3). All of these processes have had a negative effect – in the short run (1991–5) – on Greek tourism as well. Greece has experienced since 1996 a constant increase of tourist visits (+6.8 per cent yearly).
Table 24.3 Serbia and Montenegro: tourists* and the instability/stability factors”
| YEAR | Tourists* | INSTABILITY CAUSES AND RESOLUTIONS IN THE REGION OF WESTERN BALKANS” |
|---|---|---|
| 1988 | 2,549.000 | Serbian nationalistic agitation for a unified Yugoslavia. Slobodan Milosevic gaining power. |
| 1989 | 2,372.000 | The Fall of the Berlin Wall (November 9). |
| 1990 | 2,093.000 | Start of the rebellion of Serbs in the Croatian Krajina Province. Yugoslavia - end of communism: free elections in Slovenia and Croatia. |
| 1991 | 954.000 | Declaration of independence by Slovenia and Croatia (June 25th). Subsequent wars. |
| The Brioni Agreement (July 7th): Slovenia and Yugoslavia (Serbia & Montenegro) agreed on terms of Slovenian independence | ||
| Declaration of independence of Macedonia (September 8th). Internationally recognized (Greece) as FYRM - Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, | ||
| 1992 | 156.000 | Declaration of independence by Bosnia & Herzegovina (January 9th). Subsequent war. |
| 1993 | 276.000 | |
| 1994 | 247.000 | |
| 1995 | 228.000 | The Bosnian Srebrenica massacre – committed by Serbs on Muslims (July 11 th). |
| Croatia gaining territorial sovereignty by military action (August, 4–21). War in Bosnia-Herzegovina died out. | ||
| The Dayton Peace Treaty (November 21 th): Bosnia & Herzegovina established as two-entity nation-state. | ||
| 1996 | 301.000 | |
| 1997 | 298.000 | Soldiers of the UN initiated ALBA (Dawn) mission arrived in Albania (April 15-August 12) to make ground for free elections and democracy. |
| 1999 | 152.000 | NATO bombing campaign on Serbia & Montenegro (March-May). The Kumanovo Accords (June 10th): Serbia & Montenegro agrees on peace terms for Kosovo Province. |
| 2000 | 239.000 | Democratically elected government of Serbia and Montenegro (October 5th). |
| 2001 | 367.000 | Former president Slobodan Milosevic being extradited to the United Nations War Crime Tribunal in The Hague (June 28th) Privatization Law (July 1st).. |
| 2002 | 448.000 | |
| 2003 | 481.000 | Assassination of Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic (March 112th). Serbia & Montenegro – Croatia: Agreement on borders, border regimes and border crossings (December 10th). |
| 2004 | 577.000 |
* no. of foreign visitors.
** major political and other events which have caused violence, wars and general instability along with major positive developments to stabilize the region.
Source: Savezni Zavod Za Statistiku (1992, 2004), von Baratta et al. (2005)
In the context of the twenty-first century’s double-digit world tourism revival, south-eastern Europe reports relatively equally good results. The yearly increase of arrivals by 10.1 per cent, since 2000, is considerable higher than in the rest of Europe where it grew by 4 per cent. This is driven in particular by the comparatively solid performance of Croatia (+22.5 per cent), Slovenia (+8.2 per cent) and Greece (+6.9 per cent). The emerging of 10 new EU members in 2004, as well as the EU’s inclusion of Bulgaria and Romania in 2007, determined positive growth rates in all major warm sea destinations of the region (Table 24.3). The yearly improvement of tourism receipts has been, since 2000, particularly high in countries where major events took place, such as Greece (+6.7 per cent), and where the previous incomes of the tourist industry were low: Albania (+21.1 per cent), Romania (+18.1 per cent), Bulgaria (+17.9 per cent) and Serbia Montenegro (+7.4 per cent). The expansion of low-cost airlines has encouraged intraregional tourism in traditional (Greece) and emerging destinations (Slovenia, Croatia), replacing the charter airlines spectrum of flights, as they still dominate in other transitional countries of the area. The EU enlargement was a factor to consider in 2004, as curious Western tourists have overrun capital cities of new member states. The switch to the euro in 2000 made tourism services in most EU countries (Greece) more expensive. The transitional economies enjoyed the competitive price factor of still being outside the eurozone and remaining emerging economies. The overall tourism development is gaining also due to improved infrastructure and educated human resources (UNWTO, 2005a).
