Beaches as a Factor in Achieving Competitiveness of a Tourist Product-Case Study: Istrian County

Beaches are the main part of an integral tourist product of a destination. They represent a highly valuable resource from the aspect of natural, social, economic and recreational potential. They make a tourist product attractive, and represent a motive of arrival to a destination for a certain number of tourists. In order for a beach to be placed in a function of tourist offer and positioning of a tourist destination on the tourist market, and for destination´s tourist product to become more attractive, it is necessary to enrich the offer of beaches according to the desires of market segment while respecting the principles of sustainable development. Beach offer of the Istrian County has been analysed within this paper. While preparing this paper, the authors have used the scientific methodology, which means gathering and the analysis of data from primary and secondary sources. An analysis of domestic and foreign professional and scientific literature has been carried out, as well as the valid law frame of beach managing in the Republic of Croatia. With a goal of analysing the existing state of regulation and managing beaches in the Istrian County, an evaluation of beach resources has been carried out.


Introduction
Tourism market represents a very dynamic market, and is marked by fast changes from both tourists offer and demand.Contemporary trends register not only a faster growth of tourist preferences, but also that they are becoming increasingly specific.In order to achieve success on the tourist market, as well as competitive positioning, it is necessary to ensure timely adjustment of tourist offer to the tourist demand.Only those destinations, which form destination product based on the desires and needs of tourists, will achieve success (Zadel and Cerović, 2013).Within a Croatian tourist product, classical Sun, sea, sand (3S) offer has remained dominant throughout the years, and the current situation is not different.One of the counties, whose efforts and activities are emphasized in terms of development of this tourism form is the Istrian county.Many investments were made into the development of its beaches and its facilities.Within this paper, the authors will present, through adequate theoretical background, the importance and characteristics of beaches in the Istrian county, as well as the results of an empirical research in which attitudes of tourists towards beaches and bathing tourism offer will be presented.Finally, concluding remarks will be provided.

