CULTURAL HERITAGE AND IDENTITY IN THE CONTEMPORARY TOURISM DEVELOPMENT

Sa？etak Culture and heritage have been increasingly recognised as means of sustainable social and economic development and an important element of tourist motivation. However, the recent development of cultural tourism indicates the problem of massification, offering conventional products based on serial reproductions of culture. Due to factors such as globalisation and the importance of cultural diversity and identity creation in postmodern society, it is essential to place the recognizable and unique cultural heritage and identity of destination in the centre of contemporary touristic strategies. This article investigates creative tourism as a new strategy for cultural destinations. The theoretical part of the article explores multiple links between cultural heritage, identity and tourism and the emergence of creative tourism based on uniqueness, authenticity and sense of place. The analytical basis for the evaluation is a content analysis of cultural tourism projects listed on the Croatian Tourist Board website in order to select representative examples for further case study. The article concludes by proposing indicative guidelines for further development in this sector