Minister for Bolstering Tourism's Resilience, Sustainability
ZAGREB, 10 May 2021 - Tourism Minister Nikolina Brnjac said on Monday the National Recovery and Resilience Plan's goal regarding tourism was to increase the sector's resilience and sustainability through green and digital transition.
Speaking in Rovinj about the development of sustainable, innovative, and resilient tourism as part of the national plan, she said another goal was to contribute to tourism's recovery from the crisis caused by the pandemic and to increase tourism's added value and indirect effects on other industries.
Investments in tourism's environmental, economic and social sustainability safeguard resources and build tourism for the long term because, she said, "in the future, we wish to be an even more successful tourist destination."
Brnjac said the national plan ensured the necessary funds "and it's up to us to carry out reforms and strategically steer the development of this important sector." She added that reforming the sector and investments were the prerequisites for utilizing the HRK 2.2 billion earmarked in the national plan for tourism until 2026.
She said the funds would be available to all tourist enterprises, both on the coast and on the continent, and that they would be awarded based on public calls, with 60% intended for direct investments in the private sector.
The rest, she added, is intended for investments in the public tourist infrastructure, but may also be used by private enterprises as part of public-private partnerships.
Tourism reform and investments are aligned with the government's strategic policies, the national reform program, and the national development strategy, Brnjac said, adding that the reform included drafting a sustainable tourism strategy until 2030, a sustainable tourism plan, and a strategic environmental impact estimate.
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Slovenia Donates €67,000 to Earthquake-struck Petrinja
ZAGREB, 10 May 2021 - A humanitarian campaign for the children of Petrinja by the Slovenian "Zveza prijateljev mladine Slovenije" NGO and Radio-Television Slovenia have managed to collect €67,000 for the construction of the "Our Children" house in Petrinja in the aftermath of last year's earthquake, the Our Children NGO said on Monday.
Based on the wishes of Petrinja residents, and in particular families with children who wish to remain in the town, the funds were collected to build a prefab house that will be used as a play centre and to provide psychosocial support and entertainment for children, youth and families.
Various events will be organized there, expert and creative workshops, while the funds collected are also earmarked to purchase equipment and other supplies. The house will also provide help with learning and expert psychosocial assistance for children, adolescents, and parents.
The director of Slovenian Television, Natalija Gorščak, said that in the past 50 years Slovenia experienced destructive earthquakes in Kozjansko and Posočje, hence it is aware of the misfortune and powerlessness of people after an earthquake.
"These incidents are very difficult to explain to children and adolescents and it is hard for them to understand. In the hope that their lives will be back to normal as soon as possible, we gladly launched the fund-raising campaign for all of them as part of our December campaign," she said.
A donation agreement, as the first step towards building the house, was signed by Martina Botužić Dževerlija, the president of the Our Children Petrinja NGO, and Darja Groznik, the president of the "Zveze prijateljev mladine Slovenije" NGO from Slovenia.
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Walking Trails and Parks Opened Across Croatia to Encourage Physical Activity
ZAGREB, 10 May 2021 - All Croatian counties on Monday formally opened walking trails and parks within the project "Live Healthily" of the Croatian Institute of Public Health (HZJZ), the head of the project, Sanja Musić Milanović said.
Walking trails and similar amenities are provided to citizens to encourage them to be more physically active, according to Milanović Musić who underscored that the trails were formally opened on International Day of Walking.
Today, each county is opening a walking trail and a park with amenities for children.
Milanović Musić also noted that obesity and overweight were factors that increase the risk of developing five major chronic diseases which cause 90% of deaths in Croatia, she added.
She also noted that obesity could also be conducive to developing a serious form of COVID-19.
The preparations of the trails and parks cost HRK 2.5 million and were covered by the European Social Fund.
For more about National and Nature Parks in Croatia, visit Total Croatia's 2021 guide HERE. Now available in your language!
Adria Business Network: Women in the Automotive Industry of the Future
May 9, 2021 - The 16th annual Adria Business Network is organized by successful entrepreneurs Željka Barišić, owner of Forca Digital Agency, and Kristine Krstinić, owner of MIKRIS Project Management. The event will be held on May 26, 2021, at 6 pm at the Aspira High School, Heinzelova 62a, Zagreb.
In the first part of the event, the guest is Monika Mikac, CBO at QEV Technologies company, leading one of the E-Formula teams and offers engineering services for the automotive industry focused on the electrification segment. She started her career as a COO at Rimac Automobili. She helped the company grow from the first employee to 350 of them. As one of the first 5 employees, this meant covering PR and marketing activities to financial and administrative responsibilities. She actively participated and helped Rimac Automobili get an investment of 10 million euros in 2014 and an investment of 30 million euros in 2017. She was actively involved in all the projects the company worked on, which gave her the opportunity to develop strategic business segments in the company. She graduated in political science from the University of Zagreb and is a certified project manager.
