Prirodna obilježja hrvatskog litoralnog prostora kao komparativna prednost za razvoj nautičkog turizma

Having in mind Croatian littoral area with its unique attractive coast and islands, it can be said that nautical tourism is absolutely authentic and distinctly recognizable Croatian "tourist product". In spite of numerous comparative advantages, Croatian nautical tourism still has not taken the right place on the market of Mediterranean nautical tourism. Future development of nautical tourism with its complementary activities – nautical economy, should be considered as the driving force for social and economic development of Croatian coastal area and islands, and it should be correctly dimensioned in accordance with carrying capacity of the geographical basis and sustainable development principles. Adequate valorization of Croatia’s most important resources, coast and islands, based on sustainable development principles and long-term systematic actions would improve social and economic position of Croatian Adriatic area.


Introduction
The Mediterranean Sea is a part of the Atlantic Ocean.With its well-indented and gentle coastline and mild climate it has always offered favourable sailing conditions.Considering that, it is not unusual that it became the "cradle of navigation" and that some of the world's oldest cultures developed there.
Considering the favourable natural and sociocultural features of the region, the Mediterranean is one of the most important regions of nautical tourism in the world.The Mediterranean countries have an important place in nautical tourism development.They are remarkable for their specific geographical qualities, well-indented coastline, flora and fauna richness, favourable hydrographical, navigational and climatic conditions, culturalhistorical heritage, and numerous tourist towns and ports of nautical tourism.The development of nautical tourism started in the 1960s.Up to this day it has developed throughout the entire Mediterranean, especially in Italy, France, Spain, Greece and Turkey.
Croatia has ideal conditions for nautical tourism development, and it has a great number of comparative advantages over majority of other Mediterranean countries.These advantages are better coastline indentedness, greater number of well distributed and sheltered ports, better geographical position in relation to countries that nautical tourists come from, better preserved nature, and cleaner sea.However, the sea still separates Croatia from the rest of the world in a certain way; namely, maritime orientation of Croatia is still an empty word.Having in mind all the advantages of maritime traffic and its importance in the world today, that fact needs to be changed.Tourism, especially nautical, easily goes beyond local setting and with natural resources and human contribution it provides immense possibilities.Therefore it is necessary to apply the concept of modern marketing in order to develop and bring Croatian nautical tourism in the global nautical and tourist mainstream.
Among the comparative advantages, the following ones should be pointed out: -unique characteristics of the maritime zone important for nautical tourism activities -coastline indentedness, favourable climate, winds of medium force, great number of protected bays -natural, marine, and submarine diversity -distribution of small and big towns and ports that enable cruising for the small boats -favourable geographical position in relation to European countries that tourists come from.

Characteristics of the Adriatic Sea
The Adriatic Sea is a deeply drawn bay of the Mediterranean (Fig. 1).It is surrounded by the Apennines, the Alps and the Dinarides.The surface of the Adriatic Sea is 138,595 sq.km, or 4.6 % of the Mediterranean Sea area.It extends in NW-SE direction (Dinaric direction).The Adriatic Sea is the shallowest in the Gulf of Trieste, and the deepest in South Adriatic pit (1,233 m).These two parts are separated by Palagruža sill (Peljar za male brodove, 2002).
Croatian Adriatic comprises the coastal sea zone from Savudrijska vala Bay, i.e.Piranski zaljev Bay (mouth of Dragonja River) in the NW to Boka Kotorska Bay on the SE with an interruption of 23.975 km near Neum.Eastern Adriatic coast is a unique area in the Mediterranean due to its indented coastline.United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea defines it as archipelagic coast (Duplančić Leder et al., 2004).In coastal sea area of the Republic of Croatia there are 1,246 islands, islets, rocks, and rocks awash.That puts Croatia in the second place in the Mediterranean, right after Greece.The length of the Croatian coastline is 6,278 km -land coastline accounts for 1,880 km and insular coastline accounts for 4,398 km (Peljar za male brodove, 2002).Total area of the insular area of the Adriatic is 3,259 sq.km (Duplančić Leder et al., 2004).
Temperatures are the lowest in the winter.This is the time of the biggest spatial differences in the surface temperature.In the NW the temperature is about 7 °C, and in the Strait of Otranto about 14 °C.Surface temperature in the summer is between 22 °C and 25 °C, open sea being warmer than coastal sea.The highest surface temperature near the coast is measured in July and August, and the lowest in February (Peljar za male brodove, 2002).
The Adriatic Sea is a small half-enclosed sea and the winds blowing over it are of different directions and intensity.The most important winds that cause surface waves are bura (NNE to ENE) and sirocco (ESE to SSE) in the winter and maestral (WNW to NW) in the summer.Maximum wave height during sirocco is between 8.4 m and 10.8 m, and during bora between 6.2 m and 7.2 m.Other winds that cause surface waves are ponent (W) and lebeccio (SW) (Peljar za male brodove, 2002).

