4. Specifics and importance of strategic event management on the example of a coastal destination: case of tourist cluster of the northwestern Istria

In this section, the authors present a practical (professional) approach to the managing of events in tourism. It should be noted that in this field, as well as in the wider context of management of destination tourism, the crucial approach is that of the stakeholder, making the use stakeholder theory unavoidable [16–18].

It is interesting to mention a very important study of Getz and Page [9], where the authors define the research themes on planning and managing event tourism. They state the planning and managing of event tourism as one of the key research topics. This issue primarily refers to the practical, economic-management aspect of event tourism. This is also the research focus of this segment of the chapter, with the authors agreeing with the conclusions of earlier authors about the management of tourism events being a long-term more than being a short-term issue, as well as the key importance of the stakeholder approach together with the need for a permanent and systematic long-term event management and their strategic planning [18]. Therefore, by referring to and further developing the Getz and Page view, the authors propose the following thesis: planning for a long-term or permanent legacy is overtaking short-term measures of economic impact in justifying event tourism, halo effects relate to the short-term image boost, quantum leap means using events to accelerate growth, capacity building requires consideration of cumulative, sustainable benefits, repositioning stems from the exploitation of events in rebranding a destination, and leveraging applies to a variety of methods intended to increase visitor spending and longer term trade or development gains [9].

What follows are the results of the research that will try to provide certain answers to key research questions regarding contemporary event tourism within a defined field of event tourism management. The geographic area used for the research is Istria, a Croatian tourist region that accounts for one-third of Croatia's tourist traffic and which invests significant resources into event tourism, developing it as part of an integral product of coastal and rural tourist destinations.

This region is particularly interesting for studying due to the fact that already with the first Tourism Development Master Plan in 2002, it was divided into tourist clusters, the lower level strategic organizational units, which in part independently decide on the development of their tourist area, based obviously on the unambiguously defined key strategic directions for the entire region of Istria.

The research also includes a time component. The results of the research are presented in Table 1, with the first column referring to the base year 2008, which consists of still unpublished primary research. The research refers to workshops on cultural tourism held in two locations (Novigrad and Umag) on May 27, 2008 [19]. The workshops were conducted as part of a preaccession EU project, called Cultural tourism in Croatian Regions. It is necessary to point out that one of the co-authors of this research participated as a moderator at the mentioned workshops. The second column of the Table 1 shows what has been done based on observations, deep interviews with the managers of the presented tourist clusters (2016), and the research carried out in 2016/2017 by Frank Medica needed for the study of the impact of the


4. Specifics and importance of strategic event management on the example of a coastal destination: case of tourist cluster of the

In this section, the authors present a practical (professional) approach to the managing of events in tourism. It should be noted that in this field, as well as in the wider context of management of destination tourism, the crucial approach is that of the stakeholder, making

It is interesting to mention a very important study of Getz and Page [9], where the authors define the research themes on planning and managing event tourism. They state the planning and managing of event tourism as one of the key research topics. This issue primarily refers to the practical, economic-management aspect of event tourism. This is also the research focus of this segment of the chapter, with the authors agreeing with the conclusions of earlier authors about the management of tourism events being a long-term more than being a short-term issue, as well as the key importance of the stakeholder approach together with the need for a permanent and systematic long-term event management and their strategic planning [18]. Therefore, by referring to and further developing the Getz and Page view, the authors propose the following thesis: planning for a long-term or permanent legacy is overtaking short-term measures of economic impact in justifying event tourism, halo effects relate to the short-term image boost, quantum leap means using events to accelerate growth, capacity building requires consideration of cumulative, sustainable benefits, repositioning stems from the exploitation of events in rebranding a destination, and leveraging applies to a variety of methods

intended to increase visitor spending and longer term trade or development gains [9].

What follows are the results of the research that will try to provide certain answers to key research questions regarding contemporary event tourism within a defined field of event tourism management. The geographic area used for the research is Istria, a Croatian tourist region that accounts for one-third of Croatia's tourist traffic and which invests significant resources into event tourism, developing it as part of an integral product of coastal and rural tourist destinations.

This region is particularly interesting for studying due to the fact that already with the first Tourism Development Master Plan in 2002, it was divided into tourist clusters, the lower level strategic organizational units, which in part independently decide on the development of their tourist area, based obviously on the unambiguously defined key strategic directions for the

The research also includes a time component. The results of the research are presented in Table 1, with the first column referring to the base year 2008, which consists of still unpublished primary research. The research refers to workshops on cultural tourism held in two locations (Novigrad and Umag) on May 27, 2008 [19]. The workshops were conducted as part of a preaccession EU project, called Cultural tourism in Croatian Regions. It is necessary to point out that one of the co-authors of this research participated as a moderator at the mentioned workshops. The second column of the Table 1 shows what has been done based on observations, deep interviews with the managers of the presented tourist clusters (2016), and the research carried out in 2016/2017 by Frank Medica needed for the study of the impact of the

northwestern Istria

entire region of Istria.

the use stakeholder theory unavoidable [16–18].

24 Mobilities, Tourism and Travel Behavior - Contexts and Boundaries

1. Rich tourist tradition, infrastructure, cultural, and historical heritage.

2. There is a master plan for the development of tourism in the region of Istria.

#### Weaknesses:

1. The cultural and tourist offer should be profiled in accordance with the historical periods to which the cultural heritage belongs.

2. Ethnographic elements, autochthonism, and tradition should be valued more appropriately.

3. The target market is insufficiently profiled.

4. Relatively, weak pre- and postseason tourism results.

5. Insufficient monitoring of a tourist consumption in a destination (as well as in cultural tourism) outside the hotel at lower non-national levels.

6. Insufficient co-operation and networking of stakeholders. 7. Tourist destinations are defined by administrative boundaries.

8. Insufficient co-operation of public-private partnerships. 9. Lack of stronger engagement of the local population in the events. "The absence of people who will tell the story." 10. The need to create a cluster of ideas on a broader platform.

11.Training for event managers.

12. Inadequate education of the local population for the better inclusion in event tourism and cultural tourism in general.

13. The promotion of events on key emitting markets is not adequate and timely.

14. A "poor" event-portfolio with no innovations.

15. Insufficient/inadequate connectivity between coastal and rural destinations.

16. Insufficient co-financing of events by sponsors.

17. The tradition of the life of the local population is not sufficiently valorized.