Theoretical Background
Competitiveness among tourist destinations has been growing due to numerous international tourism activities, which occur on daily basis.That brings the importance of the assessment of destination performance vis-a-vis other similar and competing destinations (Kozak, 2002).Competitiveness and how to achieve it on the turbulent tourist market has been a subject of numerous scientific and professional studies for many years, and from various points of view.In order to make a clearer insight, the authors will present briefly some of them.Duman and Kozak (2010), i.e., carried out an analysis of tourism resources in Turkish cities by using the content analysis of official tourism websites of Turkish cities.They also surveyed the tourism officials in Turkish cities in order to identify their descriptions of the cities in which promotion they are actively involved.Based on the findings they were able to determine and propose developmental directions, respectively where to focus in order to improve the level of the achieved level of competitiveness of a Turkish tourist product.Goffi (2013) undertook further efforts into developing Ritchie & Crouche´s model (2000) to a higher level by adding further determinants to their original competitiveness model, and testing the model on the Italian destinations of excellence.The model contains: 1. core resources and key attractors (natural resources, green areas, leisure activities, gastronomy and typical services, etc.); 2. tourist services (quantity and quality of accommodation, food services quality, tourist oriented services, etc.); 3.general infrastructures (environmental friendliness and quality of transportation services, quality of road system, medical care facilities, sanitation, sewage and solid waste disposal, etc.); 4. conditioning and supporting factors (accessibility of destination, proximity of other destinations, destination links with major origin markets, value for money in destination tourism experience, etc.); 5. tourism policy, planning and development (political commitment to tourism, integrated approach to tourism planning, clear policies in creating formal employment opportunities, etc.); 6. destination management (effectiveness of destination positioning, effective market segmentation, tourist destination communication, effectiveness in crafting tourism experiences, etc.); and 7. demand factor (awareness of destination, level of repeat visitors, "Fit" between destination products and visitor preferences, etc.).The results of the empirical research and testing confirmed the validity of the model and its success in determining the level of competitiveness of a tourist destination and its offer.According to Dwyer and Kim (2003), in order to achieve competitive advantages for its tourism industry, any destination must enable that adequate "appeal" as well as the experience offered to the tourists, which must be superior among all the alternative destinations available.An existing and potential visit to a destination is inextricably linked to that destination's overall competitiveness.
Every destination bases its tourist offer development on comparative advantages (this refers to both natural and created destination attributes) which makes it unique and recognizable on the tourist market, and stimulates potential tourist to visit a certain destination.These attributes need to be maintained and managed carefully while upholding sustainability principles, in order to enable their preservation in the long-run (Garcia Sanchez et al, 2015; Porter, 1990), and achieve competitive advantages on the tourist market.
World tourism flows experience numerous changes on daily basis.However, one thing that remained the same over the years is that Sun, Sea, Sand (3S) offer still holding the leading position, due to the fact that numerous destinations primarily base their offer on its natural and other particularities, and beaches represent a primary resource.
Beaches can be defined as a cluster of unconsolidated material (e.g.sand, gravel, clay or mixtures thereof), extending from the land edge of the beach, which can be slopes of dunes or seawall, to the depths of the sea, where there is no significant movement of sediment (Gračan et al., 2016, p. 76;Williams and Micaleff, 2009, p. 10).
Beaches can be defined in relation to a wide spectre of physical and anthropogenic determinants, which, among other things, include sea physics (primary relates to the influence of waves), material contents, colour of beach sediment (often used in order to describe various types of beaches) and others.
In relation to the anthropogenic dimension, the beach type can be determined according to the three main criteria: • arranged sea beach within or outside the settlement is supervised and accessible to everybody under the same condition from the mainland and seaside, including people of reduced mobility, mostly edited and altered natural characteristics, and arranged mainland space from the point of infrastructure and facilities (showers, cabins and sanitation), immediately connected with sea, marked and protected from the seaside; • natural sea beach within or outside the settlement supervised and accessible from the mainland and/or sea side, unequipped from the point of infrastructure, totally preserved found natural characteristics.
Rethinking beaches in the context of their use, the Regulation on the Procedure for Granting a Concession on a Maritime Domain (NN 23/04, 101/04, 39/06, 63/08, 125/10 and 83/12 -furthermore defines beaches as: • arranged public beaches -beaches in use to the major number of tourist facilities and citizens; • arranged special beaches -beaches that make a technical and technological unit of an accommodation unit in the sense of Law on Restaurant Business; • natural beaches -beaches on which there was no interventions within their space in the sense of the Regulations that are regulating Spatial Planning and Building, and which must not be limited from the mainland. According to the Bathing Area Registration and Evaluation System (BARE) within the National Programme of Managing and Setting Beaches (2014), they can be divided into the following ones: • Remote beach: usually determined by poor access (mostly by sea path or walking at least 300 metres), they can be in the vicinity or on the edge of rural, or sometimes village (local) areas, but not urban.They cannot be reached by public transport.In the Mediterranean context, in such areas it is possible to find a limited number of holiday houses as well as a small number of restaurant businesses open in the summer period; • Rural beach: situated mostly outside urban/local areas, but can also be situated within the settlements.They are unreachable by public transport, but there are access routes, and they can be reached by public transport.These beaches do not have restaurant facilities.However, in the Mediterranean context, some overland recreational facilities or seasonal beach facilities (i.e.pedalling, "bananas" or water skiing) can be found in rural beaches.In these beaches, the hinterland is not built in a significant measure, however, some accommodation units can be found, but there are no, or there is a small number of permanent social facilities (elementary school, church, store, restaurant business, etc.).They are appreciated by the tourists due to peace and preserved natural qualities; • Local beach: situated outside major urban surroundings and connected with minor, but constant population that has an access to the organized service activities in a smaller range, such as elementary school, church, stores and restaurant businesses.These beaches also can be found in tourist resorts or camps, which are used mostly in summer months, as well as within inhabited areas between urban and rural areas with developed offer of family accommodation.In relation to the rural beaches, the basic difference is their setting.While rural beaches are mostly natural, public beaches are reachable by public transport or by cars; • City (urban) beach: situated in the urban area which serves a large population with well-organized service facilities such as elementary schools, churches, banks, post offices, centres of primary healthcare protection, restaurant businesses and other urban facilities.Nautical tourism ports can be found in the vicinity of city beaches; • Resort beach (which makes a technical-technological unit of some accommodation) has three expressive characteristics: a) it is in the vicinity of accommodation facilities and the majority of its users are the guests of these lodging facilities; b) beach running is the responsibility of the previously mentioned tourist resort, which includes cleaning beaches, ensuring a wide variety of recreational facilities and activities -loungers, pedals, jet-skis, "parasailing", surfing, various activities which include speedboat pulling (the ring, "banana", water-skiing), sailing and diving and coffee shops/restaurants for the beach users.An excellent example for this type of beaches is the organization of the Club Med, an accommodation complex in private ownership, which consists of hotels/bungalows with plenty of restaurant, recreational and entertainment facilities.In some cases, such as "all-inclusive" arrangements, the majority of these services are free for all guests.A large majority of the beach users in a tourist resort uses these facilities for recreational purposes, and not just for relaxation (sunbathing).
As a tourist resource, on which bathing tourism offer is based, beaches significantly enrich the tourism offer of the destinations located along coastal areas as well as on river and lake banks.They represent the natural, social and economic (recreational) source.Beaches in tourism represent a highly valuable resource due to the fact that beaches represent one of the main motives for undertaking a journey.The quality of the bathing tourism product depends on how beaches are evaluated.Bathing tourism is characterized by a mass of tourists, so it is necessary to bear in mind that tourism evaluation must reflect the tourist preferences, and, at the same time, the offer must be developed in such a way as to uphold sustainability principles.Only through this, it is possible to achieve tourist satisfaction with the economic effects at the same time (Zadel, 2015).This is also acknowledged by Semeoshenkova & Williams (2011 according to Bojanic, 1992;Vaz et all, 2009), who also emphasized in their work that within tourism industry, as the fastest growing economic sector on world level, beaches are being considered as the main and most important factor which influences that growth.For the majority of tourists, the presence and good quality of a beach and its facilities represents the most important and the most attractive factor in the process of decisionmaking when choosing a holiday destination.Beaches and near shore-based waters provide for tourists a possibility for sunbathing, relaxing, and other activities such as swimming, surfing, yachting, fishing, jet skiing.Beaches represent the most important recreational and leisure areas which significantly influence the development of coastal countries' economy.
In order for a tourist destination to achieve a higher level of development of its tourist offer, and to achieve competitiveness on the tourist market, it is important to determine its state, as well as the attitudes that tourists have, in order to rethink which are the best possible ones and how to improve them in the best possible way.In the world, beaches are a significant source of income, and in the last few years, the interest is growing due to the possibility of using their recreational and economic potential.The Republic of Croatia has made significant breaks through the years in terms of this form of tourist offer development.
Besides numerous regulations and projects of the European and world councils and organizations dealing with ecology and sustainable development, and on the national level as well, documents and action plans of beach running have been brought with a goal of increasing beach quality and competitiveness, which necessarily brings to the increase of their economic evaluation.In 2018 the Ministry of Environment and Energy has brought the Strategy of Managing Sea Environment and Coastal Area aimed at protecting the marine environment.The significance of beaches for the further development of tourism in the Republic of Croatia was recognized by the Ministry of Tourism, which, in 2014, brought the National Programme of Managing and Arranging Sea Beaches with a unique database of all beaches and their facilities out of which the process of their theming arose.Regional plans of beach theming were made further on the county level.One of them is the Istrian County, which is the subject of research in this paper.
Many activities have been focused towards development of various specific forms of tourism, but bathing tourism still remained the leading within the tourist product.One of the Croatian counties which need to be pointed out in particular is the Istrian County.In the following chapter the authors will present a brief theoretical review of the state of the tourist offer of the Istrian County with a particular emphasis on its beach resources, as well as tourists' attitudes towards beaches within the Istrian County.Based on this, they will offer a direction of the future development of bathing tourism in Istria.

