1 International Scientific Conference Konwledge and business challenges of globalisation

st

Tourism and challenges in sustainable development Institute of Agriculture and Tourism Pore desimir@iptpo.hr Valamar Hotels &Resorts david.poropat@valamar.com Institute of Agriculture and Tourism, Croatia tezak@iptpo.hr

Desimir Bokovi

David Poropat

Ana Teak

The level of environmental preservation of rural Istria as a vital factor of marketing and sustainable tourism development
Summary
Rural Istria has not been devastated. Environmentally, it is clean and preserved. It has no air, soil or water polluters. These are the reasons why it resources should be more fully exploited for developing various forms of sustainable rural tourism and for fostering organic food production. The positive effects of rural tourism can be maximised, and its negative effects, minimised, providing tourism development is seen as a partner relationship of all actors involved, and providing the mistakes of mass tourism development on the coast are not repeated. The necessity for the joint action of all actors in rural areas is one of the preconditions to taking a step forward in improving the quality of life of residents, while providing proper protection to all tourism resources available to the destination and enabling tourism supply providers to achieve positive results. Marketing plays a vital role in sustainable rural tourism, although in changed conditions and using a new concept. No longer is the primary task of marketing to promote rural destinations and attract as many tourists as possible. Instead, its job is to send a message to potential tourists about the preserved environment and the protection of the destinations natural resources, about organic food and other assets of the destination. In 2007 and 2008, the authors of this paper conducted an extensive tourist survey in 30 types of accommodation facilities in the coastal and rural parts of Istria. Based on this survey, they present the attitudes and travel motivations of tourists in Istria, and underline the importance and influence of a preserved environment to tourists in choosing a destination. Results show that over 18% of the tourists surveyed prefer to spend their holidays in a rural area and are accustomed to buying and consuming ecologically produced food, while more than 70% of the respondents are interested in buying and consuming organic food in Istria. The survey also shows that 60% of the tourist surveyed would like to consume organic food as part of the gastronomic offering of the hotels in which they are staying. Over 70% of the respondents would be willing to spend up to 30% more for organic foodstuffs relative to conventional food products. All of the above are important segments of marketing activities and organisation, to which special attention will be given in this paper.

Abstract
In 2008, the authors of this paper conducted an extensive tourist survey in 30 types of accommodation facilities in the coastal and rural parts of Istria. Based on this survey, they Section sponsor Hotel torman General sponsor Banka Celje
Faculty for commercial and business science 522

1. mednarodna znanstvena konferenca Znanje in poslovni izzivi globalizacije

Turizem in izzivi trajnostnega razvoja present the attitudes and travel motivations of tourists in Istria, and underline the importance and influence of a preserved environment to tourists in choosing a destination. Results show that over 18% of the tourists surveyed prefer to spend their holidays in a rural area and are accustomed to buying and consuming ecologically produced food, while more than 70% of the respondents are interested in buying and consuming organic food in Istria. The survey also shows that 60% of the tourist surveyed would like to consume organic food as part of the gastronomic offering of the hotels in which they are staying. Over 70% of the respondents would be willing to spend up to 30% more for organic foodstuffs relative to conventional food products. Keywords: rural tourism, sustainable development, ecology, organic food, marketing, organisation

