After being granted a permit to operate a twice-weekly service from Beijing to Zagreb, Beijing Capital Airlines has opted for Belgrade instead, reports ExYuAviation on March 31, 2017.
Efforts to connect Croatia and China directly by air continue, but the latest attempt, which was covered by TCN last year, has ended in apparent failure, with Beijing Capital Airlines, a fully owned subsidiary of Hainan Airlines, opting instead for a direct connection to neighbouring Belgrade instead, despite receiving permits to operate two flights a week to the Croatian capital.
The reason? Visa requirements.
The head of the Chinese Southeast European Business Association (CSEBA), Mario Rendulić, said, "The HNA Group (parent company of both Hainan Airlines and Beijing Capital) was in direct contact with Croatia, however, as soon as Serbia abolished visas for Chinese citizens, they gave up on their plans due to complicated visa requirements and other technical procedures, since Croatia is a member of the European Union".
The airline announced flights to Belgrade a few days ago (see ExYuAviation story here).
New Chinese Ambassador to Croatia, Hu Zhaoming, said that Croatia needed to do more to present its tourist potential to Chinese travellers. "It is important to establish direct flights, as well as simplify and speed up the issuance of visas. Last year, 100.000 Chinese tourists visited Croatia, which is almost nothing considering the Chinese travel market, however, it was an improvement of 20% compared to 2015. I would really like for Croatia to approach China in a different way and view it from a different angle",
The visa issue since EU entry has been a constant issue which has deterred certain tourism markets for Croatia since it became the 28th member of the union on July 1, 2013. Russian tourists to Istria, for example, reduced their numbers by 40% overnight, according to Pula Airport statistics, and the airport had had to work hard to diversify to other markets around Europe to compensate for this loss - and has done so very successfully.
Options for visa waivers for tourists from certain countries have been discussed, and with Croatia not yet part of the Schengen group (whose members include Croatia's two EU members, Hungary and Slovenia), which requires an additional visa to enter Schengen-member countries. Is there perhaps room for a more innovative approach to the visa issue?
