1st
In tern a tio n a l
M - Sp h e r e
C o n f e r e n c e
THE ROLE OF THE PORT AUTHORITY WITHIN CRUISE DESTINATION MANAGEMENT DESA RATHMAN KATARINA VAREZ
ABSTRACT Cruise destination is defined through physical, administrative and logistic elements. All these elements produce an integral destination product offered on the cruise market, which is made up of tourist offer and service elements. Tourist offer is the basic element of the integral tourist product of the destination, but the service elements and the functioning of the destination, although not primarily considered by a visitor, make up a very important part. A port is the main infrastructure resource of the destination and an unavoidable condition for developing cruise industry. Port authority is the institution that manages port area. In order to define the role of the port authority within the destination management, the question is put which are the objectives and the limits of port authority influence. The functioning of the destination involves activities of diverse subjects belonging to either private or public sector. They all have a different interest that needs to be joined by the common level of decision making. The modern role of port authority is shaped in the direction of strategy and policy makers instead of just conserving and ruling port area. Conceptual aspect of its functioning tends to emphasize the price policy, concession policy and investment planning as a part of wider local and regional picture. All these arguments point out the important role of the port authority within cruise destination management that needs to be properly recognized and positioned in order to assure the management performance. KEY WORDS: cruise destination management, port authority, tourist offer, infrastructure background, policy maker, management performance. DETAILS ABOUT AUTHORS: DEĹ A RATHMAN, M.SC. ADVISER FOR COMMERCIAL AND OPERATIVE AFFAIRS AND DEVELOPMENT dpa.desa@portdubrovnik.hr KATARINA VAREZ, M.SC. ADVISER FOR MARKET RESEARCH AND SALE dpa.katarina@portdubrovnik.hr BOTH AUTHORS: PORTH AUTHOROTY OF DUBROVNIK, DUBROVNIK
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