Characteristics of Beaches as a Part of the Istrian County's Tourist Offer
According to the 2015 -2025 Master Plan of Tourism of the Istrian County (2014), Istria is the most western county in the Republic of Croatia, and territorially organized into 41 units of local self-government, respectively 10 cities and towns and 31 larger rural municipalities with Pazin as the seat of the county.Its area covers 3,476 square kilometres, of which the majority, 3,130 square kilometres (90%) belongs to the Republic of Croatia, while the rest belongs to the neighbouring Slovenia and Italy.The majority of the Croatian part of the Peninsula is situated in the Istrian County (2,820 km²).Its climate is conditioned by the fact that Istria, as a peninsula, is surrounded by the sea from three sides, so the climate varies from the Mediterranean to the Continental one.Summers are dry and warm.The temperature is influenced by the mainland, sea, and the elevation.In the summer period, it can reach up to 40°C.The temperature of the sea is the lowest in March (9°-11°C), and the highest in August (up to 24°C).The sea salinity is 36-38‰.In terms of traffic connection, it is well connected by sea, air and road.Over the years, many activities have been invested in the development of a competitive tourist product on the county level (with particular emphasis on specific forms of tourism, such as bathing tourism, rural tourism, nautical tourism, etc., the offer being based on Istria´s comparative advantages), which is witnessed by the growing tourist turnover presented in the following table.
The data in the Table 1 have indicated a positive growth of both tourist arrivals and overnights, with foreign tourists as a significant majority, thus indicating that Istria has been indeed recognized as a tourist destination on the international tourist market.Bathing tourism has justifiably remained a dominant tourist product in this county due to high investments in beach running and development.The Table 2 presents all the beaches in the Istrian County that have been awarded with the Blue Flag 1 , international ecology programme of marine and coast environment protection, primarily aimed at a sustainable managing of the sea and the coastal line (which ensures a clean sea and a well maintained and organized environment), divided according to the city where they are situated, their type, sort, and attractions and activities they offer.
The data in the Tables 1 and 2 indicate that the majority of beaches in the Istrian County, that are flying the Blue Flag, in a majority represent a combination of natural and arranged beaches, followed by beaches which are entirely natural.The authors have registered only two beaches categorized as entirely arranged.A significant majority of them offers a high number of various facilities for children and adults, which should be able to ensure satisfaction for everyone´s taste and preferences.But is that so in this particular case?In order to determine the state of bathing tourist offer in the Istrian County and the tourist´s attitudes respectively, the authors will present the results of the empirical research carried out.