A personal presentation of all present follows in the second part of the event through a one-minute pitch.
In the end, in an informal gathering with quality sponsor wines, everyone present will have the opportunity to share experiences with other participants. The number of places is limited, and you can secure your place on time by registering via the link.
The diamond partner of the event is A1. The silver sponsor is ManpowerGroup. The event is sponsored by the Bagatin Polyclinic and the Aspira High School.
Partners are Vladimir Abicic Photography, Aero Print, Bornstein Wine Shop, Kupinovo vino – Kupilek, Valenta wines, Planet Art Theater, and Croatian Choco Concept.
The media partners of the event are the magazine and portal Poduzetnik, the magazine and portal Zaposlena, Netokracija, She.hr, Zagrebonline.hr, Rep.hr, Glas Istre, Flash.hr, Moja Domovina, Total Croatia News, Fama, ZgExpress, Akademija Art and Radio 92 FM.
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HOK: More Than 200 Earthquake-affected Trades to Receive HRK 7,000 in Aid
ZAGREB, 10 May (Hina) - The Croatian Chamber of Crafts and Trades (HOK) on Monday said that it was starting to pay out one-off aid in the amount of HRK 7,000 per business to more than 200 trades in areas affected by last year's earthquakes.
HOK recalled that on 31 December 2020 it launched a humanitarian campaign aimed at collecting funds to help those trades whose premises were damaged in last year's earthquakes relaunch their work.
The campaign lasted for three months and included trades from Croatia and abroad, HOK said.
Apart from the one-off aid, a part of the proceeds will be directed to reconstruct the premises of HOK's branch in Sisak-Moslavina County, damaged in the 29 December earthquake.
(€1 = HRK 7.526977)
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Coca-Cola Donates HRK 150,000 to Sisters of Charity Hospital Tissue Bank
ZAGREB, 10 May 2021 - Coca-Cola HBC Croatia has donated HRK 150,000 to the Blood Transfusion and Regenerative Medicine Unit at Zagreb's Sisters of Charity Hospital, to be used to purchase a tissue freezer, which will facilitate the work of experts at the Tissue and Cell Bank clinic, the company said on Monday.
The freezer can be cooled down to -86 degrees Celsius and it will be used to store tissue to be used throughout Croatia.
The donation is a contribution to a project intended to modernize and equip the clinic to expand its activities to four new types of therapy, including therapy with stem cells, the company said, noting that the donation will improve the safety, quality control, and efficacy of the therapy as well as achieve scientific excellence aimed at employing young researchers.
Hospital director Mario Zovak thanked Coca Cola for the donation, saying that the full potential of the hospital's contribution and introduction of new types of tissue and cell therapy was considerably limited due to a lack of equipment as well as inadequate space as the hospital premises were damaged in last year's earthquakes.
(€1 = HRK 7.526977)
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Public Health Official Says Trial Events Discussed, Good Results Expected
ZAGREB, 10 May 2021 - Croatian Public Health Institute (HZJZ) head Krunoslav Capak said on Monday that intensive talks were underway on trial, controlled events with more participants to take place this week, expressing confidence those pilot projects would go well and there would be no new infections.
"This will be a test, a project in which we will bring together two different populations of people in two places," Capak said at a news conference held as part of the "Healthy living" project.
One of the events will have 80 participants and the other 120. The participants will be people who have been vaccinated against COVID-19, people who have a certificate proving that they have recovered from the disease, or people who will be tested for coronavirus right before the event. After seven days, PCR tests will be done to see if there has been any spreading of the disease.
"We don't expect it, similar activities have been implemented elsewhere in the world. Some did PCR testing after such events and obtained good results, there were no new infections. We hope everything goes well and that we will enter June in a more relaxed atmosphere," said Capak.
Close to 900,000 people vaccinated with at least one dose
Capak said that close to 900,000 people in Croatia had been vaccinated with at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and that 7.5% of them had received both doses.
A total of 1.1 million doses have been administered.
"By the end of June, we expect to use all the vaccines that will arrive and more than 55% of the adult population is likely to be vaccinated by then. That will make it possible for us to enter the summer more calmly and to have a successful tourist season," Capak said.
For all you need to know about coronavirus in Croatia, including border, travel and quarantine rules, as well as the locations of vaccination points and testing centres across the country, make sure to bookmark our dedicated COVID-19 section and choose your preferred language.
Croatia Reports 253 New Coronavirus Infections, 34 Deaths
ZAGREB, 10 May 2021 - In the last 24 hours, there have been 253 new coronavirus infections in Croatia and 34 people have died, the national COVID-19 crisis management team said on Monday.
Currently, there are 8,251 active cases, including 2,033 who are hospitalized, of whom 229 are on ventilators.
Since 25 February 2020, when Croatia registered its first case of this infection, a total of 344,747 people have been registered as having contracted the novel virus, and 7,503 have died.
