28th International Conference on Organizational Science Development New technologies, new challenges March 25th – 27th, 2009, Portorož, Slovenia TOURISM MANAGEMENT AS A DEVELOPMENT LEVER OF THE MUSEUM PRODUCT Maja Lamza - Maronić Faculty of Economics in Osijek, Croatia maja@efos.hr Jerko Glavaš Faculty of Economics in Osijek, Croatia jglavas@efos.hr Igor Mavrin Ypsilon Ltd. Osijek, Croatia imavrin@gmail.com Abstract At the beginning of the new millennium, it has become increasingly difficult to survive in the ever tougher market conditions in culture. Museums in the Republic of Croatia have to compete against not only similar institutions existing in their vicinity, but with other cultural products as well – theatre, film, concerts, etc. To make museums more attractive, their synergy with other cultural products is a way to attract more audiences and to confirm their market justification. Further competition for museums comes from the virtual world. Virtual galleries and cyber museums are increasingly present on the Internet. The whole museum and cultural offer is «only one mouse click away». This is why museums have to take action and get their audiences back, i.e. they need to create new generations of «museum product» consumers. Famous museums around the world have already succeeded in this – Prado in Madrid, Hermitage in St. Petersburg, Louvre in Paris, or the British Museum in London are globally renowned museum brands. Unfortunately, this is not the case with any of the Croatian museums. These cultural institutions in all the Croatian cities have to make profound changes. Croatian museums need to become involved in tourism management, cultural management and cultural marketing. All these processes have to be tried and tested in practice. Otherwise, what is the point of a product or service if there is no demand for it? Keywords: Tourism management, museum, product, development 839