Page 49 - World Heritage and Tourism Innovation

Vuk Tvrtko Opačić Tourism Valorisation of Croatian Intangible Cultural Heritage

individual tourists. The head of the museum explains 4. The new Sinjska Alka Interpretive-Educational
that the large share of pupils among visitors is due to Centre
the recommendation within the national school cur- 5. More frequently organised alkars’ parades in sev-
riculum to visit the museum. eral cities in Croatia and abroad
The director of the Sinj Tourist Board pointed out 6. Eventual alkars’ tournaments outside of Sinj (even
that Sinj is a leading destination in Dalmatinska Zag- though in its 300-year-old tradition, the tourna-
ora. There has been an increase in accommodation ments were only held outside of Sinj in Split in
capacities in the town and across the entire Cetinska 1832, Belgrade in 1922, Zagreb in 1946 and Vuk-
Krajina region, especially in private accommodation. ovar in 2017)
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a fall in the number
of arrivals and the duration of tourist stays. The Sinj 7. Events inspired by the Alka, such as Vučković’s
Tourist Board director also highlighted the thematic Children Alka and similar Alka’s for children, the
walking route (e.g., Our Lady of Sinj Trail), the bicy- Women’s Alka, the Flying Alka, the Moto Alka
cle route, and the equestrian route along the Dinara Fortunately, Sinj has witnessed such synergy, re-
Mountain, along the Cetina River and the Kamešnica flected in the proper tourism valorisation of the Sin-
Mountain as essential segments of the tourism sup- jska Alka as an intangible cultural heritage. An es-
ply in Sinj and the surrounding region. She sees many sential aspect of promoting the Sinjska Alka abroad
opportunities to integrate natural attractions from the is the project to network traditional equestrian games
newly declared Dinara Nature Park into the tourism in Europe, such as the Trka na Prstenac (Barban,
supply of Sinj and the Cetinska Krajina region. The Croatia), Sartiglia (Oristano, Italy), Giostra di Zante
respondents highlighted the importance of the Sinj u (Zakynthos, Greece), Giostra Cavalleresca (Sulmona,
sridu project, which was conducted by the Town of Italy) and other games. All three respondents point-
Sinj (Sinj.hr, 2019) as the beneficiary, together with ed out good cooperation and a close connection with
project partners, among which are the Sinj Tourist these three critical institutions for tourism valorisa-
Board and the Alka Knights Society, and which is tion and promoting Sinjska Alka, who agree with the
partly financed by the European Union through the thesis that coherent action by important local stake-
European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). Ad- holders is vital to success in creating and branding
ditional tourism valorisation of the Alka from the new tourist products.
stated project requires constructing the new Sinjska
Alka Interpretation Education Centre, which will “en- Discussion and Conclusion
able holding all-year interpretive-educational content Croatia is a positive example of a country that early
relating to the Sinjska Alka that has already become acknowledged the importance of including its intan-
an established and recognised Sinj brand.” Though gible cultural assets on the UNESCO lists, where its
the new Sinjska Alka Interpretation Education Centre cultural assets become living guardians of the local
on the Sinj Hippodrome is still in the planning stages, identity and a statistical value transforms into com-
all the stakeholders have pointed out its vital role in mercial value, used to expand tourism supply in many
the future positioning of Alka as a year-long tourist destinations (Jelinčić, 2008; Smith, 2009; Opačić,
attraction. 2019).
The respondents concluded that further tourism The Sinjska Alka, a knights’ tournament, has be-
promotion of Alka requires its upgrade in several dif- come a beneficial case study. The town of Sinj and
ferent ways and through various media, such as: the surrounding (Cetinska Krajina) region are tour-
1. Tournaments, istically branded thanks to this traditional equestrian
knights’ tournament, as listed on the UNESCO Repre-
2. The Sinjska Alka Museum sentative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of
3. The Cetinska Krajina Museum Humanity in 2010 and reflects as the successful exam-

Proceedings of the 7th UNESCO UNITWIN Conference | 45