Yesterday (February 29, 2024), the Institute for Tourism and the Napredak Cultural Center held the XXI Tourism Debate on Tourism: "Visitor Management in Protected Areas: How to Reconcile Tourism and Protection?"
The following spoke on the topic: Aljoša Duplić, director of the Institute for Environmental and Nature Protection of the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development, Slavko Štefičar, director of the Directorate for Sustainable Development and Competitiveness of Tourist Destinations of the Ministry of Tourism and Sports, Tomislav Kovačević, director of the Plitvička Jezera National Park, Ivo Bašić, director of JU PP Kopački Rit and Nika Dolenc, director of JU Maksimir, and the opening presentation was given by dr.sc. Izidora Marković Vukadin from the Institute of Tourism.
The participants of the discussions presented examples of positive practice in establishing a balance between tourism activities and the preservation of protected areas, i.e. visitor management, including investments in visibility and branding, education and interpretation, visitor infrastructure, access control, sustainable planning, cooperation with local communities and more. Numerous challenges in managing and managing these areas were also highlighted.