The role of nautical tourism in the promotion and positioning of the destination and the importance of sustainable tourism development
On October 18, a conference was held in Rovinj where the leaders of Istrian tourism spoke about the role of nautical tourism in promoting and positioning the destination on the tourist market and the importance of sustainable tourism development. The conference was opened with introductory speeches by the president of Glas Istra Ivica Božan, the mayor of Rovinj Marko Paliaga and the member of the ACI Board for investments, marketing and retail Josip Ostrogović. The moderator of the conference was the well-known television personality Tončica Čeljuska.
Contribution of ACI marina to Rovinj as a destination
The mayor of Rovinj, Marko Paliaga, emphasized with great pride that Rovinj is the champion of Croatian tourism for the second time this year, and Josip Ostrogović congratulated the City of Rovinj and the Park Grand Hotel in Rovinj for winning awards as part of this year’s Days of Croatian Tourism. ACI Marina Rovinj, the brightest star of ACI’s chain of 22 marinas, certainly contributed to the awards. With rich facilities and service at the level of the prestigious five anchors, which only a few Croatian marinas can boast of, it brings guests with high spending power to the city. On the other hand, because of the quality facilities in the destination itself, i.e. the town of Rovinj, nautical guests choose Rovinj. Nautical tourism and the destination must be in cohesion. Rovinj is an example of where exactly that happened.
Care of the sea and the environment in focus
The first panel of the conference called “Blue and Green” was attended by ACI board member for finance, corporate law and human resources, PhD. Ivan Herak, director of the Rovinj Port Authority Donald Schiozzi, president of the Rudan company from Žminj Danijel Benčić and founder of the Olympic Sails company Klaudio Demartis from Italy. The participants agreed that the primary focus of all of us must remain the care of the sea and the environment. The green component in every company’s business today is a necessity and there is no progress without it. Mr Herak pointed out that the Republic of Croatia has recognized the opportunities and importance of clean energy, and following EU policy, has started taking active measures for the purpose of implementing green transition policies. In March 2022, the Croatian Parliament adopted the Strategy for Hydrogen until 2050, which determines the framework possibilities for the development of production, storage, transport and general use of hydrogen with the aim of reducing CO2 emissions, as well as the possibility of including the economy in the equipment manufacturing sector, which would ensure technological adaptation and participation in the European and world market of hydrogen technologies, which was also recognized by ACI, which became the leader of the green transition. Croatia, together with the Republic of Slovenia and the autonomous Italian region of Friuli, Venezia Giulia, is included in the “Northern Adriatic Hydrogen Valley” project, which aims to connect the valley’s projects with potential partners in the valley’s member states. ACI recently became a member of that consortium. With regard to the intention to adapt or transition to green energy as quickly as possible, a number of tenders will be opened at the level of the European Union in the coming period, from which funds can be withdrawn precisely for the purpose of the described use of hydrogen. For the first such tender, the ACI Supervisory Board gave the ACI Management Board permission to participate in the Zero Emission Mobility Corridor – Northern Adriatic project. Based on the aforementioned consent, ACI d.d. has submitted an application for the “Dolina vodika Sjeverni Jadran” competition, i.e. “North Adriatic Hydrogen Valley” (Horizon Europe Programme-Clean Hydrogen Joint Undertaking), Hydrogen Valleys (smart-scale).
Sustainability of tourism and quality of the offer
The second panel called “On the sea and with him” hosted the mayor of Pula Filip Zoričić, the mayor of Umag Vili Bassanese, the captain and owner of the Simmor agency Andrija Šimić, the director of the Tourist Board of Istria County Denis Ivošević, the owner of the agency I.D. Riva Tours Selimir Ognjenović and director of the Institute for Tourism of the Republic of Croatia Damir Krešić. Filip Zoričić pointed out that, in addition to sustainable tourism, our goal should be a higher quality offer, which the other participants agreed with.
Photos: Milivoj Mijosek/Glas Istre