Page 40 - World Heritage and Tourism Innovation

Vuk Tvrtko Opačić Tourism Valorisation of Croatian Intangible Cultural Heritage

for Coordination and Development of Split-Dalmatia its favourable and advantageous transportation links,
County was determined using the method of content geographical position on the border of Dalmatia and
analysis, in this case, a study of images (photographs). Bosnia, and intersecting longitudinal and transversal
This method is based on the presumption that there is transport links (Magaš, 2013). Sinj and the Cetinska
a link between the presence of mainly presented con- Krajina region were under Ottoman rule for 150 years
tent in the analysed sources and the importance of the during the 16th and 17th centuries. Though the Treaty
contributed content (Mejovšek, 2008; Zupanc, 2010). of Carlowitz in 1699 (present-day Srijemski Karlovci)
The analysis of images relies on decoding the meaning led to the merger of Sinjsko Polje with the Venetian
of the photographs and converting them into quanti- Republic and the eastern part with the Ottoman Em-
tative data to provide statistical analysis and interpre- pire, the Ottomans attempted on several occasions to
tation. The decoding process included determining conquer the entire Cetinska Krajina region, leading to
the number and importance of images related to the their defeat and banishment from the area in 1715, as
Sinjska Alka in the tourist brochures and the tourist affirmed by the Treaty of Passarowitz, a peace treaty
map. We identified the importance of images related signed at Požarevac in 1718. The organisation of Sin-
to the Sinjska Alka through the following indicators: jska Alka first appeared in honour of the win over the
the size of the image, its position in the brochure ac- Ottomans as a knight’s tournament called the Sinjska
cording to the page number, and the centrality of the Alka. The later periods saw Venetian, Austrian, Na-
image in the page design. polean, again Austrian, Yugoslavian rule, and finally,
The key local stakeholders in the tourism val- the independent Croatian Republic.
orisation of the Sinjska Alka and its transformation The preserved nature of the tranquil fertile valley
into a tourist product are the Sinj Tourist Board, the in the Cetina River valley, surrounded by steep karst
Sinjska Alka Museum, and the Alka Knights Society. mountains, including the turbulent history of this
In March 2022, their headpersons participated in a region, has become the basis for developing various
semi-structured interview. natural and manufactured tourist attractions in the
tourism supply of Sinj and the Cetinska Krajina re-
The Sinjska Alka: A Good Practice Example gion. Some of the natural attractions requiring men-
The town of Sinj (administrative region: 23,574 inhab- tioning are the geomorphological attractions such as
itants; settlement of Sinj: 10,828 inhabitants in 2021; the massifs and the natural surroundings of Dinara,
Croatian Bureau of Statistics (2022) is in the Dalma- the highest mountain in Croatia, and Kamešnica,
tian hinterland in the most densely inhabited region which in 2021 became an integral part of the Dinara
of poorly inhabited Dalmatinska Zagora in the Cetin- Nature Park. Among other critical natural attractions,
ska Krajina region. The area covers the fertile Sinjsko the massif of the Svilaja Mountain and hydrograph-
Polje and some smaller karst poljes between the mas- ic features such as the Cetina River source and the
sifs of Dinara Mountain in the east (bordering Bosnia upper part of this karst river, including the Peruća
and Herzegovina) and Svilaja Mountain in the west, artificial lake, should be mentioned. It also includes
which extends northwest-southeast in the valley of attractions that stem from the appeal of the cultural
the Cetina River. Sinj is 40 kilometres from Split, Cro- landscape, such as the original stone houses in the
atia’s second-largest city and Dalmatia’s largest urban rural settlements; in terms of the manufactured ones,
area. Some are 20 kilometres from the exit of Dugopo- the most significant importance in local tourism sup-
lje on the Zagreb-Split-Dubrovnik motorway; some ply are the cultural and historic features, such as the
are 50 kilometres from Split Airport. Such transport Sinj Fortress, Kamičak Fortress in Sinj, Alkars’ Court-
accessibility drives general development, particularly yard in Sinj, Sinj Franciscan Grammar School, Pro-
tourism (Figure 1). zor Fortress in Vrlika, Stone Bridge on Han, and the
In the Middle Ages, Sinj affirmed itself as the lead- bridge on Panj. There are also sacral attractions such
ing settlement in the Cetinska Krajina region due to as the Shrine of the Miraculous Madonna of Sinj, the

36 | Proceedings of the 7th UNESCO UNITWIN Conference