March 24, 2021 - Zadar Wine Festival 2021 gathers winemakers, caterers, hoteliers, and wine lovers across Croatia. 

The city of Zadar, the Zadar hinterland, and nearby islands have created a significant market for discovering the best wines in Croatia and around the world. The Zadar Wine Festival provides you with an excellent opportunity to present wines, find your new favorite, and make new connections.

The festival aims to achieve successful business cooperation while enjoying the best wines and for exhibitors and visitors to understand why the Zadar Wine Festival is increasing its popularity. 

The festival will be held on Friday, April 23rd and Saturday, April 24th in Zadar's Arsenal, a unique zero-category monument built in the 16th century. The multipurpose space has been described as an "indoor town square" due to its size. Its unique mix of tradition, culture, and modern design makes it the perfect location for a first-class experience such as the famous Zadar Wine Festival. 

With its unique location, next to the Zadar city walls and the Muraj promenade, visitors and exhibitors get to enjoy a unique experience and witness the beauty of Zadar and its most famous attractions the Sea Organ and Greeting to the Sun. 

Zadar Wine Festival 2021 is supported by the City of Zadar, Zadar County, the Tourist Board, the Croatian Chamber of Crafts, the Croatian Chamber of Commerce, the Croatian Sommelier Club, the Association of Winemakers, and others. Whether you're going for the experience, finding your new favourite wine, or making business connections, there is something for everyone to enjoy at the Zadar Wine Festival. 

You can check out the two-day program on their website, grab a ticket and enjoy the beauty of Zadar while sipping on Croatia's best wines.  

For more about lifestyle in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

March 24, 2021 - What has life been like for Asians living in Croatia during the pandemic. A look at the realities of pandemic racism.

I remember in the early day of the pandemic, around a year ago, reading of the experiences of a Chinese lady living in Croatia, and the pandemic racism she suffered on the streets of the Croatian city she now called home. The pandemic came from China, and so it was her fault. Or so seemed the logic. 

I have been meaning to catch up with a couple of Chinese friends here in the last weeks to hear about their experiences. Has that pandemic racism gone away? And how has being Chinese in a modern European city been as an experience, with so many conspiracy theories about the origins of COVID-19. 

And then I saw this on a social media post from a Chinese lady living with her Croatian partner here. A report in full with her permission.  

Having been through a crazy year in 2020 and now living a semi-normal life here, I was almost over the phase of being alert of the existence of anti-Asian/ coronavirus hatred in Zagreb (Not in Atlanta and New York, though). 

Today as I was walking alone in the cold on Ilica St., along with many other people, a woman who just came from the small path of Uspinjača stopped me and said, “You should wear a mask.” I took off my earplugs, "Excuse me?" I said. "You should wear a mask." She said it again with an angry tone of voice.  I asked her, "Why?" "Because it is the LAW!" She said. What a stupid question.

Do I need to explain to her that I do wear a mask in shops, on the tram, in a taxi, at a restaurant, at school and library - INDOORS. I also have a dozen of new masks at home, now I have 2 in my pocket. I cut off the two strings on my used masks so they would not entangle and kill small sea animals and seagulls when this garbage is dumped into the sea and bla bla bla... So she should just mind her own business and not worry about me? I thought to myself. Or maybe I just do what she told me to and put the mask on and she'd be satisfied? 

So I looked at her, and then quickly looked at all the people around us, but nobody wore any mask, either... I then asked her, "But why don't you tell them to wear the mask? Tell'em now, too!" my hand pointing at the people as I just blurted out these words. I turned to the bunch of passers-by, raised my voice and said "Hey people, this lady has something to tell you guys. She wants you to wear a mask..." 

As I was saying this, this woman quietly walked away and disappeared into the crowd.  She seemed embarrassed. I decided not to say "Hey lady, please don't go. Come on..."

Of course, she would not target me in the crowd and specifically ask me to wear a mask, if I was not Asian. But seriously, whenever you see an Asian-looking person in town, this person has a mask on it, even when nobody else does. I have never been "anti-mask", not even a little. But unfortunately, I didn't wear one at this moment outdoors. 

