THE MODEL OF EASTERN CROATIA RURAL TOURISM DEVELOPMENT BASED ON THE EXAMPLE OF AUSTRIA

There are major differences in the development of the certain regions in Republic of Croatia. These regions that are located on the Adriatic coast are considered more developed in contrast to the regions of eastern Croatia. Maritime tourism has a significant influence on previously stated given that in professional and scientific literature it is presented that tourism of certain regions significantly affects their development. Therefore, in eastern Croatia it is necessary to evolve rural tourism to a more important level considering the current situation. The key spatial unit in tourism is region - in this case the eastern Croatia that should be managed by the kind of Destination Management Company, which would be responsible for the implementation of organizational, marketing and other strategic and operational tasks at the regional level. This article presents the Austrian model of rural tourism development and by its exemplar authors have presented their vision of the future model of rural tourism development in eastern Croatia, with the purpose of combating the problem of touristic regional disparities and achieving numerous other benefits referred to in the text.