Thematic clusters in tourism

Growth and development of entrepreneurship (especially the small one) in general requires a constant search for an organisational model that will provide survival of entrepreneurs on the market, satisfying at the same time the strategic goal through increase in added value per product unit, i.e. profitability, increase in export-oriented production and, accordingly, stability and increase in employment. Entrepreneurial clusters comprising economic operators within the same field of activity or several comparative activities have the need to adjust to a global market. Therefore they design and set up an organisational structure that provides them with possibilities for development, market and marketing activities in one region (district) or in several closely related regions. This concept provides fast development of economic operators by applying modern working methods, and under modern management they draw the maximum from the market environment, whereas economy of a region or a district gains competitive advantages in relation to others. Causes of competitiveness such as cost reduction, added value and new market opportunities can encourage innovation in order to raise the quality and expertise of economic operators. Cluster-based economic development is a model of development of economic operators, particularly the small and medium sized ones, as they initiate development at both the local and regional level through networking. Clusters are drivers of growth and innovation and they ensure competitiveness on a global market. Results show that this development model has provided opportunities for significant success of regions and countries, and it has resulted from synergy of knowledge and technical and technological capacities of associated economic operators. These prerequisites make it possible for operators in the tourism sector to increase their participation in common markets by working together. Therefore this paper will focus on analysis of thematic clusters referring to market segmentation. In the field of tourism this may include cultural heritage, some special interests, health tourism, wine tourism, etc. Such a model initiates development of a tourist destination in a flexible way, thus stimulating economic development at both the local and regional level.