Cultural Tourism in Croatia after the Implementation of the Strategy of Development of Cultural Tourism

The tourist potential of Croatia's cultural assets has been recognized and there is evidence of strong demand for such products amongst both domestic and international tourists. Croatia from the standpoint of offer, with picturesque settlements, rich and various history, historic urban and rural areas, and with tourism developed in the coastal area has good prerequisites for the development of cultural tourism and cultural-tourism products, and the Strategy of development of cultural tourism has been created in order to identify strategic measures (priorities and plan of activities), which should encourage the development of cultural-tourism products of Croatian tourist destinations in the entire country. Strategy is adopted in 2003, and its implementation started in 2004. After five years, in 2008, the first comprehensive research that refers to the changes and progress related to the development of the state of cultural tourism in Croatia was made. Consequently, this article presents and analyzes some results of that research, preceded by a short overview of the state of cultural tourism in Croatia, which includes the analysis of Croatian strategies of development of culture, tourism and cultural tourism, analysis the role of the state in cultural tourism and, finally, states the possible directions of further development of cultural tourism in Croatia.