Editorial

March 21, 2023 - Four months a YouTuber, time to reflect on my journey into an unknown world while keeping an eye on the promotion over at the Kingdom of Accidental Tourism. Full disclaimer: when someone sues you for no reason - twice - and plays with you for 2.5 years, before dropping two cases they knew they had no chance (and I suspect, interest) of winning, it changes one's perspective.   Long before I was sued by the Kingdom of Accidental Tourism, aka the Croatian National Tourist Board, I had questioned the point of their existence. I genuinely think if…

February 6, 2023 - One of the biggest undiscussed topics in Croatia today - at least in my view - is the rapidly changing demographics and the arrival of many more foreigners. Back in the 2018 World Cup, there was a very strange discussion in the French media after the French anti-racism organisation LICRA (International League Against Racism and Antisemitism) tweeted that the Croatian team was too white ahead of the World Cup Final. Nobody seemed to think that the Nigerian team was too black, by contrast. Having lived in Croatia for 15 years at that point, mostly on a…

January 19. 2023 -  SLAPP lawsuits in Croatia (Strategic Lawsuits against Public Participation) are a well-established tool to dissuade criticism. Having just emerged from a 2.5-year SLAPP experience, here are some thoughts and observations. It all starts with the blue letter.  The postman knocks, requiring a signature. There is rarely good news inside the official blue envelopes.  "It is from the Municipal Court in Zagreb," said my wife.  I wonder what they want, I thought to myself. I haven't done anything wrong, to the best of my knowledge. Nevertheless, my heart started beating a little heavier. I had no dead…

January 6, 2023 - Croatia National Tourist Board Director Kristjan Stanicic gives a wide-ranging interview on the direction of Croatian tourism - with some ideas sounding rather familiar...  My lawyer thinks I am a little strange, but I am really excited about next week.  For, more than 2.5 years after I got the first lawsuit of my life for an article I did not write, on a portal I do not own, which quoted me (nobody else got sued, there was no request for retraction, and the article is still live in its original format - you can read it…

December 13, 2022 - The atmosphere all over Croatia is electric as the Vatreni attempt to reach their second World Cup Final in a row, but there is a small difference from 2018 - dreaming has been replaced by belief.  It is an incredible time to be in Croatia, and I doubt there is a country around the globe that has more passion than Croatia when it comes to football. As I posted in a recent video (below), in life and in death, Croats are the world champions of celebration.  But this year's run to the World Cup Final…

December 9, 2022 - Whisper it quietly, but the Croatian passport has become rather a useful thing to have in recent times. Time for the diaspora to reengage with the Homeland? When I moved to Croatia in 2002, the new Croatian passport was about a decade old and fairly weak on the international stage. By contrast, the British passport was one of the strongest and most desirable in the world.  How times change...  Brexit has been a real pain in the ass for so many British citizens on so many levels, one of the great own goals of all time,…

November 16, 2022 - Last January, a sailor from New Zealand spent 8 days with his boat from Kastela to Lastovo for an unforgettable winter sailing in Croatia experience. He saw one other boat in over a week. A look at why the winter sailing in Croatia opportunity is one that is golden, and with an industry keen to get involved and develop.  Sometimes one has to be so far out of the comfort zone to notice the very best opportunities...  Back in March, I received an email invitation requesting a meeting from a Croatian yacht charter booking software company…

September 3, 2022 - TCN is in a period of transition. An update from CEO Paul Bradbury, and a reduced service ahead of a very new-look TCN in October. One of the things that has been very true since I started the Total Project with a laptop and a cold one sitting at Caffe Splendid on the main square in Jelsa back in October 2011 was that I have always tried to live up to the name of the project.  Total. For years, I was writing six articles a day just about the island on our pilot project, Total Hvar.…

Why it is not worth anything. Ništa. Not a single Lipa! (EDITORIAL)   Split, 23.08.2022 - The City of Split is again trying to find an investor for the Basketball Club KK Split. This time it is official. Read the invitation to tender here. In the tender, the City of Split states the value of the shares which it offers for sale at 4'000'000 EUR, that's the shares it wants to sell, so they value the club at around 6 Million Euro, which is the amount at which all issued shares were handed out. Our contributor Burak Canboy had considered…

August 4, 2022 - It has all the ingredients to become one of the top destinations on the Adriatic, but is the lack of a Split tourism strategy killing the goose that lays the golden eggs?  And on the Seventh Day, God created Dalmatia.  It really is one of the finest places on the planet. Some time later, a retiring Roman Emperor decided to embrace the fjaka lifestyle in his declining years and built a retirement home. Diocletian's Palace became a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is one of the finest attractions on the Adriatic Coast.  And slowly, over the centuries,…

