These “complex organizations of associated labor”, state-owned enterprises, were in charge of infrastructure development, education and employment of people, development of agriculture and the like according to the principles of contract economy. Entrepreneurship development was not allowed. In the transition, we received the transformation of these SOURs into capital companies for which only profit became important, regardless of the moral and material debt to the homeland and the people. The “new SOURs” no longer perform the function of the old ones, but in the minds of the people, especially those in power, the system has not changed. Only a change of generation will bring about change. When young people who have gone out into the world return. That is why the transformation of family accommodation from the level of overnight stays to a small family hotel is slow and difficult. Sustainable family hotels are created by improving service through generations. As a rule, grandchildren are the ones who can set up a small hotel on “healthy feet”. This is the case in all developed world tourist destinations with a long tradition and high quality of service, such as Switzerland, Austria, Bavaria… Of course, a business reduced to 3 months may not be enough to cover the costs of business and development. No matter how much you work and earn in those three months in the other nine months you will spend it all.That is why basic services in family accommodation can only be a supplement to the household budget. From this income, real estate is maintained, children are educated, older members of the household are supported, and increasing fiscal and parafiscal levies are paid. It is well known that young people are offered a very small choice of permanent employment opportunities, so many seasonal workers earn a “full” salary at the level of the year with additional income from household accommodation services. Those who are in a better position, who have higher traffic and a higher price, sooner or later find themselves in a situation where they have to improve the service, upgrade it to the service of a boarding house, small hotel, restaurant and the like. It’s actually a normal, healthy growth of entrepreneurship that lasts for decades. There is no quick enrichment in tourism, except in the case mentioned by SOA these days, which is “laundering dirty money” through tourism.Currently, the number of registered facilities for accommodation services in the household is 92.000, 350.000 people are directly involved in jobs related to this service. Thanks to family accommodation, the generated guest traffic is around 2 billion Euros by the end of August alone. By the end of the year, that amount is estimated to reach 2,5 billion euros.I am especially pleased with the increase in the offer of legal accommodation in apartments in cities, because Croatia is an exception here as well. Our people, thanks to an increasingly flexible legal framework, prefer to work legally than to rent apartments as in Berlin, Barcelona and other major European cities – in a “non-tourist” way. According to the provisions on fundamental human rights and freedom of movement, you can receive other people in a private apartment, home, without asking the permission of the authorities. So it is, at least in democratic social systems. Also, citizens from EU countries and the European Economic Area do not have to report a change of residence for up to 6 months of residence outside their place of residence. Thus, apartment owners in cities where passengers stay for an average of up to two nights can provide accommodation for passengers without categorizing the accommodation. They can also rent an apartment on the basis of a lease agreement, which exempts them from paying the sojourn tax. I think that public authorities must take special care of the hosts of accommodation in cities for precisely these reasons. Such an offer should be gathered, promoted, branded, rewarded. On the other hand, large cities in the world impose an obligation on digital platforms to calculate and pay the sojourn tax for guests sent to accommodation, regardless of whether it is tourist accommodation. It is currently a major legal battle with an uncertain outcome. As for the strategy for the development of Croatian tourism, it was already behind the changes that are taking place at the global level when it was written. Our society has not yet realized that the digital industrial revolution has taken place, that the habits of travelers have changed especially in generations x, millennials, Z. We are also unaware of the emergence of a new economy and the gradual decline of the old neoliberal model of economy that undermined its foundations. It is impossible to build a sustainable development strategy on old settings. Our economists are not futurists, we need help from the world’s academic circles of young scientists and economic experts of the new economy, the economy of sharing. After twenty years of volunteering at the Croatian Chamber of Commerce, behind me is a great and valuable experience imbued with the constant need to prove faith in their own strength.We respect every well-meaning investor in our economy, but above all we must give trust, encouragement and support to our man. People who live in this area, in their homeland would like to stay and live in that environment, they are happy there. A good tourism development is one that helps people to live in their home, to be happy, to communicate with other people, to