1 Introduction
The protection and conservation of the environment is an acute social issue of todays age, across all levels local, regional, national or global. Resolving and alleviating this problem is a highly complex task and requires an interdisciplinary approach, considering that the onset and causes of this issue can be viewed from different perspectives: social, cultural, economic, technological, ethical, and political, and ultimately from the perspective of marketing. Global climate change, sustainable development and socially responsible businesses are topical areas of research for experts and scientists around the world. Much has been said and written about climate change and global warming in recent times. The reason for this is that such changes have a pace that cannot be predicted; they can alter life cycles and cause natural disasters and catastrophes worldwide. All of this is the result of a variety of human activities that generate greenhouse gases, the concentration of which is continuously growing. Change in the warming of the climate system is manifested in the growth of average air and ocean temperatures, the melting of snow and ice, and in the rising of global sea levels. (OPCC 2007) Global warming is not an issue that is merely scientific in nature, nor is it a political issue, despite the fact that, in a certain respect, politics can play a deciding role in its resolution. Instead, it is more about a moral issue and a crisis, which needs to be resolved by all countries of the world acting in synergy. (Gore 2006) The climate and the natural environment are the primary resources of tourism, and they are indisputably interconnected and interdependent. Space and its geo-physical base are the raw materials that provide the platform for the development of the entire tourism offering of a given destination. (Blaevi 2007, 175) The actors who should actively participate in conserving and protecting the natural wealth range from every individual across businesses and nonprofit organisations to scientific and educational institutions at all levels, even to the highest levels of legislature and executive power. Where Croatia is concerned, according to the National Strategy of Environmental Protection of the Republic of Croatia published in 2003 and the National Action Plan for the Environment of 2002, the greatest problem in environmental protection is the inappropriate management and disposal of waste. (Official Gazette no. 46 2002) The quantities of waste and the magnitude of the unsolved problem of waste and runoff waters in Croatia and its most developed tourist destinations are constantly growing. The existing waste-disposal infrastructure and technology is lacking and inadequate. The issue of greatest concern at this moment is the fact that the waste management system at any level is not fully operational and could bring about a waste management crisis. Unless widesweeping changes are made, this could become a major problem for certain sectors, primarily public health, tourism, water management and agriculture. Without a systematic Pokrovitelj sekcije Hotel torman
523 Fakulteta za komercialne in poslovne vede

Glavni pokrovitelj Banka Celje

1 International Scientific Conference Konwledge and business challenges of globalisation

st

Tourism and challenges in sustainable development approach to addressing these issues, there can be no socially responsible businesses or sustainable development. Destination management, which unfortunately does not function, should make greater efforts in addressing these and similar issues. Management that is unable to recognise the importance of protecting the environment the productivity of resource usage as a major path to gaining competitive advantages, does not possess a long-term vision for the survival of enterprises on the market. (Golja 2009, 8)

2 Methodology
A survey was conducted among tourists staying in the coastal and rural parts of Istria during 2008 to study the importance of the natural environment and the level of preservation of rural Istria as a major factor in marketing and sustainable tourism development. The research tool was a questionnaire designed by the papers authors and the co-workers of the research project. A total of 1,300 tourists were surveyed in 30 different accommodation facilities in the coastal and rural parts of Istria. The interviewers of the Institute of Agriculture and Tourism conducted the survey in three rounds, in the pre-season, the high season, and the late season. The interviewers distributed the questionnaires to guests staying in the facilities selected for the survey. A total of 1,300 fully completed questionnaires were returned. Such a large number of returned questionnaires can be considered satisfactory for making certain marketing, business and development decisions concerning the Istria destination, as well as for confirming the hypothesis regarding the growing importance of a destinations level of environmental preservation as a travel motivation and source of guest satisfaction. This paper presents only partial results of the survey, in particular, the results pertaining to motivations and preferences for travelling to rural areas, the importance and influence of the level of preservation on the selection of a destination, satisfaction with the level of preservation, preferences for ecologically produced food, and marketing activities.

3 Results and research

The questionnaire used to survey tourists staying in coastal and rural Istria in the 2008 tourist season contains 18 questions. A third of the questions are conventional, pertaining to the manner in which tourists learned about Istria, how they arrived, how long they are staying, etc. Most of the other questions were about travel motivations to Istria, whether tourists would be willing to spend their holidays in rural Istria, which part of the rural offering they are most interested in, and how they rate the offering of organic food in restaurants and shops, and would they be willing to pay more for this type of food. Regarding the travel motivations of tourists, whether tourists will select a particular destination will depend upon its quality and the services and facilities it provides. Travel motivations change continuously. One of the surveys questions of importance to the development of rural tourism in Istria sought to determine the basic travel motivations of tourists to Istria. The results are presented in the following Graph.