Attitudes Towards Beach Tourist Offer of the Istrian County
The authors will present the results of an empirical research, which covers determining the attitudes of the key stakeholders through inquiring tourist´s satisfaction with the beach offer.A comparative analysis of the author´s research has been carried out with the secondary data gained from the results of the research entitled "Beaches Product of a Tourist Destination" carried on by the Institute of Agriculture and Tourism in Poreč, in 2014, and published in 2016.
The research was carried from 1 st to 15 th May 2018 on the sample of 173 correctly filled in questionnaires.
By monitoring the socio-demographic characteristics of the respondents, it is visible that 66% of the question- For more information please see https://www.adriagate.com/Croatia-en/Blue-flag-beaches-Croatia and http://www.blueflag.global/beaches2/ naire was filled by women, and 34% by men.According to the results of the secondary data of the research from 2014 (2016, pp.[56][57][58][59][60][61], in terms of gender, the majority of respondents were female (57.0%), while 43.0% were male respondents.
All the research participants in the 2018 plan to spend their holiday at a destination, and in comparison with the 2014 results, 72.8% of the respondents have pleaded that they will spend a holiday at a destination.
In terms of the chosen accommodation during their stay, the majority chose Private accommodation (83%) and only 17% a hotel.In 2014, research participants chose for their holiday private accommodation in the majority (29.9%), a camp (29.0%), followed by hotel accommodation (23.5%).Analysing their way of reaching the beach, in both researches, the respondents stated that they preferred walking (54.8% in 2014 and 62.9% in 2018.), by a car (31.1% in 2014 and 34.3% in 2018), while a small amount preferred to use a bicycle, motorcycle and a boat (14.1% in 2014 and 2.9% in 2018).
In terms of duration of their stay on the beach, the majority preferred to stay longer, respectively, 41% of the respondents stated, in 2014, that they preferred to spend 3-5 hours on the beach, while, in 2018, that percentage achieved a growth of 18%.23% of the respondents stated in 2014 that they preferred to stay longer than 5 hours, while, in 2018, an increase of 12% was registered.There was a significant decrease of the results for staying less than 3 hours in 2018 in relation to 2014 (-30%).These indicators presented the average length of the tourists'stay on beaches, and the time during which they could use potential beach facilities, but also the possibility that, by using interesting beach activities they eventually prolong their stay on the beach.The data in the following table indicated that, according to the age structure from 2014, the majority of respondents (42%) most frequently spent their time on the beach with their family, and partners (40%), while in 2018, according to the age structure, prevailed tourists of a younger age group, which is understandable, considering that they spent the time with their friends on the beach (46%).When gathering information on the beach and its facilities, the tourists marked that the previous positive experience had a significant impact, followed by a kind word and information provided in a hotel/camp or a private accommodation.Other sources were marked with a significantly smaller share.When analysing the reasons why the respondents chose particular beaches, the authors have obtained some very interesting results.When choosing a beach, in 2014, the respondents gave advantage to the sea cleanliness (51.9%), followed by the vicinity of the accommodation (49.3%), beauty of the landscape (82.4%), beach access (39.2%) and beach cleanliness (37.9%).A smaller share marked the importance of children's facilities (11.0%), the use of beach props (sunshades and loungers) (10.9%), parking spaces (9.7%), sports facilities (8.7%), entertainment facilities (6.8%).The lowest importance was given to the ability of access for disabled persons in wheelchairs, etc. (0.7%).In 2018, the results were a bit different.It is interesting that, besides sea cleanliness (91.4%) and beauty of the landscape (76.5%), the respondents emphasized the rich gastronomic offer (64.7%), sufficient number of parking spaces (55.9%), but also the ability of brining dogs to the beach (44.1%).
These results showed how much habits of potential tourists change, and the significance of individual facilities on the beach, so that beaches are no longer the place of passive rest.The variety of beach facilities would significantly influence the prolonged tourists' stay on beaches.The data obtained in the previous table have shown that respondents in 2014 preferred the use of their own props only (67.1%), followed by props available at the beach (24.1%), restaurant facilities (17.6%), other sport´s facilities (10.0%), children's facilities (9.1%).The lowest interest was shown in surfing facilities (0.9%).However, a change was registered in the tourists' habits in 2018, respectively, when a greater significance was given to the restaurant facilities (76.5%), music and dancing (67.6%), available props at a beach (sunshades, loungers) (61.8%), proper props (52.9%), and to the adrenaline facilities (ski lift, bungee jumping, etc.) (44.1%).
The Table 9 presents the grade of the res pon dent´s satisfaction with the individual beach characteristics.
As far as the level of satisfaction with the beaches, the respondents emphasized that, in the majority of cases, the preserved natural resources are important for them, respectively, beauty of the landscape (4.4), sea cleanliness (4.3), beach cleanliness (4.2), vicinity of the accommodation (4.1), beach access (4.0) and bathing space and comfort (3.8).However, what is worrying is the lower grade of some elements which can have a significant reflection on possible future decision-making when choosing a holiday destination, such as parking facilities (3.6), comfort on the beach (3.8) and the relation between the quality and price (3.7) of the offer.They were graded with a lower grade, followed by the ability of using props (3.6), availability of sports facilities (3.4), bringing dogs to the beach (3.3), quality of beach facilities (3.6) and boat access (3.4).The lowest grade was given for the ability of access for disabled persons, wheelchairs, etc. (2.7).
When asked whether, in their opinion, beaches should be themed, most of the respondents replied negatively (more than 66%).However, when asked if they would have to choose a certain beach theme, the replies proved to have the biggest deviations considering the two periods of research.In 2014, the majority of the respondents chose the theme traditional beach for families with children (30.8%), followed by beaches with a romantic theme (16.9%), beaches with sport facilities (16.0%), party beaches (14.3%), eco beaches (12.4%), etc.A lower interest was shown for themes such as adrenaline beach (5.9%), diving (5.3%), etc.The lowest grade was given to the beaches for same-sex couples (1.6%).The results of the research carried on in 2018 have registered changes.The respondents singled out the themes party beach (77.1%), followed by beach for families with children (68.6%), beach with sports and recreational facilities (51.4%), while the least interest was shown for themes such as beach of culture (8.6%), beach for same-sex couples and nudist beach (11.4%).

