The Contribution of Cultural Heritage to Cultural Tourism in Istria and Kvarner: The Starting Communication Perspective

Starting from the outset is the crucial and most important step in the research of cultural resources, especially when their role and importance in cultural tourism need to be determined. Hence , the objectives of this paper are offering a systematic review of the basic concepts of cultural tourism in recent research, clarifying the concepts of cultural resources, heritage and cultural identities – with an emphasis on their implementation in tourism, and presenting the characteristic features of Istria and Kvarner – with the intention of gaining an insight into the contribution of cultural heritage to tourism in the analyzed destinations. Although cultural tourism has been extensively researched, this paper focuses on two specific Croatian regions, concretizing thereby their tourism results achieved so far, with the intention of determining the importance of cultural resources in the overall tourism results of the selected destinations. The find - ings of this paper may serve as a starting point for further research of cultural resources in the development, presentation and communication of the destination brand of the Istria and the Primorje–Gorski kotar Counties. In conclusion, this paper points out the importance of cultural resources in the two observed regions and opens space for further research – not only on heritage interpretation, but also on the preservation and sustainable use of cultural resources in the analyzed destinations.