Traditional Sailing Ships as Indigenous Dalmatian Nautical Product

Modern tourist movements of the development of selective tourism forms have offered an opportunity to implement the valorisation of Croatian littoral area through the development of nautical tourism in all its forms, cruising included. As opposed to international cruise market, where the main word have cruisers with few hundred to several thousand passengers, a special type of multi-day cruising or excursion cruising along Croatian coast on traditional Croatian sailing ships has significantly developed in the last few years. Wooden sailing ships have a magical power to attract. They won't pass unnoticed regardless a huge competition of new trends in constructing technologically perfect modern mega-yachts and the most sophisticated mega-cruisers. In this paper, several traditional sailing ships will be described. They were primary intended to transport cargo, and today they're renovated with saloons, kitchens, toilets, bathrooms, air-conditioners and satellite TV receivers. Modern usage of this, for Croatian culture, important indigenous product promotes specificities of Croatian maritime and shipbuilding tradition, creates recognition and authenticity of nautical tourism in Croatia and creates also numerous other positive effects such as promotion of middle and small shipbuilding and employment of local inhabitants on islands that at the same time prevents their depopulation. In order to achieve full potential of this form of Croatian nautical offer it is necessary to invest and to motivate main carriers of activities ? small ship owners. Besides the need for economic incentives, it is also very important a joint defining of maritime routes for touristic cruising in the way to select ports that, with the state support, would be renovated to accept cruisers. It is also necessary to set a system of planned cruises and berth reservations by a careful selection of favourable locations. This would enable organisation stages and coordination within the ports, and at the same time it would enable a better efficiency and synergy economic effect of all business subjects in the destination. The most important thing within the selected ports is to enable to small cruisers a safe berth and in order to provide the main function of such port it is necessary to construct all required infrastructure (SRNTH, HHI 2006). An overview of selected ports to organise berths and to offer services to tourists on traditional sailing ships will be given in this paper, as well as several proposed routes for sailing in the Splitsko-Dalmatinska County. Project implementation will use the possibility to develop certain historical ports along the coast and on islands, with all their specific features and customs that if valorised in the right way can become the initiators of a revival of traditional maritime towns.