A Croatian summer has always been inextricably linked to tourism, as the hordes head to the Adriatic coast and islands. But what if the coast and tourism were not part of the equation? A very satisfying experiment so far. My inbox is full of invitations to hotel openings, restaurant openings, festivals.  I have declined them all.  My social media is full of heavenly images of beaches, coffees on the water, swimming in the Adriatic, with accompanying captions such as Ko ovo more platit, which roughly translates as 'priceless.'  I smile at them all, and I wish them well. I have…

Back in 2003, I bought a piece of real estate in Croatia which the lawyer insisted had clean papers. Nineteen years later, we are edging towards ownership.  Just over 2 years ago, an article quoting me in the Croatian media resulted in me getting sued. The next hearing is in November, and it will probably be another couple of years until the case is resolved. Such is the nature and speed of Croatian bureaucracy. While these examples may seem extreme, they are by no means atypical. The wheels of Croatian bureaucracy tend to move slowly.  But then on occasion -…

July 3, 2022 - Croatia is establishing itself as a leading remote work destination. The latest NomadList 2022 survey gives some clues as to why.  It is peak season in Croatia, and most of the country's tourism is focused on the traditional sun and sea tourism on the Adriatic. But away from the coast, and away from the beach, a newer, more sustainable tourism is taking route in a country that desperately needs to diversify its tourism strategy away from overtourism in the summer months on the beach.   It is about three years since I wrote an editorial called Branding Croatia…

Several years ago, a friend of mine on Hvar who runs a luxury tourism agency on Hvar told me about the moment he discovered the secret of Croatian tourism. "I was in an olive grove with a group of rich New York clients," he explained. "Olive tasting, peka lunch, the standard. One of the guests came over to me and motioned to a lemon tree and its abundant fruit nearby. He asked if it would be ok to pick one. Pick ten, I replied, and off he went. At the end of the week, he came up to me to…

One of the joys of living and writing about Croatia over the last 20 years has been the constant stream of new discoveries. When I first bought my house back in 2002 on Hvar, there was very little in the English-speaking media about Croatia apart from the aftermath of war and the fabled coast of former Yugoslavia. I myself knew little about my new home island (having only heard its name 2 days before I arrived and agreed my purchase), but it was not long before I got to learn just what a treasure I had stumbled upon. Named by…

February 3 - The level of ignorance among Croatians about what lies in the east of their country is staggering. And they are really missing out, for eastern Croatia is amazing.  I really don't know where to start.  Perhaps at 06:35 on November 16 last year. For it was then that I picked up American digital nomad videographer and emerging media star, Steve Tsenterensky, for a 6-day tour of eastern Croatia that I promised would blow his mind.  It blew his mind.  (Osijek, Full of Life - Osijek Tourist Board) Prior to the trip, I asked Steve what he knew…

February 1, 2022 - A quite extraordinary day in court in the latest installment of Diary of a Croatian Lawsuit, as Croatian National Tourist Board Director Kristjan Stanicic talks uhljebs.  I am beginning to think that the lawyer for the prosecution is seriously cool, and when this is all over in 2063 or beyond, I am going to ask him out for a drink. If we are both still alive.   When I first met him, I thought he was polite but perhaps a little incompetent. One of my lawsuits was delayed not once, but TWICE, for the simple reason that…

January 9, 2022 - The year is 2022, and in the Mighty State of Uhljebistan, the fax machine reigns supreme. When was the last time you sent a fax? Have you ever sent a fax? Do you even know what a fax is? Or what a fax machine looks like? If you are dealing with Croatian bureaucracy in the year 2022, ignore the power of the facsimile at your peril, for it is still one of the prime sources of communication in a digital age which has no idea what the fax dinosaur is or actually does.  It is almost…

December 28, 2021 - Croatia has more than 300 tourist board directors all over the country, most on permanent contracts. An interesting initiative from the Ministry of Tourism and Sports could change all that.  I am not holding my breath - this is Croatia after all - but could a much-needed shakeup of the outdated and inefficient tourist board system be on the cards? A new law requiring all of Croatia's 300+ tourist board directors, including the Croatian National Tourist Board Director, to take part in a tender to reapply for their jobs. And rather than - in most cases…

December 23, 2021 - 2022 will be a year of change for tourism in Croatia. An overview of 8 key areas TCN will be focusing its efforts on improving Croatian tourism in 2022. 2021 has been a great year at TCN, as we diversified from a news portal into some other projects. There is such potential in so many areas in this country that I am constantly surprised at how few people I see exploring the opportunities. I know a few people who laughed when a certain Dutch expat announced he was going to grow tomatoes in northern Croatia, but…