Figure 24.1 South-eastern Europe: bed-nights, 1968–2004
On average, tourism receipts are small in comparison to Western destinations. In 2002 countries of the region reported to UNWTO the following income from tourism (in millionUS$):
The income made by the tourist industry is noticeable in summer holiday destinations, such as the Greek Aegean Islands, or in Croatian Istria and Dalmatia– as they make over 25 per cent of the respective provinces’ GNP (UNWTO, 2005b).
Western Europe is the tourism generating area of the region, with Germany providing the greatest number of tourists. With the exception of the less-developed tourist destinations of Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia and Serbia–Montenegro, German-speaking tourists dominate the region. Italians, too, are numerous in particular in Albania, Croatia, Romania, Greece and Slovenia, whereas Austrian and Slovenian citizens continue to visit the northern Adriatic (Croatia). The once numerous Dutch and Scandinavian tourists too are cautiously returning (Jordan, 2000). Croatia tries hard to attract potential visitors on the British and American tourist markets. Greek citizens have recently discovered the attractions of their northern neighbours, Albania (7.9 per cent Greek visitors) and Macedonia (11.1 per cent Greek visitors), whereas Albanians make 7.4 per cent of Greek and Macedonian arrivals in 2002 (Figure 24.2).
Figure 24.2 South-eastern Europe: tourism generating countries
Regarding accommodation amenities available, two diverse trends come to the foreground. A reduction of the overall number of beds in hotels, motels and bed-and-breakfast establishments and an increase of higher-quality establishments, as international hotel chains have made investments into strategically important tourist amenities. The decline of the number of tourist amenities was experienced in the first half of the 1990s in particular, as the bed-capacity in hotels and similar establishments was reduced by 24.3 per cent. The most troubled south-eastern Europe tourist destination Bosnia-Herzegovina is in this negative regard ahead (–75.3 per cent; –35,261 beds), but in Croatia too capacities have been reduced by almost two-thirds (–62.3 per cent) and a reduction of 318,000 beds. Romania, Bulgaria, Albania and Macedonia have in general kept their share and number of beds and are now increasing other amenities. The stagnation or reduction of accommodation amenities is not exclusively a result of the lack of regional security and the unstable political situation (in Croatia expelled nationals took refuge in hotels), but also results from the transition from the centrally planned socialist economy to Western market economy. As a typical case one could name Slovenia (where no substantial instability was registered), but the number of beds have been reduced by 15,526 units (31 per cent). Many units, owned previously by hotel enterprises, have turned into privately owned leisure-apartments. Greece, a country with an established democracy and market economy, can be found on the other side of the spectrum. Between 1988 and 2002, Greece increased the size of its tourist accommodation capacity by almost 53 per cent (Figure 24.3).
Figure 24.3 South-eastern Europe: accommodation in tourist establishments, 1968–2004
If the overall picture of the transition has to be understood, different nation states’ privatization concepts have to be taken into consideration. State-owned leisure establishments (dachas) and social leisure housing units have often switched to individual foreign and domestic elites. The new governments of south-eastern Europe’s transitional nation states saw a welcome source of income in the gaming and gambling industry as well. In 2004 all but one country (Albania) had casinos in operation. Leading in the number of casino operators is Croatia (45), followed by Slovenia (18), Romania (15) and Serbia and Montenegro (14). On the lower end of this sector of the tourism industry is Bulgaria (10), Greece (9), Macedonia (7) and Bosnia-Herzegovina (1), whereas Albania is in the process of issuing 5 gambling permits in 2005. Most of the casinos are located in capital cities (Bucharest, Zagreb: 12; Belgrade: 8; Sofia: 6; see Figure 24.1). Some casino enterprises in Greece, Slovenia and Serbia-Montenegro (including Kosovo) have organized online gambling as well. In accordance with the EU directives these activities must be banned from further operation by 2005 (‘Casino City, n.d.).
