ECONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE CHARACTER AND WORK OF IVANA BRLIĆ MAŽURANIĆ IN THE FUNCTION OF DEVELOPMENT OF COMPETITIVE CULTURAL AND TOURIST PRODUCTS OF THE TOURIST AREA “SLAVONSKI BROD - POSAVINA”

Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić is the brand of the tourist area “Slavonski Brod-Posavina”, and her name and work are a frequent motive for the arrival of tourists, and the key distinguishing element on the basis of which this destination can differentiate itself from the competition. Analyzing the results of a large number of primary research conducted by the Zagreb Institute for Tourism during the preparation of marketing plans for the tourism development, as well as trends on the global tourism market, it was found out that the name and work of this Croatian writer could be the starting point for more intensive development of various forms of cultural tourism, including heritage, literary tourism, event and creative tourism. The aim of this paper is to determine which of these forms of tourism should the most be invested in, and which of the mentioned tourist products could bring the greatest economic benefits. As part of this, after analyzing the existing situation, the primary research, using the survey method, was carried out, in order to determine the attitudes of tourists and local residents regarding the perspective of particular cultural-tourism products based on Ivana’s name and work. The results of the research showed that the views of the respondents regarding the perspective of certain cultural products are fairly evenly distributed, and therefore each of these products is to a lesser or greater extent in the function of the arrival/longer stay of visitors in the destination. The conclusion drown from there was that cultural tourism needs to be developed in different directions and within each policy area, various activities should be implemented to intensify the arrival of tourists motivated by culture; improve the conditions of their stay, as well as achieve economic benefits on the part of the holders of cultural and tourist activities.