Section sponsor Hotel torman

General sponsor Banka Celje

Faculty for commercial and business science 524

1. mednarodna znanstvena konferenca Znanje in poslovni izzivi globalizacije

Turizem in izzivi trajnostnega razvoja Graph 1: Basic travel motivations of tourists surveyed in Istria
Seaside holidays ; 37% Landscape and scenery ; 23% Other; 4% Favourable prices; 10% Vicinity of Croatia ; 10% Culture and entertainment; 6% Sports activities; 10%

Source: Institute of agriculture and tourism, Department of tourism, Questionnaire 2008, processed by author As illustrated in Graph 1, seaside holidays continue to hold first place among travel motivations (37%), although not to the same extent as in previous years (60-70%). This confirms our assumption/hypothesis that the sea and sun concept of tourism is increasingly changing and needs to be enriched and supplemented with other services and facilities. Here we see an opportunity for developing cultural and other selective forms of tourism based on sustainable development. Landscape and scenery together with preserved nature is the second most important travel motivation of tourists to Istria, and it is showing an upward trend. Favourable prices, sports activities, and the vicinity of Croatia are also important travel motivations for tourists coming to Istria. The next Graphs illustrate how the tourists surveyed learned about Istria and how well informed they are regarding Istrias offering. As expected, tourists are increasingly gathering information over the Internet at the expense of travel agencies. However, the fact that over 20% of the tourists surveyed were poorly informed about the tourism offering of Istria (see Graph 3) indicates that, in marketing activities, greater attention needs to be attached to the promotion of the destinations offering.

Pokrovitelj sekcije Hotel torman

525 Fakulteta za komercialne in poslovne vede

Glavni pokrovitelj Banka Celje

1 International Scientific Conference Konwledge and business challenges of globalisation

st

Tourism and challenges in sustainable development Graph 2: Ways in which tourists have learned about Istrias tourism offering

Recommendat ion of f riends, f amilyrun; 20%

On the Other; 2% spot; 6%

Recommendat ion of travel agencies; 33%

Internet; 21% Newspapers, r adio, TV; 4% Brochures, cat alogues, infor mational material ; 14%

Source: Institute of agriculture and tourism, Department of tourism, Questionnaire 2008, processed by author Graph 3: How well informed are tourists about Istrias tourism offering

Enough; 62%

Not enough; 21%

Completely; 17%

Source: Institute of agriculture and tourism, Department of tourism, Questionnaire 2008, processed by author Data regarding the number of repeat visits by tourists to the destination are interesting Graph 4 shows that the majority of tourists surveyed have made more than five repeat visits (44%), while 40% have made three repeat visits. These repeat visits confirm that their travel motivations have been fulfilled and that they are satisfied with the range and quality of the offering.

Section sponsor Hotel torman

General sponsor Banka Celje

Faculty for commercial and business science 526

1. mednarodna znanstvena konferenca Znanje in poslovni izzivi globalizacije

Turizem in izzivi trajnostnega razvoja Graph 4: Repeat visits of tourists surveyed in Istria

over 5 times; 44%

3 times; 40%

up to 5 times; 16%

Source: Institute of agriculture and tourism, Department of tourism, Questionnaire 2008, processed by author Graph 5: Tourist preferences regarding the possibility of vacationing in the countryside
No; 49%

Maybe; 40%

Yes, I adore such holidays; 11%

Source: Institute of agriculture and tourism, Department of tourism, Questionnaire 2007, processed by author The data in Graph 5 confirm the trend of growing interest in rural forms of tourism, especially as the tourists surveyed were those vacationing in the urban part of coastal Istria. In addition to comfortable accommodation, and peace and quiet, rural areas also offer guests a variety of outdoor and sports activities, organic food, wine roads, gastronomic specialties, etc., all of which are important motivations for visiting the countryside. This means that rural Istria is interesting as a tourist destination because of its vicinity to outbound tourist markets, the proximity of the sea, and its natural, cultural, historical and other resources, and that it should continue with the rapid development of various forms of rural and sustainable tourism. In this way, it will be possible to restructure Istrias existing mass tourism offering and valorise the economic resources of its countryside.