Since a market economy was introduced in the tourism sector of south-eastern Europe, on average a decade and a half ago, countries of the region have gone through a whirlwind of change, the result of the regional instability and the transition itself. Many outcomes of these processes are not finished yet, some have successfully been concluded and the tourism industry in respective countries has been adapted to Western standards. The following transitional problems were recognized:
The geographic characteristics of tourism flows show a recent increase of the regional exchange of tourist visits. As this trend is growing, the share of tourists from once heavily participating areas of Europe has been reduced in relative but not absolute terms. A reverse trend has been registered since 2002 in Croatia. Indeed, Germans and other Central Europeans are (slowly) returning to the area, but the once extreme popularity of South-eastern Europe in Britain, Holland and Sweden has generally vanished. Greece must be excluded from this remark. According to WTO data, the following geographic zones of regional and of continental interactions can be identified:
In the year 1990, Yugoslavia realized 88 million bed-nights, of which 43 million were foreign and 45 million domestic. The republic of Croatia, the Mediterranean province of the multiethnic state, achieved 52 million bed-nights (34 million foreign, 18 million domestic). Croatia registered almost 60 per cent of the entire tourist turnover of the country, that is, 79 per cent of foreign and 41 per cent of domestic tourist visits. Up until the 1960s, Croatia’s visitors were primarily domestic guests. Domestic tourism was encouraged through social policies of the communistic government and the centrally planned economy of the state (five-year development programmes), which has had, up until the 1970s, closed or semi-open borders. Yugoslav citizens have realized 40 per cent of arrivals and 47 per cent of bed-nights in the province (republic). Tourists with residency within Croatia made one third of the total (33 per cent of arrivals and 30 per cent of bed-nights). At the beginning of the 1960s foreign tourists joined in at a somewhat lower rate (27 per cent of arrivals and 22 per cent bed-nights). With the unrestricted opening of borders (Yugoslav citizens could freely exit/enter the country), changed foreign policy (Yugoslavia became a founding member of the Unallied Movement) and with the increased economic links to the west (Germany), a turnover regarding visits to the Mediterranean Adriatic coast took place. In the following two decades foreign visitors to Croatia made up to 55 per cent of all visits and close to two-thirds of all bed-nights in Croatian resorts. Out of close to 70 million bed-nights, at the peak of visits in 1988, Yugoslav citizens made around 22 million. Citizens of Yugoslavia, residing outside of Croatia, made close to one-third (31 per cent) of ‘domestic bed-nights’. Croatia was the primary tourist destination for residents of Slovenia (42 per cent) and Bosnia-Herzegovina (51 per cent). The Serbs preferred the Montenegrin Adriatic coast (just 24 per cent in Croatia) (Pirjevec, 1985). Compared to traditional patterns of international visitors, the length of stay of domestic guests was a mere two-thirds of theirs. Foreign visitors preferred to stay on average 7.1 days (in 1985), whereas Croats spent an average of 4.9 days at their beloved resorts.
