The Issue of Coastal Zone Management in Croatia – Beach Managing

Croatia is well known for its sun, clear sea, many islets and peninsulas; these are the key elements in its tourism development. Beaches in Croatia are specific among its touristic resources, in particularly because natural beaches are scarce. In coastal areas, beaches are mostly rocky or artificial; this makes natural beaches even more important. This paper analyzes beach management in Croatia, and gives beach definition by content and classification. The aim of paper is emphasizing the necessity for the sustainable management of coastal areas, especially beaches. The authors advocate a systematic approach through stable legislation and public institutions and suggest activities to be undertaken in order to improve the system of efficient beach management, by introducing quality criteria (efficiency level), including business communication. They underline the necessity of implementing a Decision Support System (dss), as a solution for making beach management more efficient, together with the use of Geographic Information Systems (gis), and beach registration and evaluation (Beach Area Registration and Evaluation, bare).