Pokrovitelj sekcije Hotel torman

527 Fakulteta za komercialne in poslovne vede

Glavni pokrovitelj Banka Celje

1 International Scientific Conference Konwledge and business challenges of globalisation

st

Tourism and challenges in sustainable development Graph 6: Rating of the organic food offering in restaurants and shops
Yes, I am interested in this type of f ood; 49%

Insuf f icient of f ering of organic and eco-labelled f ood; 24%

As a consumer, I am not f ocused on organic f ood; 27%

Source: Institute of agriculture and tourism, Department of tourism, Questionnaire 2007, processed by author Among other things, the survey aimed to confirm the hypothesis of the steadily growing demand for organic food by foreign and domestic tourists, considering that similar research has not been conducted and that the existing data are estimations. As the Graph indicates, the respondents are not satisfied with the organic food offering (24%), while almost 50% of respondents are interested in this type of food. These results should serve as an incentive to help foster organic farming on a larger scale in rural areas, and they should be useful to hoteliers, travel agencies, wholesalers and retailers, and distributors. Based on these results, hoteliers and other hospitality and tourism providers in Istria should begin to think about transforming one hotel in each destination into an eco-hotel, and setting up a number of organic-food restaurants and shops. Many organic farmers claim that organic farming is considerably more expensive than conventional farming because yields are low, buying up is poorly organised, etc. For this reason, we wished to learn, through the survey, whether tourists would be willing to pay more for organic food and how much more. As illustrated in the following Graphs (9 13), 77% of the respondents have stated that they would be willing to pay up to 15 20% more from organic food than for conventionally produced food. A far smaller percentage stated they would be willing to pay 20 30% more for organic food relative to ordinary food. Also presented are data regarding the national structure of surveyed tourists and their willingness to pay (or not to pay) 20 30% more for organic food.

Section sponsor Hotel torman

General sponsor Banka Celje

Faculty for commercial and business science 528

1. mednarodna znanstvena konferenca Znanje in poslovni izzivi globalizacije

Turizem in izzivi trajnostnega razvoja Graph 7: Evaluation of the acceptability of higher prices of organic food
Yes, I would, 1520%; 77%

Yes, I would, 2030% ; 9% No, I would not; 14%

Source: Institute of agriculture and tourism, Department of tourism, Questionnaire 2007, processed by author Graph 8: National structure of tourists who would be willing to pay higher prices for organic food

Englishspeaking areas; 22%

Croats; 2% Germans; 35%

Italians; 41%

Source: Institute of agriculture and tourism, Department of tourism, Questionnaire 2008, processed by author

Pokrovitelj sekcije Hotel torman

529 Fakulteta za komercialne in poslovne vede

Glavni pokrovitelj Banka Celje

1 International Scientific Conference Konwledge and business challenges of globalisation

st

Tourism and challenges in sustainable development Graph 9: Evaluation of the acceptability of higher prices of organic food by national structure of respondents

Croats; 9% Germans; 32%

Englishspeaking areas; 33%

Italians; 26%

Source: Institute of agriculture and tourism, Department of tourism, Questionnaire 2008, processed by author Graph 10: Monthly income of surveyed tourists and their interest in organic food

2000 and more ; 28%

500 ; 0%

500-1000 ; 13%

1000-1500 ; 36% 1500-2000 ; 23%

Source: Institute of agriculture and tourism, Department of tourism, Questionnaire 2008, processed by author The data in Graph 10 indicate that the tourists surveyed, whose monthly net disposable income ranges from 1,000 to 1,500 EUR, display the greatest interest in organic food. This is rather surprising as it is expected that such tourists would belong to higher income brackets (more than 2,000 EUR).

