The World Tourism Organisation (UN Tourism) and the Ministry of Tourism and Sports will be partners in establishing a Centre for Sustainable Tourism in Croatia, the Ministry announced in a press release on Friday.
A memorandum of understanding to that effect was signed in Zagreb on Friday by Minister of Tourism and Sports Nikolina Brnjac and UN Tourism Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili. Under UN Tourism rules, the Centre will be established as an independent legal person in cooperation with the academic community. The partner in establishing the Centre is the University of Zagreb.
UN Tourism and the Ministry will cooperate in the implementation of initiatives and projects, with a focus on research and development related to sustainable tourism policies, promoting sustainable tourism, designing guidelines and recommendations for the development of sustainable tourism, sharing knowledge and best practice for sustainable tourism as well as the transfer of knowledge on managing the development of sustainable tourism.
The initiative to establish the Centre came from the World Tourism Organisation, motivated by the recognition of Croatia as a leader of positive change and innovation in making sustainable tourism policies at the global level, the press release said. “The establishment of the first Centre for Sustainable Tourism in Croatia in cooperation with the most relevant global organisation for tourism, UN Tourism, is a great honour and the best compliment to our reform. It is also a fantastic opportunity for us to strengthen the recognition of Croatia as a frontrunner in sustainable tourism, as well as for our academic and scientific community, for whom this Centre will provide an additional opportunity to improve their global cooperation in various areas that affect the development of sustainable tourism,” Brnjac said.
Pololikashvili said that Croatia leads as an example in the development of sustainable tourism and that is why it was chosen as the location of the first Centre for Sustainable Tourism, which will further encourage innovation and positive change in the tourism sector. The new research centre in Zagreb will contribute to data-based policy making at regional, national and destination levels, ensuring responsible and inclusive tourism development for the benefit of communities everywhere. Tourism is a key economic sector, and since trade in services was the third strongest category of export earnings in 2019, right after fuel and chemicals, we need a science-based approach to tourism sustainability, said Pololikashvili.