The Results of the Empirical Research
Bearing in mind all the previously mentioned facts, the authors have determined the following symptomatic results: • By monitoring socio-demographic characteristics of the respondents, it can be concluded that in the first monitored period the majority of respondents belonged to the generation group 35-49 of age (33.8%), while, in 2018, the respondents were mostly younger people belonging to the age group 25-34 (41.4%), and age group 18-24 (23.6%).According to their age structure, deviations are present in the beach facilities to which they give greater significance.
• In both periods of the research, the majority of the respondents have stated that they will use private accommodation during their stay in the destination.
• They arrive at the beach mostly on foot, then in a smaller ratio they use a car as a means of transport.The previously stated facts have indicated that it would be advisable to have a suitable number of parking places in the vicinity of the beach.
• In both monitored time periods, visitors most frequently stay on a beach from 3 to 5 hours (41% in 2014, and 59% in 2018).This has indicated the possibility of a prolonged stay on the beach by offering additional facilities and spaces.
• The results indicated that, in 2014, the participants primarily went to the beach in the company of their families (42%), while, considering that in 2018 the questionnaire was filled in most frequently by a younger population, the respondents stay on the beach in the company of their friends (46%) and with their partner (31%).
• The respondents have also stated their priorities when choosing a specific beach.In both the monitored periods, the most important criteria have been sea cleanliness (51.9% in 2014, which significantly grew up to 91.4% in  2018).Furthermore, in 2014, they stated the importance of the vicinity of their accommodation, while in 2018 the emphasis was given to the beauty of the landscape and the possibility of additional services on the beaches.A symptomatic datum is that they have paid a great attention to the gastronomic offer (64.7%) which was not the case in the previous period of research (6.4%).During their stay on the beach, in the first monitored period, they were mostly interested in the facilities such as renting loungers and sunshades, while in the second period the advantage has been given to the gastronomy and entertainment facilities (music and dancing).That what has been previously mentioned, can be the reflection of the various age groups that participated in the research.
• When analysing the satisfaction of the participants with individual elements of the beach offer and additional facilities, in both periods the respondents marked beauty of the landscape (average 4.4), and sea cleanliness (average 4.3).The lowest grade was given to the facilities for disabled persons (average 2.7) and facilities on beaches for dogs (average 3.3).
• The tendency of the respondents towards certain beach themes has also been analysed.Beaches for families with children (30.8%) and romantic beaches (16.9%) were the most recognized ones in 2014, while, in 2018, the greatest attention has been given to party beaches (77.1%) and beaches with sports and recreational facilities (51.4%).
In the globalized world, beaches have been recognized as a factor in achieving competitiveness of a tourist product, considering that they represent the main centre of tourism; they have become the icons of contemporary tourism, and they have been considered as the main factors on the tourist market.Bearing this in mind, beaches are becoming significant spaces for social recreation and holiday.They are more and more considered as a highly valuable, not just socio-economic but also ecologic and national resource, which demands effective managing.

