Purpose: Over the last decades,
tourism has experienced continued growth, and its impact on economic activity
can be observed through its effects on the balance of payments and the labour
market, as well as connections with other economic activities. According to the
ITB report (2016), urban tourism recorded the largest increase, noting that
tourist arrivals in urban areas increased by 58% in the past five years. This
was due to growing urbanization, better road accessibility and air connectivity
between cities, shorter stays and an increasing number of trips per year. In
recent years, the number of tourist arrivals in urban areas has also increased
in Croatia. In 2018, over 12 million arrivals were recorded, which represents
64% of the total tourist arrivals for that year.
Methodology: The aim of this paper is
to investigate the relationship between tourism (tourism indicators) and
sustainable development (investment in sustainable development) in cities in
Croatia. The survey covered all 128 cities. The data analysis was conducted
using descriptive analysis, correlation analysis, Mann-Whitney test and regression
analysis.
Results: The results show that
there is a correlation between tourism and sustainable development in the
analysed cities. Cities with thriving tourism pay more
attention to sustainable development.
Conclusion: It is necessary to
continuously increase the levels of knowledge and understanding of tourism in
accordance with the principles of sustainable development.