Activation of Cultural Heritage in Croatian Tourism - AKULTUR

Project details:
The topic of this project proposal is the recognition and activation of cultural heritage resources (tangible and intangible) in tourism, which would reduce the gap between well-established and potential tourist attractions in less developed tourist destinations.
In doing so, the emphasis will be on three types of tourist products - related to the area: history of tourist heritage, architecture and spatial planning, and creative tourism.
The project will result in the advancement of scientific knowledge in the field of cultural tourism development based on innovative principles of action research but will also provide professional input in developing the capacities of local stakeholders for the development and improvement of tourism through the activation of tourist heritage in destinations of different levels of tourism development. This will, at the same time, increase the resilience of the social communities of the destinations and contribute to their socio-economic and cultural recovery.

Scientific activities:
In accordance with the foreseen methodology based on action research and thematic focuses of the project, resources and stakeholders of different sectors will be identified and mapped for the three thematic areas. In cooperation with local stakeholders, three different areas will be identified, and activities will be carried out with local stakeholders in order to solve specific problems in the organization and development of new tourist experiences based on tangible and intangible cultural heritage. The activities that the collaborators on the project will carry out are identification, mapping, and includes in-depth interviews, workshops, focus groups, as well as observation with participation in the definition and implementation of activities in the focus of the intervention and monitoring of implementation.

Project leader:
PhD. Jasenka Kranjčević, senior research fellow

Team members:

• Ph.D. Renata Tomljenović, senior research fellow
• Ph.D. Izidora Marković Vukadin, senior research associate
• Ph.D. Ksenija Tokić, research associate
• Ives Vodanović Lukić, PhD student
• Ph.D. Nora Mustać
• Ph.D. Hrvoje Mataković, research associate
• Diana Baus, M.A. in Economics, Senior Associate in Science, PhD student

External collaborators:

• Associate Professor PhD. Dina Stober, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Architecture, University J. J. Strossmayer, Osijek
• Prof. PhD. Amir Muzur, Faculty of Medicine, University of Rijeka