Conclusion
In this paper the authors have carried on the analysis of the state of sea beaches in the Istrian County, thus emphasizing, in particular, sea beaches as a resource basis considering the significance of beaches, length of the coastline, beach division, and beach facilities.Furthermore, legal basis has been analysed basically, respectively, the limitations and recommendations for the improvement of the beach managing system.According to the vision of the destination, and with a goal of an optimal distribution of bathers (tourists and domicile population), and with the purpose of providing optimal answers to the tourist preferences, the results of the primary research of the visitor's satisfaction with the beach facilities have been presented in this paper.As an answer to the changing trends in the habits of the potential beach visitors, a comparative analysis of the results of the secondary research carried on in was presented, as well as the research of the authors carried on in 2018 on the sample of 173 respondents.In other words, within the frame of the existing beach theming, according to the National Program of Sea Beach Managing, it is necessary to determine the adequate facilities and services for beach spaces which, according to the preferences of the visitors, represent the attraction resource of the tourist product of Sun, Sand and Sea.Today, various topics are known which in fact suit the target groups on the market: beaches with sports and recreational facilities, urban beaches, beaches with entertainment facilities for young people, romantic beaches, beaches for surfers, diving beaches, adrenalin beaches, nudist beaches, beaches for families with children, party beaches, beaches with health benefits, beaches of culture, eco beaches, resort beaches, beaches for pets, mixed beaches with various zones, and similar ones.But preferences of visitors have changed significantly in the monitored four year interval (how long has passed between two researches carried on).In the monitored periods, the respondents have given the greatest significance to the natural beauties.The conclusion has imposed that the beach visitors in the first period gave an advantage to the beaches the topics being related to facilities for families with children while in the second monitored period a much greater emphasis has been given to beaches with entertainment facilities and party beaches as well.