As the Yugoslav political situation deteriorated in the 1990s, international as well as in-state tourism shrunk in terms of numbers and length of stay. Disregarding the worst years (1991–4), as military conflicts flared up near most of Croatian Mediterranean resort towns, except in Istria, the situation regarding visits and bed-nights was less than 10 per cent of the previous decade’s peak. In 1995, Dalmatia, being close to battlefields, was visited almost exclusively by Croat nationals (72 per cent). Istria, being well distant, registered 84 per cent and the Kvamer Bay tourist area 68 per cent international visits. As the sovereign Croatian nation state in early August regained control over its territory, tourist arrivals were a mere 25.8 per cent of the previous decade; Croats themselves showed a drop of 37.2 per cent, whereas international visitors were down by 82.2 per cent. The length of stay reduced to just 3.9 days for domestic and to 5.7 days for international visitors (Radnić and Ivandić, 1999). Tourism did not regain strength until early in the new millennium. The post-war economic consolidation became complex as different facets of the transition from ‘socialism’ to ‘capitalism’ were added. It is not the intention of this chapter to elaborate on several ‘strange’ privatization deals and over-takings by domestic/international private and public institutions (Jordan, 2000). In 2004 Croatia’s tourism was still about 10 per cent off of its best ‘performance’ regarding visits and less than 30 per cent of its best ‘bed-night’ yearly results. But five years later, in 2009, visits and bed-nights had already overrun the peaks of the 1980s (see Figure 24.4).
Tourism in Croatia is predominantly an issue of the Mediterranean regions: about 80 per cent of arrivals and 90 per cent of bed-nights are achieved in the Adriatic coastal resorts. As such, the majority of tourist amenities are of seasonal character (summer). In 2004 55.4 per cent of tourist accommodations (beds) were in concrete structures, around 200,000 in hotels (40.2 per cent); the remaining 400,000 units were on campsites, in boats/marinas, etc. Weather-related visits could therefore increase the accumulated number of tourists and their length of stay per year high enough, or result in a disastrous season. According to UNWTO (2004), in 2002 Croatia had close to 80,000 rooms in hotels, bed-and-breakfast places and apartments. The occupancy rate of these amenities is, regarding its seasonal character, understandably low. At the peak of Croatia’s economic performance in the 1980s, the occupancy rate was close to 84 days or three months a year; in 1990, it fell below the 20-day mark; in 2004 it revived and went up to 56 days, close to two months a year. What the Croatian destination management planners need to do urgently is prolong the summer season and modernize the structure of amenities in the tourism sector of the economy. In the period 1995–2005 the Croats did well in promoting nautical tourism by almost doubling moorings in marinas (Table 24.4).
The structure of foreign demand has changed since independence. New markets in east-central Europe have emerged; Western markets have cautiously responded to the new tourist destination by the name ‘Croatia’. In the early twenty-first century, tourists from Great Britain, historically an important factor of Croatian tourism, amounted to less than 45 per cent of the pre-independence years, but increasing slowly. Germans have since 2000 increased their presence to about 80 per cent of the pre-war visits. They are again one of the tourism generating countries for Croatia, followed by Italy, Austria, Slovenia and the Czech Republic. In accordance with this ranking, Croatia’s tourism has geographically become dependent on short-distance regional visits of residents of Bosnia, Slovenia, Austria, Hungary, Italy, Slovakia and Germany (south). They are responsible for 56.8 per cent of all, and 71.2 per cent of international arrivals (Table 24.5). Destine European tourists and, in part, American tourists are missing. Instead of making land based visits (all-inclusive hotel arrangements) they are returning to Croatia as cruise ship passengers for a daylight port/city visit of Dubrovnik, Korčula, Hvar, Split, Zadar and Šibenik.
