The main reasons why Croatia is failing to keep with other countries in the Mediterranean in golf tourism is because of slow administration, stringent regulations, inter-departmental shifting of responsibilities, and to top it all, a negative public attitude toward golf tourism, was pointed at the fifth conference on golf tourism in Zapresic outside Zagreb on Monday.
The event, arranged by the D.S. Golf and Julius Rose companies, attracted almost a hundred participants, majorly enthusiasts of golf and representatives of several ministries, local officials, and representatives of Zagreb and other counties.
Sinisa Horak of the Tourism Institute, which carries on surveys on golf tourism with D.S. Golf, explained that the negative attitude of the public to golf was created by actions of environmentalist associations which assert that golf tourism undermines the balance of nature, along with unlawful activities involving land.
Horak further added that soon a public opinion survey will be published that would show in that regard, if anything had altered, adding that a public communication campaign was designed to make the positive sides of golf tourism better understand to the public.
An advisor to the Tourism Minister, Ivan Herak, too, considers that the negative attitude of the commoners toward golf is unfounded, highlighting that the public is not adequately aware about the significance of golf tourism for the community and how much golf protects the environment with new technologies.
“Despite an action plan for the development of golf tourism, there is unfortunately still no such offer that could significantly prolong the tourist season and we cannot be satisfied with lagging behind many European and Mediterranean countries,” he said, stressing that the key problem was the non-implementation of projects, a frequent reason being problems with obtaining a location permit.
The state secretary at the Construction and Physical Planning Ministry, Zeljko Uhlir, remembered that in 2018, the utility management law was changed and local government units can now, if they want, exempt investors from paying utility taxes.
Tags: golf tourism