Chart 1
Tendency of the Respondents towards Beach Themes (%) Source: Author´s research; Institute for Agriculture and Tourism (2016, p. 78)

Table 1
Tourist Arrivals and Overnights in the Istrian County in the 2014-2017 Period Source: Statistical Bureau of the Republic of Croatia www.dzs.hr

Table 2
Characteristics of Beaches in the Istrian County with the Blue Flag Awarded in 2017Public parking, sunbathing lawn, benches, natural shady places, ice cream, fast food, beach bar, coffeehouse, restaurant, kiosk, beach chair rentals, beach umbrella rental, showers, changing rooms, public toilets, barrier-free access to the sea, first aid, lifeguards, seawater slide, inflatable floating island, beach volleyball, rent a bicycle Beach massage, parking, renting equipment for water sports, sunbathing area, bar, fast food, kiosk, shop with equipment for bathing and beach, sunshades and loungers, showers, public toilet, toilet for disabled people, pedals, waterslides, children´s playground, beach volleyball, diving, table tennis, water polo umbrella rental, showers, changing rooms, public toilets, lifeguards, inflatable floating island, children´s playground, beach volleyball, rent a boat, rent a bicycle, parasailing, diving, table tennis, tennis Water sports centre (renting), sunbathing lawn, benches, ice cream, fast food, beach bar, coffeehouse, restaurant, beach chair rentals, beach umbrella rentals, showers, changing rooms, public toilets, disabled toilet, lifeguard, paddle boat, inflatable floating island, children´s playground, beach volleyball, jet-ski, banana boat, tubing, parasailing, snorkelling, children's amusement theme park, mini-golf, tennis Public parking, ice cream, fast food, beach bar, coffeehouse, restaurant, supermarket, kiosk, shop with beach accessories, beach chair and umbrella rental, showers, changing rooms, public toilets, lifeguard, paddle boat, water slide, inflatable floating island, rent a boat, trampoline, tennis, basketball, soccer Beach St. Andrea Rabac Natural Rocks, gravel, tiny gravel Parking, fruit and vegetable shopping, ice-cream, fast food, beach bar, coffee shop, pedals, aqua park-floating park for children, children´s playground, renting boats, scuba-diving, entertainment park, mini-golf

Table 3
Accommodation during the Stay at a Destination (%)

Table 5
Duration of the Stay on the Beach (%)

Table 6
Company on the Beach (%) Source: Author´s research; Institute for Agriculture and Tourism(2016,  p. 60)

Table 7
Reason for Choosing a Beach (%)

Table 8
Use of Facilities while Staying on a Beach (%)

Table 10
Tendency of the Respondents towards Beach Themes (%)