Figure 24.4 Croatia: domestic and international arrivals, 1980–2004
Table 24.4 Croatia: accommodation and selected touristic facilities, 1980–2004
Analyses of the daily tourist expenditures showed that in 1998 a Croatian as a tourist was, along with the tourist from Slovenia ($30.68) and the Netherlands ($29.29), a ‘moderately spending’ guest ($29.57). Visitors from post-socialist countries of east-central Europe, such as Hungary, Slovakia, Poland and the Czech Republic, have had lower daily expenditures ($24.21−$26.49). Higher daily expenditure were recorded by guests from Great Britain ($38.30) and Germany ($34.53). But, as elaborated, their return rates to the area are modest. Croatia’s Institute of Tourism therefore, in the mid-1990s, in regard to the mid-term destination management policy, made the following suggestions (see Table 24.6):
Table 24.5 Croatia: tourists according to residency, 1980–2004 (in 000s)
Table 24.6 Croatia: visits to and bed-nights in major sea-side resort areas*, 1980–2004 (in 000s)
By 2004 many of the goals, set a decade earlier, had already been achieved. The importance of Mediterranean destinations in the Croatian tourism industry had reduced, respectively by 15 and 10 per cent, to just above 71 per cent in arrivals and 83 per cent the bed-night numbers. But the main focus of Croatian tourism has not changed. Overwhelmingly sea, sand and sun tourism prevails. The recent promotional slogan ‘Croatia – the Mediterranean as it once was’ supports it by neglecting the growing ‘Caribbean ambiences’ of other Mediterranean destinations and by putting the original and traditional in nature and culture as priority. At the beginning of the twenty-first century this phrase enabled Croatian managers to hide their relatively low-quality tourist services, which have due to instability and the lack of the investment-ready capital not changed much since the 1980s. The situation has slowly changed and amenities have since improved. Additives to ‘the tradition’ have been more or less accepted, but in a limited amount and just in certain spheres of leisure and recreation. Sporting activities related to sea and coast are the most successful (Fox and Fox, 1998). Along with yachting, underwater discoveries and other warm-seas attractions, tennis facilities have been added, golf-places planned and bicycle paths constructed. The success of Croatian sports (tennis, soccer, water polo, etc.) gratifies such investments on several levels of public and political acceptance.
Due to its geo-strategic position and the general trend in the industry, Croatian tourism has made efforts, along with their neighbours, to develop the gaming and gambling sector of the economy. Large casino operators, such as Casino Austria, have or are planning to have their share in the gaming and gambling operations along the Adriatic. Since Italy is geographically close, and Italians are traditional guests and known by their playing habits, Croatia opened 18 American-style and about 30 smaller gambling establishments. Half of them are located in resorts of the Istrian peninsula, less than one hour from the Italian border. Recently, sustainable development projects are marking the tourism sector of the Croatian economy as well. There are eighty Blue Flags flying on Croatian beaches, marking the extreme quality of coastal waters of Europe (Bošković and Šerović, 2000). The Mediterranean waters in the Adriatic Sea have become less polluted, as less tourists visit and aluminium plants, cement factories and other coastline manufacturers have had to close down due to global economic impacts.
Less visited by tourists are the hinterlands. There, vine-routes are promoted and tourism on farms projected, in Istria in particular, less so in Dalmatia. Resort hinterlands have become most valuable assets for real-estate agents. There, the ‘Toscana effect’ is hoped for and/or feared of–as it is in the island communities as well. Since 1991, due to a variety of reasons – land-ownership of an ‘enemy’ (in the Yugoslavian conflict), speculative purchases/ sales (speculative and/or progress envisioned), changes in the master plan of municipalities, interest of the ‘new rich’ and the world elite, etc. – more than 100,000 properties have been bought by non-residents and foreigners. There is not a clear picture available yet to elaborate on transactions of capital and real estate matters in relation to the tourism sectors. The transition is still in progress (Vrtiprah and Ban, 2000). As a result, the following obvious spatial and functional changes must be mentioned (see Figure 24.5):
Figure 24.5 Map of south-eastern Europe
At the turn of the twenty-first century the tourism industry of the post-socialist countries of south-eastern Europe had to overcome multi-layered hurdles, which have not been felt in other East-Central European countries of transition. The disintegration of Yugoslavia has had disastrous effects on the immediate business environment and on the regional economy as a whole, along with problems related to the transition from a socialist to a market economy and to the rivalry of newly established nation states. Regional political processes, such as EU integration and the increasingly globalized economy, including tourism, have also impacted trends in tourist visits and in the tourist industries’ perspectives of the eight regional countries that have been analysed. Detailed analyses of the tourism sector of Croatia have showed diverse ways of recovery, which other regional economies, in particular Slovenia, Bulgaria and Romania, have also set paths to. Promotional slogans, like ‘Croatia –the Mediterranean as it once was’ and ‘Slovenia Invigorates’ express the different approaches countries have set to reach this goal. New tourism strategies and regional development master plans have replaced old. Ecologically conscious development is regarded a priority.