Section sponsor Hotel torman

General sponsor Banka Celje

Faculty for commercial and business science 530

1. mednarodna znanstvena konferenca Znanje in poslovni izzivi globalizacije

Turizem in izzivi trajnostnega razvoja

4 Dimensions of ecological marketing in destination management

The dimensions of ecological marketing management can be derived from theoretical knowledge and practical experience. Ecological marketing management should become the guidepost for new and future tourism workers, as well as for those who seek to stand up against the auto-destructive trends of tourism. In daily decision processes, management is faced with continuous conflicts of the economic premises and interests of the owners of capital on the one hand, and environmental considerations on the other. This makes it essential to carry out a number of activities across a number of levels. First, at the normative level, it is necessary to (Bokovi and Vukevi 2006, 238): Define environmental goals and the policies of enterprises and destinations, Devise an environmental strategy of conduct and define action to be taken at all management levels in enterprises and destination. Such environmental strategies involve: Providing information and enabling consultations at many levels, Creating and setting up essential and close collaboration with environmental experts and advisers, Setting up so-called eco-databases in enterprises and destinations, Introducing an environmental balance sheet and environmental accounting in all businesses. At the organisational level in enterprises, many activities are also required which the management of transition countries much carry out. These involve: Creating a special environmental team at the highest management level, that is, appointing special officers for environmental ecology, Establishing a environmental management system in enterprises and destinations, Establishing the environmental responsibility of the management of enterprises and destinations, Putting in place the continuous auditing of the environment, water, energy and all resources used in the production and service process of enterprises, Encouraging the use of alternative energy sources in the production of products and services, Taking into consideration environmental criteria, in addition to the required formal criteria when recruiting personnel managers, in particular, Taking into consideration behaviour towards nature in assessing workers, Developing a program of compulsory and permanent environmental education across all levels and for all employees managers, in particular. Raising the environmental awareness of employees. In the area of designing products and services, managers are required to: Change over to products and service that use the environment sparingly, Desist from environmentally harmful products and services, Become engaged in creating waste bases and in recycling waste. The marketing managers of enterprises and destinations are required to engage in and take action to protect the environment by (Bokovi and Vukevi, 2009:237): Checking and analysing the entire product range of enterprises and destinations to ensure products and services are environmentally correct, Encouraging environmental innovations in enterprises, Glavni pokrovitelj Banka Celje

Pokrovitelj sekcije Hotel torman

531 Fakulteta za komercialne in poslovne vede

1 International Scientific Conference Konwledge and business challenges of globalisation

st

Tourism and challenges in sustainable development Providing the market with environment-oriented and differentiated prices for organic food, bio-hotels and so on, Continuously publishing the positive environmental aspects of a given product on the market rural offering, eco-tourism, and eco-food, Providing the market with real, true and honest information regarding the environmental situation of companies and destinations, Making guests sensitive to environmental aspects, Insisting that, in investment and development programmes, all programmes, materials, equipment and contractors are checked to ensure they are environmentally harmless, Securing a reduction in bank interest for environmentally friendly investments in the development programmes of enterprises and destinations, Standing up in favour of the implementation of mandatory environmental auditing and environmental revision.

For many years, tour operators such as TUI, Kuoni, Hotelplan and others have been an example of how eco-management systems can be applied in tourism practice. In this, TUI has gone the farthest in the world by developing such an environmental network that, at the places where they take their guests, they want to (TUI, 2002:21): Give their contribution to protecting animals, plants, nature and cultural heritage, Ensure that land, water, air, energy sources and other resources are used sparingly, and that pollution is avoided, Reinforce partner in private enterprises and create sustainable structures.