December 17, 2021 - Ever been to a party where the host is suing you? A foreign perspective of the annual Days of Croatian Tourism - aka Days of Croatian Self-Congratulation - conference, which reveals a lot about the way tourism in Croatia is run.  I am not sure how to describe the annual late-season event known as Days of Croatian Tourism, which usually takes place in October at the end of the season, bringing together the great and the not so good of the official tourism bodies. The event almost always takes place on the coast in one of…

December 16, 2021 - The first TCN Split Winter Tourism Roundtable took place on Monday at CHOPS Grill in Split. Some reflections...   As I looked above the excellent steak that was served for lunch after the TCN Split Winter Tourism Roundtable, I smiled (see photo above). For opposite me, at the other side of our rectangular roundtable, were perhaps the four public officials who could have the most influence in helping the initiative to extend the Split tourist season to succeed.  And I had history with all four.  Central Dalmatia Tourist Board Director Josko Stella actually gave me my first…

December 2, 2021 - Happy Birthday to Osijek! Enough of Zagreb ignoring eastern Croatia, it is time to tell the world the truth about Slavonia Full of Life.  One of the many paradoxes of this wonderful country - for me at least - is the relationship Zagreb and the rest of the country has with Slavonia and eastern Croatia (for ease of reading purposes, I will use Slavonia to refer to Osijek - Baranja, and Vukovar - Srijem counties in this article). Every November 18, Facebook profile photos all over the country and the diaspora are changed to remember and…

December 1, 2021 - An article I have wanted to write for a very long time and the perceptions about - and realities of - the wealth of foreigners living in Croatia. Shortly after I returned from our epic trip to eastern Croatia last month, I posted this on Facebook: I am genuinely and honestly shocked at how many of my Croatian friends tell me that they have never been to Slavonia. Guys, you are missing out big time. Osijek is the most fun place to be at this time of year. It didn't take long for the predictable reaction…

November 27, 2021 - Some in Dalmatia want winter tourism, others are exhausted after the season. How would things look if the global economy adopted the Dalmatian work ethic?  I love Dalmatia. I love Dalmatians. Hell, I married one, and she is as lovely as ever, as well as one of the most dedicated and hard-working people I know.  My wife got that work ethic from her father, who is from the village of Brusje on the island of Hvar. One of ten kids, there was never money for anything, and the 12-kilimetre round-trip walk to school in Hvar Town…

November 23, 2021 - 30 years after the fall of Vukovar, the global Croatian community commemorates the horrendous event, but is it time to support the Vukovar community with something more concrete than an annual Facebook status update? A practical suggestion to introduce the Vukovar Card. For many, many years, I avoided writing about the topic of Vukovar, and with good reason.  I am not Croatian, I was not there, and how could a foreigner have an opinion worth having about one of the most painful periods and events in Croatian history? And not only that, but how could he…

November 3, 2021 - They are among the crown jewels of tourism on the Adriatic, but how to brand Croatian islands?  They are one of the most picturesque attractions, and yet we can't agree how many of them there are. Some say Croatia has 1185 islands, others 1244 and others 1246.  It has always been somewhat symbolic to me of the 'strategy' of the Kingdom of Accidental Tourism that we cannot even agree on how many pieces of our prized asset we have. If you are wondering why there is confusion, How Many Islands Does Croatia Have? should make things clearer. …

October 9, 2021 - A decade has flown by, as the Total Croatia Project, which started life in a Jelsa cafe as Total Hvar before turning into Total Croatia News, turns 10 years old today.  It has been quite a decade, one of constant change.  Ten years ago today, at about this time, I ordered a cold one from Captain Nijaz at Cafe Splendid on the main square in Jelsa on Hvar, opened my laptop, and got to work.  My first article on my new project called Total Hvar, an attempt to bring tourist information about Croatia's premier island into…

October 2, 2021 - Community,  events, co-living - how concepts for digital nomads can be utilised to improve Croatian winter tourism problem. Let me start by explaining the background to my perspective on Croatian winter tourism. Having lived full-time for 13 years on the island of Hvar, I have seen the realities of the seasonality of Croatian tourism closer than most. An idyllic island to live on for sure, but with locals too busy with the season to fully enjoy the summer months, only to then encounter the long and beautiful winter with everything closed and nowhere to go. With…

September 29, 2021 - The entrepreneurial beacon of Sveta Nedelja lit up the Entrepreneurial Mindset 2021 conference in Zagreb yesterday, as Mate Rimac and Mayor Dario Zurovec gave a tantalising view of Croatia 2.0. It is two years since the introduction of a new conference to the busy Zagreb congress calendar. Poduzetnicki Mindset - Entrepreneurial Mindset - brought together some of the top entrepreneurial names in Croatia to share their stories, visions, and failures. In the front row of the audience where not the usual politicians who left after the opening speeches, but students and high-school kids with entrepreneurial aspirations,…