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INTERVIEW: Joško Stella, director of the Split-dalmatia county tourist board
According to the current data, the tourism in Split-dalmatia county even in off-season resumes its upward trajectory. At the recently held days of tourism in Zadar, its center – the city of Split, was declared a winner in the category of medium-sized tourist destinations and distinguished itself as the second most recognizable tourist destination after Dubrovnik. The numbers are the best indicator of increase in arrivals and overnight stays – we asked the director of the Split-dalmatia county tourist board, Joško Stella, about the key factors of such a success.
In terms of tourism, Split-Dalmatia County this season broke a sort of record. According to your opinion, to what do we owe such extraordinary results?
Outstanding results are the product of many years of branding Dalmatia, great work and dedication of all employees in the tourism industry. As for Split-Dalmatia County Tourist Board, we have prepared a season using an advanced form of internet marketing mix of advertising, trade shows, journalists and newly brought agents, sponsored articles in the foreign press, and special presentations on the Scandinavian and Polish market, which proved as a great strategy. Markets in which we have invested the most are precisely those with the reported growth of over 20% – the Polish market, UK and Scandinavia, so the correlation price-performance is obvious.
To what extent Split-Dalmatia County invests in the development of special forms of tourism? Are there certain segments of tourism in which you see a remarkable potential?
Split-Dalmatia County has an elaborate strategy for the development of cultural tourism, and of rural tourism as well. These are selective forms of tourism that we work on in order to prolong the tourist season. Apart from them, we see the future in active holidays, health tourism and similar specific tourism forms that are just perfect for sustainable development and the extension of the tourist season.
What are tourism development strategies of Split-Dalmatia County in the future? What concrete measures will be taken to improve the overall quality of tourism?
In the future, we would like to pay more attention to the destination management and the inclusion of more subjects in it, in order to jointly define higher quality tourist offer.
We already did a set of 9 educations for private owners this year, and in cooperation with UHPA, by the end of the year we will hold trainings for destination management of companies and announce a competition to help them. So, our goal is to develop new tourism products.
What do you think about the new organization of tourist boards according to the DMO system? Do you think that the new system is capable of improving the performance of tourist boards, and in which aspects?
I believe that the new organization of tourist boards is a great challenge, and it demands an extensive and thorough discussion which would result in the evolution of the system towards DMO quality – a process that certainly requires some time.
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