MANAGING AND PROMOTION OF EVENTS IN FUNCTION OF ACHIEVING COMPETITIVE TOURIST OFFER OF EASTERN CROATIA

Tourist events represent a highly valuable element of an integral tourist product, so it is necessary to dedicate significant attention to them, considering that their uniqueness enables high positioning of a tourist destination on the tourist market and creating additional value of tourist offer. Eastern Croatia is abundant with various and unique events based on tradition and cultural heritage, which take place all year round, and which can, through use of adequate knowledge and skills, and marketing activities, contribute significantly to the competitiveness of its tourist offer and creation of a recognizable brand. The purpose of the paper is to point out the importance of managing events with a goal of enriching and diversifying the tourist offer of Eastern Croatia, while the goal of the paper is to present the current offer of events of Eastern Croatia, and give a proposition of strategic and promotional guidelines for improving and expanding tourist offer with a goal of strengthening competitive advantages of (Eastern) Croatia as a tourist destination.