receive them into their home regardless of racial, religious and other differences. Sustainable and responsible tourism has this irreplaceable role of exchanging ideas, customs, cultures, livelihoods. When we think of such tourism then it is actually a lifestyle that we share with our guests. It means that we have to keep our customs, gastronomy, food production, in general the way of life for the survival of ourselves and because of the unique appeal of such a lifestyle that is highly valued by our guests. I hope I have helped, at least a little, ordinary people to keep faith in their original values and motivate them to stay and survive in their country.Author: Nedo PinezićRelated news:DANIJELA ČAVLOVIĆ ELECTED PRESIDENT OF THE FAMILY TOURISM COMMUNITY AT THE Croatian Chamber of CommerceCROATIA THE ABSOLUTE WINNER IN CHOOSING THE BEST HOLIDAY HOMES IN EUROPE! Rural House Kod Slapa, Bogatic / Bookin.comFamily accommodation in Croatia is growing from year to year in terms of both capacity and traffic. Traffic growth is still greater than capacity growth. This tells us that the season of using family accommodation in some destinations has significantly lengthened. All major cities and their surroundings have a significantly longer season of demand for family accommodation compared to classic bathing places. The same applies to accommodation near major attractions, such as Plitvice Lakes and Dubrovnik and in places where hotels are closed during the winter months or not at all (Varaždin, Cres, Krk ().According to the data available so far, for 8 months of this year, 31 million overnight stays were realized in family accommodation. In August alone, the strongest tourist month, 13 million overnight stays were realized in family accommodation, 4 million more than in all hotels and camps combined. Currently, the number of registered facilities for accommodation services in the household is 92.000, 350.000 people are directly involved in jobs related to this service. Thanks to family accommodation, the generated guest traffic is around 2 billion Euros by the end of August alone. By the end of the year, that amount is estimated to reach 2,5 billion euros. Croatia would not have that income without such family accommodation. This is a concrete contribution to the national economy that Croatian citizens make with their private property. In this way, they keep tens of thousands of micro-entrepreneurs connected in their activities to family accommodation. In addition, the consumption of guests from family accommodation is not controlled and channeled as with package deals. Guests of family accommodation spend their money wherever they want, are extremely mobile and support a wide range with their spending.As far as public sector support is concerned, the spears are still being broken, so this support is not equal to the contribution that family accommodation makes to society. Large systems seek to influence business conditions and financial aid flows in their favor. Here the situation is similar to that in agriculture and imports. However, thanks to the cooperation of the Croatian Chamber of Commerce, the Ministry of Tourism and the Croatian Tourist Board, this is slowly changing in favor of family micro-entrepreneurs in tourism. The issue of harmonization of categorization standards is still open, it is being discussed, satisfactory solutions are being sought, as in the case of credit programs for investment in quality under favorable conditions. I hope that this will also go in the right direction and that finally the Croatian man, the Croatian host, will receive full support and recognition in his own country after numerous international recognitions. The current unfavorable situation for family micro-entrepreneurs was partly “sponsored” by the state of consciousness from the previous system when only large SOURs were important.
The excellent placement of Croatian family accommodation at this year’s competition for the best accommodation in Europe is another great recognition of Croatian tourism.Croatian tourism is based on family accommodation, not only in terms of physical traffic, but also in terms of the interaction of hosts and guests, and in terms of quality, which is getting better. The luxury segment in family accommodation is represented in a relatively small percentage, we may have 1.000 facilities that can be presented that way. These facilities meet high standards of aesthetics, privacy, security, contact with nature, a high level of service provided “tailored” to the guest and special comfort facilities. We can classify a much larger number of facilities in the premium segment, there are up to 10.000 of them. This segment includes all types of comfortable accommodation, such as holiday homes, spacious urban apartments and the like.Most of the accommodation offer was positioned in the “standard” segment. This is the level that is most in demand, as with all other goods and services. If we wanted to compare our “standard” accommodation with the number of stars, then it is accommodation for three and a half stars. Compared to the same segment in Italy and France, our “standard” accommodation is much better. In the third segment “economic”, we have up to 20.000 facilities. These are mostly older facilities that were built and categorized according to standards from 20 and more years ago, but also newer facilities that target the audience looking for a basic accommodation service at a good price.
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