Having this story said, and I just remembered the hate comments on a recent news about a newly-opened Chinese restaurant in Croatia. Some people say they cook and sell cats, dogs and rats meat, they bring the disease. I rarely fight back against internet trolls. But I never want to give in when these kind of scenarios happen in reality, especially being Asian and female, which means we could be easily taken as a target by the anti-Asian haters. 

Be a woman, be smart and brave, be physically and mentally strong, and always be ready to fight back. Fight back against any racism, the dictatorial government, any unfair things in life, and fight for your own rights. As a teacher I am, I constantly tell my young female students this.

What is It Like for Black People Living in Croatia?

March 24, 2021 - Poreč strengthens agriculture with exciting new projects implemented by the City. 

Last Friday the city of Poreč signed contracts for assigning funds to the agricultural civil societies to help their projects and programs. The continuation of the tradition established in the last two years, Poreč city gave 150.000 kuna to associations Bio Istra and Agro Poreč through a public contest, both for their day-to-day work in agriculture and for the project "Eko! impjantamo ružmarin" (Eco! let's plant rosemary) which includes going to schools and giving pupils unprocessed rosemary to plant in the school. The project is at full speed and even the coronavirus pandemic didn't stop them, as the first phase of the project was done via Zoom.  In the early stages of the project, the goal is to establish cooperation between the only two high schools in Poreč: Mate Balot High School and Anton Štifanić Tourist School.

"We started with the first workshop in preparing rosemary seedlings with the agrotechnical pupils at Mate Balot and we will use it to decorate the garden of Anton Štifanić Tourist School," said Vlasta Radoičić, president of Bio Istra. Her association exists for the past 23 years and is working on the county level, determined to activate as many people as possible to boost family agricultural businesses. 

"Poreč was the cornerstone of eco-agriculture and it needs to remain that today and become a modern teacher of the area", concluded Radojčić.

Poreč is one of the strongholds of Croatian tourism in Istria, but it's also a truly agricultural city. Loris Peršurić, mayor of Poreč not only knows it but strongly supports it. 

"We have a 145-year-old institute for agriculture and tourism as well as a 138-year-old agriculture school, the only one in Istria, which means a lot for our city", said Peršurić. He adds that is precisely why he tries to support and help projects related to agriculture which includes co-financing the Centre for invasive species in common projects and as mayor, hopes to valorize a wine cellar that dates from the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy rule and is known today as enoteca (wine library) in the community. "Poreč is the headquarters of famous winemakers and olive oil makers and our agricultural story continues to grow and develop", concludes Peršić.  

The city also finances the project "Apply for Agriculture School - Produce Food and Take Care of the Environment" which resulted in a 50% increase in pupils educating in the school and there are opportunities for pupils to continue education in the field in Poreč too. 

seedling planting © Udruga Bio Istra

 Local olive treasure

Poreč is also proud of its local olive species Porečka Rosulja, which was first described by a famous local scientist Carlo Hugues 120 years ago. The olive wasn't researched much after that, but today, scientists from the Agriculture and Tourism Institute are out on the field to pursue the described treasure of the Poreč olive scene. Agro Poreč association secretary Zdenko Barac whose organization is dedicated to promoting local agriculture and seedlings distribution is included in this research. He is thankful that the city recognized the importance of Porečka Rosulja and its investment in the "mother field" in Poreč where new seedlings will be prepared for further distribution and for another olive plantation in St. Martin Bay, which will have both educational purposes and will be a nice architectural touch to the landscape of the area. No to mention, a nice dedication to Hugues which first described the species.  

"The number of seedlings is growing. This is the third year of the project where we have 530 seedlings and we started with 170 in 2019", says Barac. The plan is to prepare the best seeding material and apply them to the  Croatian Center for Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs.

"There are very few cases in the world where a species is named after city so we can boast about that", concluded Barac.

