Tourism valorisation of immovable tangible cultural heritage in Međimurje

Abstract

Cultural heritage is an important element of the presentation of an area, the bearer of identity of a certain community and one of the most important resources of cultural tourism. It can become a generator of development with the help of a well thought-out tourism valorisation strategy. Cultural heritage research in the context of cultural tourism is a new topic in Croatia, in the same way that the phenomenon of cultural tourism has become a global phenomenon in the last twenty years. The aim of this study is to analyse the attitudes of tourists, excursionists and directors of Međimurje tourist boards about the potential valorisation of immovable cultural heritage in Međimurje; in order to identify the most important cultural and heritage sites, so that they would be valorised more successfully. The attitudes of tourists and excursionists were obtained with the help of a questionnaire, and attitudes of the directors of tourist boards with the help of in-depth interviews. The research has shown that tourists are not familiar enough with the cultural heritage of Međimurje, that the region has good tourism potential that is not well utilised, that there are several cultural heritage sites in Međimurje that are included in the tourism supply, but that most of the heritage sites are still not valorised for the purposes of tourism.