Climate characteristics
According to Köppen's climate classification, the entire Adriatic area, except its utmost northern Slika 1. Hrvatska obala Figure 1 Croatian coast
In nautical tourism, especially because of the navigation safety, it is important to know some meteorological parameters, such as air temperature, precipitations, and winds.The highest values of air temperature are in July and August, and the lowest are in January and February (Fig. 2).Mean January and July temperatures rise from Northern towards Southern Adriatic.
Annual amount of precipitation is affected by mountain ranges.Therefore, the highest precipitation is on Northern Adriatic islands and areas at the foot of high mountains (Učka, Velebit).Precipitations are the most pronounced in the period between October and December, while in the summer precipitation amount is very low, especially in Central and Southern Adriatic.The most important precipitation is rain, while there are 2-5 days a year of snow, mainly in the Northern Adriatic.
In navigation it is important to know the most frequent winds on the Adriatic.They are bora (NNE to ENE), sirocco (ESE to SSE), and maestral (WNW to NW).Other important winds are ostro (S), lebeccio, garbin (SW), ponent (W), tramontane (N to NW), levante (E), and coastal circulation winds (burin or land-breeze and zmorac or seabreeze).The most frequent winds in autumn and winter are sirocco on Southern Adriatic and bora on Northern Adriatic.In the summer bora and sirocco are not that frequent, and the most frequent wind is maestral (Fig 3).Force 6 or stronger wind blows along the coast 25 to 40 days a year, and in the exposed places over 100 days a year.Force 8 or stronger wind blows 2 to 10 days a year.It is most frequent on the coast as bora, less frequent as sirocco (Peljar za male brodove, 2002).
Analysis of geographical, oceanographic, and meteorological parameters characteristic of eastern Adriatic coast shows that it has exceptional conditions for nautical tourism development (Favro, Gržetić, 2005).The most important feature for nautical tourism development is long indented coast with a large number of islands that enable anchoring and mooring, and that is at the same time an attractive element for tourism development.Other important features are favourable climatic conditions, such as favourable atrakcijske osnove turizma.Tome pridonose i povoljni klimatski uvjeti, kao što su povoljne temperature zraka i mora, i vjetrovi čija jačina omogućava nesmetanu plovidbu u većem dijelu godine.Zahvaljujući takvoj situaciji u toplom dijelu godine, od ožujka do listopada prevladavaju vrlo povoljni uvjeti za plovidbu.

Croatia in the Mediterranean context
In order to get a better insight into the advantages of Croatian littoral area important for nautical tourism development, it is necessary to compare Croatia with other European countries with developed nautical tourism, such as France, Greece, Italy, Slovenia, Montenegro, Spain, and Turkey.It is very important to compare natural characteristics that enable nautical tourism development, such as coastline length, number of islands, and coast indentedness.With total coastline length of 6,278 km Croatia is in the third place on the Mediterranean, after Greece (13,676 km) and Italy (7,600 km).Countries with shorter coastline are Turkey (5,191 km), Spain (2,580 km), France (1,703 km), Montenegro (274 km), and Slovenia (32 km).With 1,246 islands of total area 3,259 sq.km Croatia is in the second place, after Greece (3,053 islands).Greece and Croatia are followed by Turkey with 305 islands, Italy with 60, and Spain and France with 8 and 5 islands.Insular coastline length in Croatia is 4,398 km.This means that land coastline accounts for 1,880 km, or 29% of total coastline length.Consequently, when compared to other Mediterranean countries, Croatia has good conditions for nautical tourism.Long indented coastline with a large number of islands and sheltered bays enables an interesting navigation, especially because Croatian coast is still quite preserved, not overbuilt, and with clean sea (Horak et al., 2006).