For more about agriculture in Croatia follow TCN's dedicated page.

ZAGREB, 24 March, 2021 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković and Health Minister Vili Beroš were vaccinated with the AstraZeneca vaccine at Government House on Tuesday, and Beroš said that they had sent a message of confidence in medical science and the medical profession.

"Today we have sent a strong message of confidence in medical science, the medical profession, primarily because we were vaccinated with the AstraZeneca vaccine. We will continue to work diligently on vaccinating Croatian citizens so that they could continue living and working with as little risk of infection as possible. Every vaccinated individual contributes to the protection of the population and is definitely a step towards our old normal, and a step closer to a successful tourist season," Beroš told reporters after the vaccination.

He added that there were still many challenges ahead and that it was important to think about future challenges such as new variants of the virus.

"I believe that with this message we have encouraged citizens to follow us on that path, to curb the epidemic and return to our normal life," Beroš said.

For more about COVID-19 in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

ZAGREB, 24 March, 2021 - Over the past 24 hours, Croatia has registered 1,891 new cases of the coronavirus infection and 20 deaths, while the number of active cases currently stands at 7,600, the national COVID-19 crisis management team said on Wednesday.

There are 1,038 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, 99 of whom are on ventilators.

At the moment, there are 23,766 people in self-isolation.

Since 25 February 2020, a total of 260,636 people have contracted coronavirus, 5,828 of them have died, and 247,208 have recovered, including 665 in the last 24 hours.

As of Wednesday, a total of 1,495,041 people have been tested, 9,327 of whom over the past 24 hours.

For more about COVID-19 in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

March 24, 2021 - The latest flight news to Croatia, as British Airways flights to Zagreb are postponed until the end of June. 

Croatian Aviation reports that British national airline has postponed the start of operations on the London - Zagreb - London route until the end of June.

Instead of March 28, as the airline announced earlier, British Airways plans to return to Zagreb only at the end of June.

The airline canceled all planned operations to and from Zagreb until June 21 due to low demand and passenger restrictions between the two countries.

On June 21, daily flights on this route have been announced, but it is clear that British Airways is likely to further reduce the number of weekly flights between the two cities. There is also the possibility that the start of operations will be delayed again, which British Airways has done several times since January when it last operated on this line.

Recall that British Airways last flew to Zagreb around Christmas. Operations were suspended when a new strain of coronavirus was detected in the UK and when Croatia banned flights from the UK and many other countries in Europe and the world.

Croatia Airlines operates on the line between London (Heathrow) and Zagreb, once a week, on Mondays.

The UK is set to introduce new coronavirus laws next week, which would slap a GBP 5,000 fine to anyone holidaying abroad while travel restrictions are still in place. British tourists are thus allowed to travel abroad only if they have a "reasonable excuse." The current penalty for not filling out a travel declaration form is GBP 200.

MPs will vote on the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (Steps) (England) Regulations 2021 tomorrow, and if all goes to plan, the law will come into effect on Monday, March 29.

The new law would remain in place until June 30, 2021. Until now, the earliest international travel could have resumed was May 17. 

For the latest travel updates and COVID-19 news from Croatia, CLICK HERE.

March the 24th, 2021 - The Croatian Tourist Board budget has been stretched due to the issues caused by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic which has taken the entire world into its iron grip. As a result, cash is tighter than usual, but support will still be given to some in the form of promotion.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Marija Crnjak writes, at a session of the Tourist Board of the Croatian National Tourist Board (HTZ) held on Monday, a decision was adopted on the announcement of a call for expressions of interest for the implementation of marketing cooperation with the organisers of TOP events and top Croatian athletes throughout 2021.

This is a particular sort of programme that includes marketing collaborations related to important sporting, entertainment and other such events with great media visibility that are in the function of raising the attractiveness and recognisability of the overall outrist offer boasted by the Republic of Croatia, but also includes collaborations with top Croatian athletes to promote Croatia as an attractive tourist destination to viewers across Europe and the world.

