Tourism and international business: The theoretical approach and practical experiences

Abstract

The paper discusses the relationships between tourism and international business. The research is based upon combining various theoretical concepts, significant empirical experiences and own attitudes of the authors. The key conclusion of the paper is that, despite of the partial progress in understanding tourism businesses, the relationships between tourism and international business need additional stimulus. In other words, more complete research in the related domains is needed in future. Any understanding of tourism is inadequate without appreciating the contributions that international business might bring, yet at the same time international business is incomplete in its coverage of international trade unless tourism is considered. The consumption-driven agenda of much tourism research has been favoured over supply-side discourses of the production process it self. That is why the role of major transnational companies, setting the trends that other types of firms in the tourism sector follow is focused in the paper.

U radu se razmatra odnos između turizma i međunarodnog poslovanja. Istraživanje se temelji na ukrštanju različitih teorijskih koncepata, značajnih empirijskih nalaza i vlastitih stavova autora. Ključni zaključak rada je u tome da, bez obzira na delimičan napredak u shvatanju značaja turističkog poslovanja, odnos između turizma i međunarodnog poslovanja još uvek nije detaljno sagledan i razjašnjen. Drugim rečima, biće potrebno još dodatnih i kompleksnijih istraživanja u ovom domenu u narednom periodu. Bilo koje shvatanje turizma je neadekvatno, bez uvažavanja doprinosa koje međunarodni biznis može doneti turizmu, kao što se istovremeno međunarodni biznis necelovito tumači, ako ne uzima turističko poslovanje u obzir. Do sada su istraživanja turizma isključivu prednost davala izučavanju turističke tražnje, dok se marginalizovao značaj nosilaca ponude koji kreiraju turističku ponudu/proizvod. Nasuprot tome, u radu se fokusira značaj velikih multinacionalnih kompanija jer one postavljaju ključne trendove u sektoru turizma, koje zatim slede drugi nosioci turističke ponude.