The island of Korcula is 6th largest island in the Adriatic sea. It is situated in the southern part of the Croatia's Adriatic Coast, between main towns Split and Dubrovnik, with good boat connections to the mainland, which makes it increasingly popular tourist destination among all groups of tourists visiting Croatia - it has something to offer to people with various interests.
For those seeking for cultural sightseeing, we can definitely recommend a visit to Korcula old town, one of most beautiful and preserved old towns on the eastern coast of the Adriatic sea, allegedly the birth place of famous traveler and historian Marko Polo.
It is also worthvile visiting the town of Vela Luka (Eng. transl. Large Harbor), now only a shadow of once largest port on the eastern part of the Adriatic sea, used primarily for exports of wine and other agricultural products from the island of Korcula and other Central Dalmatian islands and coastal towns.
One should definitely visit Blato - the largest town on the island, situated in the interior of the island. There you can find extraordinary insigt into the past of of the island, its inhabitants and their lifestyle. It is the oldest settlement on the island, and archaeological proof of the continuity of live on this are dates back through Roman, Illiryan and even prehistoric archaeological remains.
In the year of 1910., according to Austria-Hungarian census (Dalmatia was then a province of Austria-Hungarian empire), Blato was 6th most populated town in the entire Dalmatia, but due to grape phylloxera (a pest of grapevines) a massive exodus to countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Argentina, USA, Brasil, etc. occured, decimateing the population of the town and entire island. For example, just in year 1925, more then 1200 residents of town Blato left their island for good.
It is interesting to mention that world famous footballer Diego Maradona is of Korculan origin - his grandmother, Salvadora, is of Croatian descent, her maiden name is Cariolichi (Kariolic), her father Mateo Kariolic emigrated from Korcula in the end of the 19th century. Diego named his oldest daughter Dalma, after Dalmatia, an historinc province of Croatia in which the island of Korcula is situated.
Dalmatian economical emigration played a very important role in the colonization of South America and Oceania, ant there are many more interesting stories like this about "El mano del dios" Diego Maradona, which we will later present to you in a new article (for example Dalmatian Māori in New Zeland or Patagonian indian chiefs with Dalmatian surnames ).
Croatia, in comparison with other European countries, has a high level of conservation of nature and particularly highlights
preservation of ecosystems and habitats, the country is to a large biological and landscape diversity. Reduction
and the degree of diversity undermines the ecological balance, so you can say that the global threat
plant and animal species, and the man.
The greater our responsibility for what we leave to future generations and, therefore, sustainable development in economic,
environmental and sociokulturnom sense element becomes thoughtful action in most countries.
Sustainable, or considerate development within the predicted life prihvatnog capacity of the environment, therefore, the extent to which
ecological system can accept various human activities and exploitation of resources without permanent damage to the system and
quality of life of people.
Reducing pressure on the environment can be achieved by the synergy of social, political and market activity, and we
, in this case, an important joint involvement in the preservation and proper use of resources in tourism. Just
Therefore, sustainable tourism is ecotourism with a link that creates a new category of responsible travelers. Ecotourism
means responsible tourism for their orientation in a coordinated relationship between man and nature, but also because the
part of the profits from it is used for environmental protection.
In the Croatian tourism in recent years made great progress, but still need to invest in the development,
and especially in improving the quality of products and services, and promotion of well-preserved environment and recognition
Croatian as a tourist destination that, along with the existing protection measures, particularly the coastal belt, is developing high-quality
original tourist facilities.
Our country is rich in diverse natural and cultural values, but also interesting and oenological
and selection of food by region. Tourists recognize the difference between Dalmatia, Slavonia, Zagorje and
another of our kitchen. Native delicacies of our cuisine are known and in demand, especially in the catering
offer rural tourism. Therefore, in recent years in Croatia, except for rest and relaxation, more coming
for fun, enjoying the food and drink, and all those interested in more cultural sites and preserved natural environment.
Access to the principles of sustainable tourism development accords with the generally accepted principles from which it derives
a series of international conventions, such as the protection of biological diversity which is the Republic of Croatia joined the
in early 1997. year. Croatian Parliament therefore adopted a Declaration on the Protection of the environment in which,
among other things, states: "The Republic of Croatia in the world recognized as a country extremely rich and varied
natural values, such as the coast and islands, fertile soil, water and waterways, indigenous forests and numerous
unique and world-renowned beauty, decides to sustainable economic development based on opstojnoj
agriculture and forestry, marine and tourism industry and the economy based on environmentally admissible
technologies.
Consequently, alternative forms of tourism - such as rural tourism, ecotourism or nature of the Middle
- Experienced a boom. According to recent research, growing three times faster than classical
mass tourism and it is expected that their share of the tourism market in Europe in the next 20
years will be greater than 20 percent.
One response to new challenges and one of the ways to ostarivanje values on mijenjajućim
market preference is to invest in small-scale forms of tourism that are based on a single
natural and cultural heritage and promote them.
Croatia has an ideal position to best exploit these new opportunities. Many
future tourists, it is relatively "new" destinations, has an extremely varied landscape and rich
biodiversity, as well as many active cultural traditions. From the dense green flood plains
in Slavonia to the peaks of Velebit, the idyllic rural landscape of Istria to the dramatic
Dalmatian coast and islands all over the fragrant calm Adriatic - Croatia offers something for
everyone's taste.
Places such as Plitvice Lakes National Park have been benefited from the growing interest in
ecotourism and offer unique, but safe and accessible nature experience for hundreds of thousands of tourists
each year. It is encouraged and many small family farms to the development of local tourist
Product (rental accommodation, restaurants ...) that are based on natural resources.
But I do not have all the initiatives in ecotourism will be a large scale. Moreover, most of the activity is
a much smaller scale and localized, but even this segment is flourishing across Europe
due to the increased interest in ecotourism.