Back during pandemic-dominated 2020, this call didn't get the green light because of the uncertain and entirely unpredecented situation in which we found ourselves, which was sponsored by a significant budget cut for this project when compared to the time before the pandemic struck. Back in record 2019, the budget stood at 9 million kuna, and this year  the current plan is to spend 5 million kuna at the absolute most.

"We're approaching the Easter holidays, which in previous years would mean the beginning of more intensive tourist trips in and to Croatia. This year, due to the current situation, we don't really expect the greater realisation of tourist traffic, but in compliance with the prescribed measures and protocols, we expect tourist activities with an emphasis on the domestic market, as well as markets such as Germany, Slovenia, Italy or the Czech Republic, to go ahead,'' explained Kristjan Stanicic when discussing the Croatian Tourist Board budget and how things stand with the country's main markets.

Minister of Tourism and Sport Nikolina Brnjac pointed out that testing and vaccination against the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, remain among the key elements of tourist season preparation for this summer, revealing that the Safe stay in Croatia project has so far involved almost 10,000 tourism stakeholders across the country.

For current information on coronavirus specific to Croatia, including travel info, border rules, testing centres and much more, bookmark this page.

March the 24th, 2021 - The Croatian Gideon Brothers and the Alantic Group (Atlantic Grupa) have come together to launch a large product testing and development project.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the Croatian Gideon Brothers and the Atlantic Group are well known, highly successful companies and the pair coming together is likely to yield impressive results. The two companies have launched a project to develop an intelligent modular platform for process management in logistics, including a special solution for integrating autonomous mobile robots into a warehouse management system (WMS).

The central part of this research and development project are the advanced robots of the Croatian company Gideon Brothers, which will be directly connected to the WMS system of the Atlantic Group in its logistics and distribution centre in Velika Gorica near Zagreb. The move will serve as a testing ground for new product development and further testing.

As part of the large project, the Croatian Gideon Brothers will work on the development of the so-called "swarm" way of using robots, in which robots reach users in certain storage areas by following orders generated directly from the WMS system. Users will be able to read, on an integrated screen that the robots are equipped with, which products from a particular zone must be placed on the robot in order to complete a particular order.

One of the key objectives of the project is to increase the efficiency and flow of logistics operations to mitigate the risk of labour shortages, especially in periods of high demand.

"Humans are the main creators of value when it comes to logistics operations and that will certainly not change at any point in the foreseeable future. The close collaboration of humans and their robotic helpers is a way in which we can strengthen supply chains in the post-COVID-19 era and help the economy alleviate the pressure of labuor shortages and provide resources for growth. Our robots are here to help,'' said Matija Kopic, CEO and co-founder of Gideon Brothers.

"We're witnessing a robot revolution across various industries, accompanied by changes in attitudes. They're no longer a threat to the business or existence of (human) workers, but experience has shown that they can be a useful tool, working together with people to make the role of the human employees easier, more fulfilling and more productive. With this new solution and the complete integration of robots into our logistics operations, we want not only to alleviate any labour shortages, but also to meet increasingly complex market and consumer demands while maintaining business stability and profitability,'' added Darija Pizent, the Atlantic Group's supply chain management director.

Given the great potential of the new solution, the two successful Croatian companies applied for co-financing from the European Structural and Investment Fund - Increasing the development of new products and services arising from research and development activities - Phase II, together with their academic partner, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering in Zagreb.

The Croatian Gideon Brothers company is one of the pioneers in the field of autonomous navigation for mobile robots. Their impressive technology is based on advanced, human-like 3D visual perception, which allows robots to recognise various objects and understand what surrounds them, making it easier to adapt to their environment and spot obstacles when working safely in close contact with human workers.

Robots and vehicles powered by Gideon Brothers' technology currently work in warehouses and plants of some of the largest Croatian, European and global companies in the manufacturing, logistics and retail sectors.

For more, follow Made in Croatia. To keep up with all current coronavirus information specific to Croatia, including travel rules, border crossing advice, testing centres and more, bookmark this page.