THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC AND ADAPTATIONS IN CREATIVE AND CULTURAL INDUSTRIES: A CASE OF TWO CROATIAN COUNTIES

Abstract

This paper is dedicated to examining the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the creative and cultural industries (CCI) in two tourist counties in Croatia – the Istria County and Šibenik-Knin County. This research focuses on the impact, resilience and adaptation of the CCI sector to the effects of measures introduced to combat the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. The analysis is conducted using an online survey of business entities operating in the CCI sector, with the fulfilled surveys covering 12.1 percent of the total number of firms. The analysis showed that the COVID-19 pandemic has had a short-term negative effect on most of the surveyed entities in two
analysed counties, with a greater negative effect in Istria County. Still, the pandemic has not had a significant negative impact on employment. Moreover, the respondents were optimistic about the long-term implications of the pandemic on their business, with respondents from Istria County expressing greater optimism than those from Šibenik-Knin County. The pandemic has encouraged  respondents to adapt to new circumstances and seek novel solutions to achieve new revenue streams.