Internationalisation of the retail trade : factor of tourist market development

In this work, the concept and the meaning of the retail trade and its internationalisation have been discussed at first. Futhermore, there is an analysis of forms, factors, requirements and possibilities of the internationalisation of the retail trade. The retail structure in the Republic of Croatia is not appropriate and because of that the retail offer cannot satisfy the retail requirements. It has an influence on the outflow of the purchasing power into neighbouring countries and on the low shares of retail purchase in tourist consumption. The connection between the development of the retail trade and the tourism has been presented by the matrix of regional indexes of purchasing power and intensity of tourist volume of activities in different countries in the Republic of Croatia. Starting from the philosophy of globalisation, the authors have concluded, that the internationalisation of the retail trade can significantly improve tourist offer in the Republic of Croatia. Croatian retail traders should develop co.operative relations and associations among themselves and with foreign retail traders. These would be the main prerequisites for the formation of a higher level of retail structure as an important factor of tourist offer.