Past development and present state of nautical tourism in Croatia
The beginnings of nautical tourism on the Croatian coast date between the two World Wars.At that time boaters were using services of the existing ports on land and on the islands.It was only late in the 1960s and early in the 1970s that the plans for building ports exclusively for nautical tourism occurred.The first period of construction of marinas lasted from 1975 to1984, and in that period 19 marinas with 4,466 sea berths were built.Individual developmental initiatives on small 19 marina s 4466 vezova u moru.To razdoblje karakteriziraju pojedinačne razvojne inicijative na malom broju lokacija bez odgovarajućeg sustava nautičke turističke ponude.Osnivanjem "Adriatic Cluba Jugoslavija" 1983.(današnji ACI) izgradnja marina dobiva novi zamah, tako da je u razdoblju od 1984.do 1990.izgrađeno još 20 marina s 5814 vezova u moru.Tako je do početka devedesetih godina na tom prostoru bilo raspoređeno 39 marina s ukupno 10 280 vezova u moru.Za razliku od stanja u prethodnom razdoblju, turistička nautička ponuda na prostoru hrvatskog priobalja i otoka planski se razvija i formira.Razdoblje od 1993.do danas obilježila je privatizacija marina, pri kojoj dolaze do izražaja razvojni interesi novih vlasnika.
Iako je hrvatski jadranski prostor jedinstvena cjelina, ako ga promatramo po geološkim, morfološkim, klimatskim, društvenim i sličnim number of locations were characteristic for that period, while the system of nautical tourist offer still did not exist.The second period of construction of marinas was marked by planned development, due to the establishment of "Adriatic Club Yugoslavia" in 1983 (later renamed ACI).Consequently, 20 more marinas with 5,814 sea berths were built between 1984 and 1990, so there were 39 marinas with 10,280 sea berths up to 1990s.Interval from 1993 up to this day is marked by privatization of marinas and developmental interests of their new owners.
According to the statistical data from 2006 there were 95 ports of nautical tourism on the Croatian coast.As much as 56 of them are marinas.In those 56 marinas there are 21,491 berths, 15,973 of which are sea berths and 5,518 are land berths (dry berths) (Tabs. 1 & 2).Except for ports of nautical tourism, there are also more than 700 ports, little ports, and bays evenly distributed along the land and island coastline.
In Croatian tourist industry, nautical tourism makes only about 8% of the total number of arrivals or 2% of the total number of overnights.Nevertheless, it has more dynamic growth rate that stationary tourism.One of the reasons for that is Croatian favourable geographical position in relation to European countries that nautical tourists come from.Most nautical tourists come to Croatia from Western Europe.Therefore German, Austrian, and Italian boaters account for 70% to 80% of the nautical business in Croatia, while domestic and Slovenian boaters account for 10% to 12%.
Istria and Kvarnerski Zaljev Bay are at the utmost northern part of the Croatian coast that is deeply drawn in the European land mass.Therefore, that area has the best connections with European countries from which the tourists come from.That connection is established mainly through sea ports in Pula and Rijeka, airports in Pula and on Krk island, and through road network that is, because of being close to Austrian and Italian border, easily connected with European networks.Učka tunnel and road modernization (so called "Istrian Y") make this region even closer to the tourist market and even more promising in tourism development.There are two sub regions with specific geographical characteristics in this area: Istria, which extends from Piranski zaljev Bay to Kamenjak Cape, and Kvarner which includes the eastern Istrian coast, Opatija Riviera and Rijeka coastal area, Vinodol and Crikvenica Riviera, foothills of Velebit, and islands in Kvarnerski Zaljev Bay (Cres, Lošinj, Krk, Rab, and smaller islands).
Southern Croatian Littoral (Northern, Central, and Southern Dalmatia) comprises the largest part of the Croatian coast set between the foothills of Velebit Mountain on the coast and Silba and Olib islands in the NW, and Oštro Cape in the SE.According to the sailing conditions and the quality of area suitable for nautical tourism development, Dalmatian coast is among the most promising Mediterranean destinations.In addition to numerous bays, coves, and peninsulas on the coast, there is a great number of islands, islets, rocks, and rocks awash in Dalmatian waters.Considering  In spite of nautical tourism development in the past period, results are not equal to possibilities for its development in Croatia.That can be seen when Croatia is compared to other Mediterranean countries.From data about coastline length of the Mediterranean countries it can be seen that Croatia is in the third place.Moreover, when comparing the number of islands Croatia is in the second place.However, these possibilities of the Croatian coast still have not been recognized and valorized to the full extent.That can be seen from the number of marinas.France is in the first place, Spain and Italy follow, and Croatia is in the fourth place with 56 marinas, together with Greece.According to number of berths on the Mediterranean Croatia is also in the fourth place with 18,377 berths, and they make 6.7% of total number of berths.Moreover, when looking at the number of berths per kilometre of the coast on the Mediterranean, Croatia is in the sixth place with 2.6 berths per kilometre, after France, Slovenia, Spain, Montenegro, and Italy (Tab.3).
Na sreću, dosadašnji razvoj nautičkog turizma u Hrvatskoj, iako neplanski i stihijski, nije znatnije ugrozio temelj na kojem se razvija -obalu, otoke i more.To se vidi iz podataka prikupljenih u okviru istraživanja Stavovi i potrošnja nautičara u Hrvatskoj, TOMAS, Nautika 2004., gdje su nautičari u Hrvatskoj ocjenjivali, između ostalog, i prostorne i ekološke elemente.Elemente kao što su ljepota krajolika, ekološka očuvanost obale, čistoća mora i čistoća mjesta nautičari su ocijenili According to these indicators, Croatia still has unused possibilities to increase the number of marinas and berths.Coastline length is not the only criterion for that estimate, so the number of islands, islets, and rocks should also be taken into consideration.The conclusion is that countries whose natural possibilities for nautical tourism development are not as good as Croatian have used those possibilities more effectively.Therefore, a Study of the Development of Nautical Tourism in Croatia was made and it should professionally valorize natural resources and consistently suggest appropriate development plan based on the concept sustainable development.

