Potential of Congress Tourism in the Republic of Croatia in Comparison to Neighboring Destinations

The phenomenon of globalization has led to the development of various selective forms of tourism. One of them is MICE tourism known in Croatia as a business form of tourism. Business tourism is still a relatively new concept and covers all aspects of business travel. The development of business travel has led to the development of congress tourism as a separate form of business tourism which is the focus of this paper. Congress tourism is a lucrative segment of the tourist offer that often takes place out of the tourist season. It requires quality congress facilities which can meet the needs of the participants and organizers of the congress. The main role of congress tourism is to gather participants from different countries and promote different products, services, training, education and many other fields of business while at the same time it promotes the hosting destination and its tourism attractions. The aim of this paper is to research and determine the current situation, supply and demand of the Croatian meetings and congress industry in comparison with the neighbouring destinations, the Republic of Slovenia and the Republic of Serbia. The study and comparison between three destinations imply changes that need to take place to improve the congress offer, to detect what the competitive position of the Republic of Croatia is, which marketing activities to improve so that the Republic of Croatia can become a competitive destination in the region and Europe. Congress tourism as a form of business tourism in Croatia is growing. The most prominent cities in this form of tourism are Zagreb, Dubrovnik and Opatija. The objectives pursued in Croatian congress offer are: the number of participants in congresses, strengthening the quality of congress offer and infrastructure, ensuring coordinated actions of stakeholders and increasing the recognition and awareness of Croatia as a congress destination. Since joining the EU, Slovenia has become an interesting destination for other members of the EU. Congress activity in Slovenia is booming, with a growing number of modern equipped convention venues with modern facilities for implementation of convention events. Slovenia has three major congress destinations; Ljubljana, Portorož and Bled that meet the conditions for organizing congresses. The Republic of Serbia with its tourism development strategy, presented business tourism as a potential selective form of tourism that can contribute to increasing tourist traffic of local and foreign tourists. Congress destinations that represent an ideal destination for congresses are: Belgrade, Novi Sad and Zlatibor. The application of sustainable development in the area of congress tourism plays an important role in form of preservation of resources and environmental protection. Therefore, congress tourism should be managed in a way to meet economic, social, ecological and aesthetic needs of a destination. Methodology used in this research paper consists of desk research, descriptive method, historical method, method of analysis, synthesis and comparative method. Beside secondary data analysis through literature review data are induced from Central Bureau of Statistics, the Institute for Tourism, Zagreb Tourist Board, Tourist Board of Opatija, The Dubrovnik Tourist Board, Serbian Convention Bureau and Research as well as from available published articles, books and internet data related to Slovenian business tourism. This research paper contributes to further scientific research and improvements needed in order to continuously develop and increase the size and quality of business tourism.