engleski

Zadar Islands growth prospects - is tourism their driving force?

Development of tourism on Zadar Islands at the end of the 20th and the beginning of the 21st century transformed them into mainly leisure zones. Once dependent on agriculture, fishing and maritime transport Zadar Islands became strongly dependent on tourism. Tourism influenced transformation of landscape, coastal and marine ecosystems, but also caused social and cultural changes. Based on statistical data, survey and field research the aim of this paper is to determine whether tourism can reverse negative socio-economic processes on Zadar Islands such as population decline, aging, and economic stagnation. Statistical data referred to official demographic and tourist records while survey included questions about current and future islands development. The answers were later analysed by Mann-Whitney (U) test and Chi-square test. Results showed that tourism is nowadays the most important economic activity on Zadar Islands but fishery and agriculture should have prominent role as well. This paper is a contribution to study of Zadar Islands, especially because it includes an opinion of local population on various issues, which was until now rarely done.

tourism; Zadar Islands; depopulation; economic development

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