Sustainable development of nautical tourism capacities
Preservation of natural resources is very important for nautical tourism in order to form original competitive advantages of a certain area, i.e. destination.Therefore it is important to reconcile viewpoints on professional and ethical level of the nautical tourism development, which should include all participants in the formation of nautical service (Kovačić et al., 2006).
Up to now, nautical tourism in Croatia has been developing mainly spontaneously, without universal analysis of the locations for ports of nautical tourism, and without common concern about how that kind of tourism is going to affect the environment.Coastal regions, as the only areas where nautical tourism can take place, do not have spatial alternative.They are extremely sensitive areas, and because of that they are liable to numerous restrictions when using natural resources for the purpose of nautical tourism development.Mediterranean countries, as well as Croatia, encounter the problem of certain locations on the coast and islands being too saturated because of tourism, so now they are trying to reconcile ecological and economic interests of further tourism development.Since nautical tourism is the biggest user of sea and coast, it has to become the biggest promoter of environment protection.
Turistička mjesta značajan su element turističke ponude, stoga je revitalizacija i modernizacija njihovih lučica jako važna, a osobito njihovo prilagođavanje zahtjevima suvremene nautičke potražnje.Na hrvatskoj jadranskoj obali nalazi se velik broj luka i lučica koje mogu, uz modernizaciju s minimalnim ulaganjima, zadovoljiti nautičke potrebe.Čest je slučaj danas u primorskim turističkim mjestima da najatraktivnije i najkomercijalnije dijelove njihovih luka zauzimaju and ecological elements.Boaters rated elements such as landscape attractiveness, ecological preservation of the coast, cleanness of the sea, and cleanness of towns among the best on the Mediterranean.Guidelines for nautical tourism development direct it towards quality, individualism -humane tourism, which gives nautical tourism a new dimension as a user and an active protector of natural and cultural values in the sea and on the coast, and especially on the islands.While doing so, development policy must not allow tourism to contribute to ecological degradation of littoral area.It should be directed towards optimally chosen types of tourism within ecologically allowed limits, taking into consideration principles and strict measures of natural and cultural heritage protection.
Planned development on the islands and on the coast should be in accordance with principles of sustainable development.Only that can stimulate economic development and satisfy boaters' needs, and at the same time give effective contribution to environment protection and sustainable development of coast and islands (SRNTH, 2006).