The once prosperous tourist destinations of south-eastern Europe, in the mid-1980s among the top European tourist destinations, became at the beginning of the last decade of the twentieth century unrecognizable on the tourist map of the world. At the beginning of the new millennium tourists were still one-third down on visits two decades previously. Several developments in the global arena (terrorism, wars) and domestic situation (investments, privatization) in 2005 elevated international visits almost to the stage they once had. Europe is the tourism-generating area for the region. But the regional preference of the tourism-generating countries has changed: less continental and increased regional exchange of tourists has taken place recently. Three circles of regional interdependence and two weaker circles of west>east/ north>south long-distance reliance is registered. The quantity of accommodation facilities has reduced by 9.4 per cent but, with increased numbers of foreign brand name hotel chains entering, have increased their quality. Once unthinkable tourism products, such as gaming and gambling, have strengthened the existing Mediterranean natural and cultural tourist attractions of the area. Increasingly, but slowly, the triple E (education, experience, emotion) and triple A (adventure, attraction, alternative) products are becoming available on the market, somewhere even replacing the popular triple S (sun, sea, sand) type of tourism. Some destinations stick–to a large extent – to the old tradition, like Croatia. The highly praised sustainable development trend in tourism is often a ‘paper tiger’, as in countries of the region the environmentally most critical stage has for the moment been reduced.
Croatia – regarding tourism the most successful country in transition in south-eastern Europe – shows a well-formed and continued recovery from the direct and broader effects of the ‘Balkan wars’. Several tourist enterprises of the world named Croatia the ‘Tourist Destination of 2006’! Croatia and Slovenia, the two new sovereign nation states rising out of the ashes of Yugoslavia, in 2005 surpassed the 1980s’ mark of tourist arrivals. But the structure of tourist visits is, at present, comparably different. Instead of hosting British, Dutch and Scandinavian tourists, a regional tourism exchange takes place. Up to 75 per cent international visitors reside in countries bordering the named nation states or are residents of the two respective nations themselves. Just southern and eastern regions of Germany ‘spoil the picture’. Croatia’s intention to reduce the impact of Mediterranean tourism has had a limited success. Still, the traditional maritime orientation prevails (71 per cent in arrivals and 83 per cent in bed-nights) as new nautical and sports-related programmes have been added. Foreign investments in the tourism sector of the economy are in Croatia, as in other south-eastern European tourist destinations, recognizable to a large extend.
Since the statistics are known and major orientation paths already in place what use can be made of them by south-east European countries and their tourist economies? This is the question that must be addressed by all countries and regional players with interest in the future of tourism. There is little doubt that conditions for the growth of tourism on a global and regional scale are increasingly favourable. Most effective in this region would be the strengthening of intra-regional cooperation. At present the promotion of most, if not all, players in the region is aimed at tourism-generating countries of the pre-transition era –Germany, Netherlands, Great Britain, Italy, etc. – ignoring the fact that close to 50 per cent of international visitors come from their neighbourhood, less than 1,000 km away. This has to become a competitive factor in particular if the energy situation and its pricing are to be taken into account. Denial of this fact is partly cultural and partly politically stimulated and must be overcome. In order to compete effectively with European and emerging tourism regions worldwide in addition the tourism industry of south-eastern Europe must:
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