Professional paper
https://doi.org/10.21857/yrvgqtdjn9
The Contribution of Cultural Heritage to Cultural Tourism in Istria and Kvarner: The Starting Communication Perspective
Krešimir Dabo
orcid.org/0000-0001-9260-7384
; Institute for Migration Research, Department of Cultural and Island Studies, Zagreb, Croatia
Nora Mustać
; Institute for Tourism, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
Starting from the outset is the crucial and most important step in the research of
cultural resources, especially when their role and importance in cultural tourism need
to be determined. Hence , the objectives of this paper are offering a systematic review
of the basic concepts of cultural tourism in recent research, clarifying the concepts of
cultural resources, heritage and cultural identities – with an emphasis on their implementation in tourism, and presenting the characteristic features of Istria and Kvarner
– with the intention of gaining an insight into the contribution of cultural heritage to
tourism in the analyzed destinations. Although cultural tourism has been extensively
researched, this paper focuses on two specific Croatian regions, concretizing thereby
their tourism results achieved so far, with the intention of determining the importance
of cultural resources in the overall tourism results of the selected destinations. The findings of this paper may serve as a starting point for further research of cultural resources
in the development, presentation and communication of the destination brand of the
Istria and the Primorje–Gorski kotar Counties. In conclusion, this paper points out the
importance of cultural resources in the two observed regions and opens space for further
research – not only on heritage interpretation, but also on the preservation and sustainable use of cultural resources in the analyzed destinations.
m.
Keywords
cultural resources; Istria; Kvarner; cultural heritage; cultural touris
Hrčak ID:
346842
URI
Publication date:
24.4.2026.
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