Revitalization and modernization of town ports
Taking into consideration sustainable development concept, the implication is that the existing town and tourist ports should have the most important role in sustainable development of nautical tourism in Croatia.Their modernization contributes to humanization of that area, and in this way they can be included in nautical offer in Croatia.It is also very important to revive small town ports ("mandrači").These ports are very picturesque because they fully reflect the identity of Istrian, Kvarner, and Dalmatian costal towns that, besides natural, also have tourist attractiveness.They do not need architectural upgrading or changes, except if they are damaged, so that there is no need for considerable financial investments.It is necessary to provide safe berth, electricity and water supply, and toilets.Boaters do not usually stay too long in these ports.They usually come to take supplies or to find shelter in case of bad weather.
Predlaganje i odabir lokacija za izgradnju turističkih lučica obavljala bi lokalna zajednica prema svojim razvojnim planovima (Kovačić, Favro, 2006).Stoga je važno da predložene lokacije budu u skladu s prostornim planom tog područja -županije.Najvažniji kriteriji pri odabiru lokacije trebali bi biti zaštićenost i prostorna i ekološka prihvatljivost (višekriterijska analiza prirodnih obilježja lokacija).Nove lučice smještale bi se u manja naselja na obali u kojima već postoji dio infrastrukture potreban za funkcioniranje lučice.Te bi lučice trebalo graditi bez čvrstih i konačnih gradnji u moru, a potrebni sadržaji na kopnu trebali bi biti u skladu s okolišem, građeni u duhu tradicionalne gradnje i racionalno korištene minimal investments, meet the standards of nautical demand.Nowadays, it is a common case that the most attractive and the most commercial parts of town ports are taken up by big fishing boats, and luxurious yachts have to moor next to them.Modern fishing boats are not a tourist attraction, so they should be moved to some less attractive place, possibly to specialized fishing ports where fish markets could be organized.On the other side, small fishing boats ("kaići"), fishermen patching up their fishing nets on the shore etc. certainly are a tourist attraction in coastal towns.This way, traditional way of life and customs become part of tourist offer and contribute to its attractiveness.

Development of new ports
Statistical data provided by Central Bureau of Statistics for the period between 2002 and 2006 show that less than 50% of vessels that cruise along the Croatian coast in the summer use berths in commercial marinas, while most of them anchor in bays or use moorings in local ports.The most important reason for that are insufficient capacities of nautical ports, especially on the islands (Favro, 2002a).Therefore, it is necessary to start the project of developing new ports that would increase receptive capacities.Besides, organization of nautical tourism system would have a positive effect on the ecological condition of the sea and littoral area, the number of people employed on the islands would increase, as well as the income from nautical tourism (Favro, 2002a).
Basic approach to tourist ports organizing should be: -complete integration into existing surroundings -maximum protection of the environment -use of existing ports -defined location in the regional plan.
Local community, according to its development plans, will suggest and select locations for the development of new ports (Kovačić, Favro, 2006).Therefore it is important that suggested locations are in accordance with the regional plan of that area (county).The most important criteria in choosing a location should be that it is well protected, spatially and ecologically acceptable (multiple-criteria analysis of natural features of the locations).New ports should be built in smaller towns where a part of infrastructure needed for their functioning already exists.Those ports should be built without solid and final constructions in površine.Osim toga, mogli bi se urediti već postojeći objekti u lučicama.
Prior to planning, thorough hydrologic, oceanographic, and meteorological research should be performed, and possible negative effects to animals and plants of that area should be specified (Kovačić et al., 2006).Building itself should meet the standards of sustainable development.That means minimal changes of the environment, using pontoon constructions and objects that can be removed when they are not needed.Construction works related to the sea include: construction of fixed objects in the sea (shore, piers, breakwaters) is not permitted berths should be placed on floating pontoons for the protection of waters, floating breakwater pontoons should be used possibility of removing temporary objects when port is not in function.