Which are the main attributes of environment-oriented management? Recently, in addition to managing product and service quality and ensuring worker safety, managers are increasingly required to become engaged in protecting the environment from the adverse effects of products and services. More and more focus is placed on developing partnership relations between enterprises and their environment with regard to environmental protection. Ethical investments to protect the environment or investment in environmental funds are a sign of the managements environmental education and business interest reflected in the fact that in the long run, it pays to investment in environmental protection for personal and public interests. (rnjar 2002, 210) Transition countries and countries who plan and wish to join the EU cannot achieve this unless ecological management is there at the very beginning of investment and development to take care of environmental protection. In other words, from an ecological perspective, it is vital that so-called change management exists, emerging from the discovery of new materials, technologies and technological processes (Bokovi and Vukevi 2009), from change in the tourist market and ecological change in the environment. (Bokovi 2007, 254) For some time now, the tourist trade and environmental organisations have been seeking forms of environmentally responsible tourism. (Hansruedi 2004, 181) Tourism workers in particular, marketers consider there is considerable opportunity for marketing using ecosigns and labels for quality.

5 Conclusion
Modern society is focused on the green paradigm. In a way, this is a response to the growing contradictories that globalisation is bringing in its wake. Such an orientation is proof that the concept of sustainable development is becoming the focus of managers in the modern Section sponsor Hotel torman General sponsor Banka Celje
Faculty for commercial and business science 532

1. mednarodna znanstvena konferenca Znanje in poslovni izzivi globalizacije

Turizem in izzivi trajnostnega razvoja tourism sector. Rural environments are particularly sensitive to ecological issues, and it is in the interest of the entire tourism destination of Istria to safeguard and preserve nature. The strategic positioning of Istria as a destination cannot be done in a short time, especially from the perspective of environmental conservation as a vital factor of marketing and competitiveness on the tourism market. However, preserved nature, which has already become the destinations brand, can easily be destroyed. The choice is in the hands of destination managers and their correct assessments of products and services and the steps they take in valorising these products and services on the market. To maintain and enhance competitiveness based on the level of environmental conservation as a key factor of marketing, rural and coastal Istria need to keep abreast of world trends and remain capable of providing well-designed, appealing and environmentally harmless year-round programmes. Research conducted shows that there is a growing interest in rural tourism, that most of the tourists surveyed are interested in organic food, and that this will continue to be the case in the future as long as the level of environmental conservation remains satisfactory.

Bibliography
BLAEVI, B. 2007. Turizam u gospodarskom razvoju. Opatija: University of Rijeka, Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management. P. 175. BOKOVI, Desimir and VUKEVI, Mladen. 2006. Suvremena organizacija i menadment u globalizacijskim procesima. Sv. Katarina: G.E.M2006. P. 238. BOKOVI, D. and VUKEVI, M. Marketing u turizmu, ekologija i menadment odrivog razvoja. Zagreb: Tipomat. P. 237. BOKOVI, D. and VUKEVI, M. 2007. Modern trends in tourism demand and their impact on developing forms of rural Tourism in Istria. Portoro: Proceedings of the 26th International Conference on Organizational Science Development CREATIVE ORGANIZATION. P. 254. RNJAR, M. 2002. Ekonomika ipolitika zatite okolia. Rijeka: Ekonomski fakultet u Rijeci. DULI, A. 2000. Upravljanje razvojem turizma. Zagreb: Mate d.o.o. GOLJA, T. Percepcija menadera o vanosti implementacije naela odrivog razvoja u poslovne strategije poduzea-sluaj velikih hotelskih poduzea u Istri. V: Journal Ekonomska misao i praksa, Dubrovnik, Year XVIII, No. 1. P. 8. GORE, A. 2006. An Inconvergent truth: the crisis of global warming. New York: Rodale Inc. HANSRUEDI, M. 2004. Turizam i ekologija. Zagreb: Masmedia. P. 181. MAGA, D. Destinacijski menadment, modeli i tehnike. Opatija: University of Rijeka, Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management. VUK, D. 2000. Uvod v ekolokimenadment. Kranj: Fakulteta za organizacijske vede, Zaloba moderna organizacija.

Pokrovitelj sekcije Hotel torman

533 Fakulteta za komercialne in poslovne vede

Glavni pokrovitelj Banka Celje