Nautical Tourism - River Cruise One Of The Factors Of Growth And Development Of Eastern Croatia

Tourism is the most complex and the most dynamic socio-economic phenomenon. The basic hypothesis of this paper is that tourism in Croatia is one of the key sectors of the economy, however, it is questionable whether the river tourism as a form of tourism is sustainable in the future. The demand for international cruises along European rivers has recorded an increase over the last few years. The total number of cruises in 2012 amounted to 90.000, which is almost 12% more cruises than compared to 2011. Increased demand in the number of international cruises on European rivers affected the growth of capacity in the number of ships, and activities in the market of new shipping companies specializing for cruises on the European rivers. There were 235 ships docking in passenger ports of cities Vukovar and Ilok located on the Danube as part of international cruises during 2012. Year after year, Vukovar, Ilok and Osijek marked an increase in the number of tourist cruise ships docking on the Danube River. According to the Vukovar Port Authority visits to Vukovar from the international cruises started in 2002, while the visits to Ilok started in 2007. The reason for this is certainly in the construction of the required infrastructure for the docking of the ships (Aljmas and Batina). The increase in the number of cruises on the Danube is certainly a key factor in the development of continental tourism, especially in Eastern Croatia, which is still feeling the effects of the war of aggression and the world economic crisis. The aim of this paper is to highlight and analyze the existing resources in the river tourism in Eastern Croatia, detect main reasons: (in) visibility dock in Vukovar and Ilok, (un)attractive tourist facilities and offer a solution for increasing the use of tourism services on land and increasing the total number of arrivals of the same.