The Role of Financial Technology in Croatia’s Tourism Sector
Maja-Marija Prevolšek - Zagreb School of Economics and Management, Vukasovićeva 1, Zagreb, Croatia
Anja Tkalčević - Zagreb School of Economics and Management, Vukasovićeva 1, Zagreb, Croatia
Gordi Sušić - Zagreb School of Economics and Management, Vukasovićeva 1, Zagreb, Croatia
DOI: https://doi.org/10.31410/tmt.2023-2024.107
Maja-Marija Prevolšek - Zagreb School of Economics and Management, Vukasovićeva 1, Zagreb, Croatia
Anja Tkalčević - Zagreb School of Economics and Management, Vukasovićeva 1, Zagreb, Croatia
Gordi Sušić - Zagreb School of Economics and Management, Vukasovićeva 1, Zagreb, Croatia
DOI: https://doi.org/10.31410/tmt.2023-2024.107
8th International Thematic Monograph - Modern Management Tools and Economy of Tourism Sector in Present Era, Belgrade, 2023/2024, Published by: Association of Economists and Managers of the Balkans in cooperation with the Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality, Ohrid, North Macedonia; ISSN 2683-5673, ISBN 978-86-80194-81-3 ; Editors: Vuk Bevanda, associate professor, Faculty of Social Sciences, Belgrade, Serbia; Snežana Štetić, full time professor, The College of Tourism, Belgrade, Serbia, Printed by: SKRIPTA International, Belgrade
Abstract: This study explores the role of financial technologies in the Croatian tourism sector, highlighting their impact on operational efficiency, tourist experience, sustainability and competitiveness. To shed more light on the role of FinTech, motives for its adoption, advantages and potential challenges, authors constructed and conducted a survey that was distributed to relevant tourism industry participants in Croatia. Survey-obtained data was then used to compare the results of focus participants in light of the conducted literature review. Results of a survey point to a correlation between the size of the tourism companies and the level of familiarity with the concept of smart tourism and the implementation of innovative solutions. Highly categorized facilities often show a greater tendency to adopt frontier technological options to meet the high expectations of their guests. The results also show that the majority of participants are planning or considering further expansions or investing in FinTech solutions to remain competitive. In addition to own development and the need for continuous education, overall governmental medium-term development strategy and proper guidance are also recognized as preconditions for the industry’s sustainable future growth.
Keywords: Croatia’s tourism sector; Financial technology; FinTech; Smart tourism; Competitiveness
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Troshin, A. S., Sokolova, A. P., Ermolaeva, E. O., Magomedov, R. M., & Fomicheva, T. L. (2020). Information Technology in Tourism: Effective Strategies for Communication with Consumers. Journal of Environmental Management and Tourism, 11(2), 322. https://doi. org/10.14505//jemt.v11.2(42).10
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Keywords: Croatia’s tourism sector; Financial technology; FinTech; Smart tourism; Competitiveness
REFERENCES
Croatian National Bank. (n.d.). https://www.hnb.hr
Crosby, M., Pattanayak, P., Verma, S., & Kalyanaraman, V. (2016). Blockchain technology: Beyond bitcoin. Applied innovation, 2(6-10), 71.
Cumming, D., Johan, S., & Reardon, R. (2023). Global fintech trends and their impact on international business: a review. Multinational Business Review, 31(3), 413-436. https://doi. org/10.1108/mbr-05-2023-0077
DBS Bank. (2022). Mobile banking advantages and disadvantages: Digibank by DBS, DBS. https:// www.dbs.com/digibank/in/articles/save/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-mobile-banking
Denzin, N. K., & Lincoln, Y. S. (2018). The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Research. London: SAGE.
European Commission. (2018). FinTech Action plan: For a more competitive and innovative European financial sector. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/ HTML/?uri=CELEX:52018DC0109
Eurostat. (n.d.). https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat
Golosova, J., & Romanovs, A. (2018). The Advantages and Disadvantages of the Blockchain Technology. 2018 IEEE 6th Workshop on Advances in Information, Electronic and Electrical Engineering (AIEEE). https://doi.org/10.1109/aieee.2018.8592253
Ministry of Tourism and Sports of the Republic of Croatia. (2023). Tourism in Figures 2022. https://www.htz.hr/sites/default/files/2023-07/HTZ%20TUB%20ENG_2022.pdf
OECD. (2020). Preparing tourism businesses for the digital future | OECD Tourism Trends and Policies 2020 | OECD iLibrary. https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/sites/f528d444-en/index.html?itemId=%2Fcontent%2Fcomponent%2Ff528d444-en
Shevlin, R. (2021). The 12 most important mobile banking features (and why no bank can have them all), Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/ronshevlin/2021/03/29/ new-research-identifies-the-most-critical-mobile-banking-features/?sh=e341f7418519
Troshin, A. S., Sokolova, A. P., Ermolaeva, E. O., Magomedov, R. M., & Fomicheva, T. L. (2020). Information Technology in Tourism: Effective Strategies for Communication with Consumers. Journal of Environmental Management and Tourism, 11(2), 322. https://doi. org/10.14505//jemt.v11.2(42).10
Valeri, M., & Baggio, R. (2021). A critical reflection on the adoption of blockchain in tourism. Information Technology & Tourism, 23(2), 121-132. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40558-020-00183-1
Zubekhin, S. (2023). How technology is changing the travel and Tourism Industry. https://www. software.travel/blog/automation/how-technology-changing-travel-industry/
| tmt.2023-2024.107.pdf |
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