Increasing tourism competitiveness: Connecting Blue and Green Croatia

The objective of this article is to identify if unique local food and local cuisine in some regions can be used as a marketing tool to attract visitors to a destination and increase its competitiveness. This article focuses on establishing success criteria for cooperation between companies from so-called blue (Coastal) and so-called green (Continental Eastern) Croatia for increasing competitiveness of tourism destination. To gain insight into the most important trends in connecting blue and green Croatia, primary research was conducted on identification preferences referring to how high-quality products carry a strong tourist identity of green Croatia. For the purpose of a survey, the authors used a sample of 134 industry experts involved in developing tourism products through formal or informal activities. The first level of research was to explore consumer interrelation based on the frequency of using domestic and foreign products. In the second part, respondents were invited to express a degree of agreement with certain statements. The results indicated that there is statistical significance between the female sex and information on the origin of products, raw materials, and foodstuffs and recipes (education) for the preparation of a product. The paper makes a recommendation on how small and medium-size producers can increase their competitiveness and have better sales results and at the same time give policy recommendations to local and regional governments. As recommendations for further research, we propose to examine a) the economic impact at the national level; and b) the economic impact of programs aimed at connecting blue and green Croatia on both included parts.