RESEARCH OF TOURIST MOTIVATIONS AND ACTIVITIES IN CONTINENTAL TOURISM DESTINATIONS

• Main Author: Gracan, Daniela
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Subjects: Accommodation; Bicycles; Cultural tourism; Food; Hotels; Hunting; Lifestyles; Outdoor activities; Polls & surveys; Population; Qualitative research; Rural areas; Tourism; Tourism development; Tourist activities; Tourist attractions; Tourists; Trends
• ISSN: 1849-6903; 1849-6903

Tourism is marked by constant changes in tourist demand trends and the development of new travel motives. Tourists are no longer satisfied with a uniform tourist offer or exclusively with a quality accommodation. What they are looking for is an experience while quality accommodation and services are implied. In accordance with the tourist market trends, the paper analyzes the changes in the tourist arrival motives and the total activity of tourists at the tourist destinations. Even though Croatian coast currently stands out as the most developed tourist part of the Republic of Croatia, there are other locations that have great tourist potential with their rich cultural and historical heritage, the beauty of nature and many tourist activities. Small family hotels, various ethno, religious and other events, equestrian and bicycle paths, hunting tourism, cultural and historical heritage, etc. contribute to the tourist traffic in the continental part of the country.For the purposes of this paper, in order to point out the importance of the development of continental tourism through its recognizability and preferences of the target market segment, a survey was conducted among the population of the city of Zagreb. The survey examined the tourists' opinion on their visits to the surrounding continental destinations and on the activities they engaged in the area. The survey gathered 253 correctly completed survey questionnaires.What is of the greatest importance for understanding and assessing the state of tourism development for each destination is conducting qualitative research of the attitudes of groups that, in constant interaction, form an indivisible whole of the tourism process as an interaction of motives, interests and benefits of the development results. The conducted research provides a good illustration of the topic and a reliable basis for further research, as well as a solid starting point for the development of the final models of continental tourist destinations offer which will expand the tourist offer and initiate the demandfor 365 business days.