On the land:
the existing objects should be adapted and used new objects should be built by using traditional style integrated in the environment catering and commercial establishments should be built according to the predefined urban plans all paths and roads should be constructed without laying concrete.
Necessary infrastructure should also be provided for, including: power supply connection; if not possible, than generating units and alternative power sources (solar cells, wind generators) should be used water supply connection; if not possible, water reservoirs or water desalinization plants could be used connection to sewer network because of waste waters disposal, or use of modern purification systems communication should be based on modern wireless equipment (mobile phones, VHF stations) organization of everyday waste disposal with constant supervision of disposal area (FAVRO, 2002a).
Radi postizanja visoke efikasnosti te kontinuiranog i ravnomjernog razvoja, sustav nautičkog turizma ima karakteristiku snage velike organizacije -centralno donošenje strategije, te brzinu i fleksibilnost male jedinice (Luković, Favro, 2005).Parcijalno upravljanje subjektima i objektima nautičkog turizma treba biti usklađeno algae (Caulerpa).Particular attention should be given to the disposal and removal of used oils.Therefore, containers for used oils, waste water, and garbage should be built, as well as the equipment for drainage and purification of waste waters.Also, small boats with equipment for collecting solid and liquid garbage from the sea surface and for cleaning shore and seabed should be bought and equipped.The quality of sea water and the shore should be examined on a regular basis, area management should be rational, and preventive measures for the safety of crews, vessels and things should be carried out constantly.From the profit earned by charging the sojourn taxes, during the season the local government could hire young local inhabitants as members of ECO patrol.The members of ECO patrol would monitor ecological condition of the area that is within the jurisdiction of a certain local government unit.They would also be in constant contact with the coast guard and the harbour master's office.
Nautical ports organized in this way represent an alternative and supplement to the existing ports of nautical tourism (Kovačić et al., 2007).Enactment of regional plans and legal regulations for the purpose of nautical ports development will have positive impact on nautical tourism development.That will lead to regulation of concessions on illegally built moorings where fees are not charged, which causes great financial losses every year.In doing so, authorized concessionaire is obliged to organize ecological maintenance of the maritime domain.That will provide new job opportunities, especially on the islands.Consequently, balance, natural and functional integrity of the area is being realized.

Effect of the nautical tourism on the economy
The aim of the system of nautical tourism in Croatia is to ensure a quality service for every boater, so that they could satisfy their needs and that can be done through the development of the elements of nautical economy (Favro, 2002a).

Servisne djelatnosti
Već je i ranije navedeno -u općenitom pregledu -da je nautički turizam svojim utjecajem potaknuo razvoj mnogobrojnih servisnih djelatnosti koje su izravno ili neizravno vezane uz potrebu da se nautičarima pružaju povremene i raznolike usluge.Pri tome se posebno misli na marikulturu i športsko ribarstvo -"big game fishing" -čiji je razvoj neizravno potaknut povećanom potražnjom nautičara za osobnim ulovom (ali i kupnjom ribe) For the purpose of achieving high effectiveness, sustained and even development, the system of nautical tourism has the strength of a large organization -central strategy making, as well as the promptness and flexibility of a small unit (Luković, Favro, 2005).Partial management of the subjects and objects in nautical tourism should be consistent with specific qualities and demands of the local community and serving the global strategy.An important feature of the system is definition and development of new products that will increase the supply and complementary services.That development should be based on customers' (boaters') demands, its purpose should be to create competitive position on the market and improve socio-economic indicators in those areas, including indirect and direct factors (Favro, Glamuzina, 2005).
Prospects for the development of nautical economy (nautical tourism) with its direct and indirect complementary activities and their effects can be analyzed through the following activities:

Catering capacities
With the development of nautical tourism, catering got a chance for significant expansion and specialization.If it were not for nautical tourism, small restaurants offering well-known delicacies in the most attractive nautical destinations on the islands would have probably never developed.Many people expanded their catering establishments, but they also invested in opening new ones.Small, almost deserted settlements on the islands have returned to life precisely because boaters and other tourists started visiting them.The number of people that are reconstructing deserted heritage -objects and agricultural products -is increasing every day, especially on the islands, due to boaters and nautical tourism development (Priopćenja Državnog zavoda za statistiku).

Accommodation capacities
Nautical tourism has indirectly influenced the increase of accommodation capacities on the coast and on the islands.Some of the boaters, especially the wealthier ones, do not always spend the night on their vessels.They want to experience all the beauties of the archipelago in luxurious ambience hotels.Therefore, it can be said that the nautical tourism stimulated the increase of accommodation units in coastal towns on the coast and on the islands.

Services
As it has already been mentioned, nautical tourism affected and stimulated the development i za ugostiteljskom konzumacijom plodova mora u restoranima, servisnim nautičkim uslugama, i sl.
U navedenom se smislu ukupna turistička industrija počela u Hrvatskoj doživljavati kao osnovni gospodarski potencijal.u čemu veliku ulogu ima upravo nautički turizam.Dakle, i nautički se turizam sve više počinje doživljavati kao of many services that are directly or indirectly connected to offering different services to boaters.This especially refers to aquaculture and big game fishing.Their development is indirectly stimulated by boaters' increased demand to catch and purchase fish, eat fish and other seafood in restaurants and other service objects.

Employment
With nautical tourism development, job offers for local labour force increased (temporary, parttime, seasonal or steady job), which indirectly stimulated the general standard rise in coastal towns and for the local families.It also created possibilities for the development and revitalization of different activities specific for that particular area.
Effects that nautical tourism can have on economic activities can be direct and indirect.Direct effects of nautical tourism are primarily connected to local labour employment, stimulation of different service activities important for boaters (vessel and engine servicing, equipment, catering, supplies).There are also many indirect effects of nautical tourism, for example boaters are interested in visiting cultural events in coastal towns and sightseeing local cultural and historical monuments.