So far, more than 1.88 million tests have been conducted.
A total of 328,993 people have recovered, including 1,589 in the last 24 hours.
There are 24,039 people in self-isolation.
By 9 May, 1,131,607 vaccine doses were administered. A total of 879,312 people have been vaccinated with at least one dose and 252,295 have received both doses.
Zagreb AstraZeneca Stocks Used as Vaccination Pace Picks Up
May the 10th, 2021 - Those of us who live in the City of Zagreb have obviously not been too fussed by the often less than positive reports about AstraZeneca side effects, be they exaggerated or not, as the Zagreb AstraZeneca doses are used up on residents.
As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, more of Zagreb's citizens were vaccinated with the AstraZeneca vaccine than with Pfizer according to the director of the Dr. Andrija Stampar Institute, Zvonimir Sostar, as Zagreb AstraZeneca vaccines dry up. At the level of the whole of the Republic of Croatia, things are the other way around. Although Croatia ordered far more AstraZeneca vaccines, much more money was spent on Pfizer. More than 600,000 doses of Pfizer were used, nearly 300,000 AstraZeneca vaccines were administered, with the rest being Moderna and Johnson & Johnson.
A total of 1.1 million doses were used, of which the first dose was received by 617,000 people, with 250,000 receiving both doses. This means that in the whole of Croatia, only about five percent of the population has been immunised so far, and another 344,494 people have officially been recorded as having become unwell with the novel coronavirus, which is almost nine percent of the population, 24sata writes. There hasn't yet been any sort of officiall made study that says how many people have actually acquired immunity to the virus by contracting it and recovering, but that number is certainly higher than the official one would lead us to believe.
Larger quantities of vaccines should arrive in Croatia this week than were arriving before, and the government's plan is that at least 55 percent of the adult population will be vaccinated by the time summer rolls around. A new daily "record" of vaccination was set on Saturday - with more than 53,000 people getting the vaccine. According to Sostar, Zagreb itself has the capacity to vaccinate 11,000 people a day - at the Zagreb Fair (Zagrebacki Velesajam) and in three other similar halls, which will be opened over the coming days precisely for this purpose. Zagreb is home to almost 30 percent of the vaccinated population of the entire country, which is currently the highest in Croatia, Sostar added.
In the 70,000 AstraZeneca doses consumed, he said, there were no serious side effects reported. So far, 2982 reports of suspected side effects of various coronavirus vaccines have been received throughout Croatia, of which 1452 refer to Pfizer, 1292 refer to AstraZeneca, and 235 refer to Moderna. 19 percent of these reports were considered serious, but there have been no confirmed deaths due to any of the coronavirus vaccines currently in use.
For all you need to know about coronavirus specific to Croatia, including travel, border and quarantine rules, as well as the locations of vaccination points and testing centres across the country, make sure to bookmark our dedicated COVID-19 section and select your preferred language.
Social Distancing-Free Concerts in Croatia Potentially from June
May 10, 2021 – Could social distancing-free concerts in Croatia begin next month?
In a recent radio show, Croatian Minister of Culture and MediaNina Obuljen Korzinek talked about allowing live events without the need for social distancing during the summer and the hurdles Croatia needs to overcome in order to make them possible.
Croatian Minister of Culture and Media Nina Obuljen Korzinek took part in a radio show by HRT recently. She talked about the expected return of concerts and other events to pre-pandemic conditions. According to her concerts without social distancing and mandatory masks might start happening again as soon as June. However, she also warned the decision to allow them will depend on the rate of vaccination among the citizens.
Live entertainment and event industries are suffering under the conditions of the COVID19 pandemic. Recent numbers of new infections allow cautious optimism as we draw closer to the summer. Unfortunately, there is still a long way to go to return these industries back to pre-COVID numbers.
What Can We Expect this Summer?
Minister Obuljen Korzinek pointed out that under current measures a maximum of 250 people can attend an event indoors, while the maximum number of participants for outdoor events is 500. Last summer, the number went up to 1000 people in outdoor events. While she expects even more lenient measures this summer, any decisions to announce them will have to wait for lower numbers of new infections and serious cases on a national level.
While vaccination rate is the most important factor in the push to combat the pandemic, the minister suggested young persons under the age of 18 might be allowed to attend concerts without being vaccinated. In these cases, they would instead do a rapid antigen test just before the event. Organisers can set up testing areas within or adjacent to the venues.
The Ministry is keeping an eye out for experiences with live events in other countries. Recently, we saw test concerts in Barcelona and Liverpool. Staying in touch with foreign colleagues and exchanging experiences is proving invaluable in this pandemic.
What remains is for the public to follow the measures in place and wait for the positive changes coming in the future.
For all you need to know about coronavirus specific to Croatia, including travel, border, and quarantine rules, as well as the locations of vaccination points and testing centres across the country, make sure to bookmark our dedicated COVID-19 section and select your preferred language.
