Development of sports tourism with reference to Zadar County

Ovaj diplomski rad pod nazivom „Razvoj sportskog turizma s osvrtom na Zadarsku županiju“ u fokus stavlja turizam sportskih događaja, pri čemu je temeljni cilj istraživanja utvrditi značaj organizacije sportskih događaja za turistički razvoj Zadarske županije. Način planiranja sportskih događaja analiziran je na konkretnom primjeru Zadar SportFesta 2021 te su ustanovljene njegove snage i slabostite prilike i prijetnje. Zadarska županija, a osobito Grad Zadar, prepoznati su kao hrvatska destinacija sportskog turizma, čemu u prilog govori i kandidatura Zadra za Europski grad sporta 2021. godine. U Zadru će se kroz 2021. godinu provoditi različite aktivnosti s potpisom Europskog grada sporta s ciljem ostvarenja što boljeg rezultata, kako bi grad ušao u uži izbor ili čak osvojio titulu najboljeg. Jedna od tih aktivnosti je i organizacija Zadar Sportfesta 2021. Riječ je o sportskom događajuna koji je do sada prijavljeno ukupno 460 natjecatelja, a koji se planira održati tijekom rujna, u trajanju od šest dana. Veliko ograničenje prilikom planiranja stvara pandemija bolesti COVID-19, zbog koje postoji i neizvjesnost oko održavanja samog događaja. ZadarSportFest 2021, kao i drugi brojni sportski događaji održani u destinaciji, ima pozitivan učinak na jačanje identiteta Zadra kao destinacije sporta, potiče razvoj sportske infrastrukture, ulijeva nove prihode u destinaciju i potiče proširivanje cjelokupne turističke ponude. Premda je osnovna namjera sportskih turista posjetiti konkretan sportski događaj, treba imati na umu da sportski turisti imaju želju posjetiti i druge atrakcije tijekom boravka na odredištu. Sudionici sportskih događaja, posebno onih koji nisu natjecateljski, obično iskoriste priliku da otkriju druge turističke atrakcije koje im to odredište nudi, stoga je važno kombinirati sportski turizam s drugim turističkim resursima i promovirati ih zajedno. Takav pristup pomaže razlikovanju tog odredišta od ostalih te donosi veću korist za odredište u cjelini.In this thesis named ''Development of sports tourism with reference to Zadar County'', focus is on tourism sports events, where the basic research goal is to determine the importance of organizing sports events for tourism development of Zadar County. After that, in concrete example of Zadar SportFest 2021, the way of planning a sports event was analyzed, and then its strengths and weaknesses, as well as opportunities and threats were established. Zadar County, and especially the City of Zadar, have been recognized as a Croatian destination for sports tourism, which is supported by Zadar's candidacy for the European City of Sports in 2021. Throughout 2021, various activities will be carried out in Zadar with the signature of the European city of sports. The aim is to achieve the best possible results in order for the city to be shortlisted or even win the title of the best. One of these activities is the organization of Zadar Sportfest 2021. It is a sporting event to which a total of 460 competitors have registered so far, and which is planned to take place during September and last for six days. A major constraint in planning is the COVID-19 pandemic, which is why there is uncertainty about the event itself. Zadar SportFest, as well as many other sporting events held in the destination have a positive effect on strengthening the identity of Zadar as a sports destination, encourage the development of sports infrastructure, pour new revenue into the destination and encourage the expansion of the entire tourist offer. Although the basic intention of sports tourists is to visit a specific sporting event, it should be borne in mind that these tourists tend to experience other attractions during their stay at the destination. Participants in sporting events, especially non-competitive ones, usually take the opportunity to discover other tourist attractions at the destination. It is therefore important to combine sports tourism with other tourism resources and promote them together, which helps to differentiate the destination from others and bring greater benefits to the destination as a whole