Sociological effects of nautical tourism
Furthermore, nautical tourism has also had some short-term effects on local communities and beyond.It also had some specific economic and social effects.The most important short-term effects are development of numerous service activities that started developing soon after nautical tourism appeared (first service shops, employment of local labour force, new restaurants were opened and the existing ones expanded etc.).Next to these shortterm effects, the most important long-term effects of nautical tourism development are: -reorganization and evaluation of (new) developmental options in each county, district, and settlement, even in the entire country -from some traditional aspects (industry, processing industry, shipbuilding industry) towards development based on nautical tourism -development of economic activities directly and indirectly connected to nautical tourism as a basic developmental potential.
In this respect, complete tourist industry in Croatia is now being considered as a basic economic potential, in which nautical tourism plays a very jedan od najpropulzivnijih razvojnih potencijala i strateški najznačajnijih pravaca razvoja u zemlji.
By expanding the capacities of nautical tourism, the process of further employment of local labour will be continued.Some of the economic and social effects could be: -increased number of people that will be directly employed in this activity (in marinas, moorings, ports) -increased number of people that will indirectly also find a job in some of the activities that are directly or indirectly connected to nautical tourism -other family members will also find motivation and reasons to get a job -steady or temporary -in an activity indirectly or directly connected to nautical tourism: providing services for boaters in marinas -washing laundry, running souvenir shops, guiding tours of the town or island, providing the boaters with activities that are typical for coastal areas and islands -agriculture, wine-growing (grape harvesting) and olive-growing (olive picking), organizing cycling tours, fishing, learning about processing fish and seafood etc. -employment of local people could reduce the intensity of emigration, especially from the islands, because islanders would now have more reasons to stay on the island -higher quality of life in coastal areas and on the islands -higher level of education of the population -coastal areas and the islands will be better equipped with communal and other infrastructure.
Sustainable development of nautical tourism will surely stimulate the development of some other activities that are typical for coastal areas.Considering that, it is clear that the effect of the further development of nautical tourism in Croatia can be seen as continued process of economic and social growth in destinations that have been isolated up to now.Some of the activities that will probably undergo revitalization and growth are: -shipbuilding industry -ship-repairing yards -service shops for the maintenance of vessels, engines, sails, and other equipment -revival of old trades and crafts that have died out (textile arts, clothes manufacture, olive-growing, production of honey, fish, fruit and vegetable preservation etc.).These trades can represent ribe, voća, kiseljenje povrća itd.), što može biti ne samo izvor dodatne zarade prodajom turistima nautičarima nego može biti kao "povratna sprega" i korisno za oživljavanje gospodarskih djelatnosti koje bi za sobom mogle "povući" i mnoge druge ovdje nespomenute djelatnosti i aktivnosti; -djelatnosti koje (još) nisu tipične za postojeći razvoj turizma u nas, a koje bi mogle biti potaknute daljnjim razvojem nautičkog turizma: -avanturistički turizam -specifični oblici ugostiteljstva -izrada i prodaja specifičnih suvenira tipičnih za pojedini kraj.
All being said, we can conclude that nautical tourism development can be considered as a process of social transformation not only of living conditions in nautical destinations, but also as a stimulating process that can influence the change of social and economic structure of activities in coastal areas and on the islands.

Strategic aims of further development
One of the most important strategic aims of systematic development of nautical tourism in Croatia should be preservation and improvement of all attractive natural sites, in order for them to remain preserved and attractive (Favro, Gržetić, 2005).
That strategic aim has the following components: -increased protection and maintenance of valuable natural sites -higher quality of life of the local community -comprehensive use of all spatial elements, both natural and men-made -organized system of Croatian ports of nautical tourism -longer period of use of capacities and their increased economic effect.
Starting points for realization of the basic strategic aim are the following: -valuable natural sites should be used only for visits, and not used for permanent mooring of the vessels -ports should be built in less valuable and less attractive areas -optimal capacity of existing ports should be established -quality of equipment and supply in the existing ports of nautical tourism and other ports should be improved -number of dry berths should be increased for storage of smaller vessels, while sea berths should be left for larger vessels -značajnije uključivanje kopnene površine za smještaj manjih plovila, a prepuštanje morske površine za vez većih plovila, -usklađivanje s europskim normama i s posebnostima naše obale.
-coordination with European standards adapted to specific qualities of our coast.

Conclusion
Natural, cultural, and historical features of Croatian littoral area are a vast potential for nautical tourism development that has not been properly valorized so far.Further development of capacities in nautical tourism should be planned with respect for demands of environment protection in consistence with principles of sustainable development, and with respect for safety of the entire system and each individual inside the system (SRNTH, 2006).
Institutions of previously defined system will direct and control the development, and they will be constantly coordinating it with the aims of counties and local communities.Systematic approach to further development of nautical tourism in consistence with principles of sustainable development over the long term will be useful not only to us, but also to future generations.Development conceived on strategic planning would enable Croatian Adriatic to become an excellent area of nautical tourism of the future and one of the strongest assets for tourist marketing of the entire Croatian Adriatic coast.

Slika 2 .
Figure 2 Annual air temperatures Pula, Cres, Crikvenica, Zadar Split, Korčula, Palagruža and Dubrovnik weather stations Source: Hydrographic Institute of the Republic of Croatia