July 4, 2020 - The first ten child seats in Croatia were set up on public bicycles in Split, where records Nextbike records have been broken for months. These are the first child seats installed on public bikes in Croatia, intending to enable parents to enjoy a safe ride with their little ones. The use of the seats is free of charge.

The news was reported by Goran Grgurinovic from the Public Relations Department of Split Parking, the city company responsible for the public bicycle system. The child seats have all the approvals and are designed to transport children from 9 to 72 months, and weigh from 9 to a maximum of 22 kilograms, reports Slobodna Dalmacija. 

A quick start guide will be posted on each child seat, and instructions will also be available on the Split Parking website. The system is very simple and intuitive, and within the application when renting a bike, it is possible to choose one with a child seat.

"The most important thing is to fasten the seat belts in the child seat carefully and not to leave the child unattended at any time, and to provide the children with helmets when riding in the seats. Safety is our number one priority," said Ante Gustin, CEO of Nexbike.

Split Parking said that they are extremely satisfied because they started this project with Nextbike and, in a short time, provided the initial number of child seats and satisfied inquiries from users. If the need arises, with the new bikes planned, an additional number of seats will be procured.

"Such child seats are already used in many European cities and I am glad that in Split, parents have the opportunity to be the first in Croatia to enjoy a safe ride with their children and on public bicycles. The safety of our youngest needs to come first for all of us, so I urge all adults and parents to behave responsibly and follow the instructions for use so that they can enjoy the ride carefreely," said Marko Bartulic, director of Split Parking.

The use of bicycles equipped with child seats is the same as for ordinary bicycles. When planning a ride without a child, users are asked to choose a regular bicycle so that bicycles with child seats are available for parents with children.

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

July 4, 2020 - The latest news from around Croatia’s airports for flights to Croatia with updates from Zagreb, Split, Dubrovnik, Rijeka and Brac. 

Croatian Aviation reports that Croatia Airlines has announced a modified flight schedule for July, in which, from the middle of this month, it will introduce two more routes from Zagreb, to Athens and Skopje. 

The long-running seasonal line between Zagreb and Athens will be in operation again from July 14 with three flights per week, every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. As before, the line will operate with a stop in Dubrovnik (ZAG-DBV-ATH), and with a DashQ400 aircraft with a capacity of 76 seats.

For the latest travel info, bookmark our main travel info article, which is updated daily. 

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The Zagreb - Skopje line is being reintroduced. The line will be in service from July 13, with two flights per week, every Monday and Friday, and from July 22, two more departures will be added, every Wednesday and Sunday. A319 aircraft with a capacity of 144 seats have been announced for all four flights.

Croatia Airlines will again fly on the seasonal route between Split and Lyon. The line will be in operation once a week, every Saturday, from July 11, and it will be operated by DashQ400 aircraft.

From the end of July, the company plans to launch the Dubrovnik - Paris line. The first flight is on sale from July 30, and direct flights on this route are expected 3 times a week, on Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays.

The Dubrovnik - Rome route is also being introduced, from July 18, three times a week, on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays with DashQ400 aircraft.

Croatia Airlines will again operate on the Dubrovnik - Munich route. The introduction of this line is expected from July 24, three times a week, on Mondays, Fridays and Sundays, by A319 aircraft.

From August 1, Croatia Airlines will operate on charter routes from Brac to destinations in Austria with the A319 aircraft.

From August 1, the A319 aircraft will come from Split to Brac (without passengers), and will then operate from Brac on charter lines to Linz and Graz. The traffic with this type of aircraft will be performed every Saturday from the mentioned date until the beginning of October.

Croatia Airlines operates on the regular seasonal route Zagreb - Brac - Zagreb every Tuesday and Saturday, aircraft type DashQ400, and from August 29 on the regular route from Zagreb announced a larger type of aircraft, A319, which will then perform the mentioned charter routes from Austria to Austria, every Saturday until October 3.

A smaller aircraft, the DashQ400, will continue to operate flights from Zagreb on Tuesdays.

This will be the first arrival of an A319 aircraft at Brac Airport.

Furthermore, just two days after it was announced that Lufthansa would not launch a seasonal route between Munich and Rijeka, the Croatian national airline confirmed to Croatian Aviation that the sale of tickets on the same route as Croatia Airlines had been suspended. 

Croatia Airlines suspended sales on the only route from Rijeka, the one to Munich, on which it operated 3 times a week (Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays) on a 76-passenger DashQ400 aircraft until the start of the pandemic.

There will certainly be no flights on this route until the end of July, and since Croatia Airlines has not yet made a final decision on whether to launch a line between Munich and Rijeka, ticket sales have been suspended for after July.

Rijeka is currently left without a direct route to Munich by both companies (Lufthansa and Croatia Airlines) and has virtually no connection to a major European air hub, greatly reducing the possibility of traveling from Rijeka to European and world destinations.

In previous years, Croatia Airlines operated once a week on the Rijeka - London Heathrow route, but this route was canceled earlier.

As Novac/Vedran Marjanovic writes on the 2nd of July, 2020, coronavirus threw a spanner in the works for many, but the pandemic failed to hinder Hrvatska elektroprivreda (HEP) in its investment plans.

Moreover, this year will be a record year in the company's history with investments of 4.9 billion kuna, said HEP's Frane Barbaric at a recent presentation of eleven of HEP's new investments in solar power plants.

''We're one of the largest investors in the country and a driver of economic development. Last year alone, we exceeded our investments when compared to the previous year by more than 40 percent, and this year and next year we're making additional strides. After that, we'll continue with the same intensity of investment, from 2021 to 2024 we plan to invest 14.5 billion kuna, all in accordance with the strategic commitment of HEP as the carrier of low-carbon energy transition in Croatia,'' announced Barbaric.

Among the company's current green investments, he singled out the Senj hydropower system project, worth 3.4 billion kuna and with an expected connection capacity of 412 megawatts of electricity.

When it comes to the company's investments in solar power plants, Barbaric announced the imminent connection to the power plant system on Vis and in Marici near Zminj.

''Our plan is to have 1,500 new megawatts of electricity from renewable energy sources in the system by 2030, of which 350 megawatts will be from solar power plants. In the part related to new solar power plants alone, we'll turn Croatia into one large construction site,'' said the President of the Management Board of HEP, drawing attention to cooperation with Croatian companies in the construction and equipping of these new renewable energy plants.

In the case of investments in eleven solar power plants presented by HEP recently, these regard investments in cooperation with municipalities and cities that responded to last year's public call to find locations for the construction of solar power plants.

As it was heard at the presentation, the interested municipalities and cities submitted letters of intent on possible locations to HEP, and then the company analysed them and made a decision on how the investment will be carried out. The options were a partnership between HEP ​​and local self-government units, an independent investment by HEP, or an independent investment by a municipality or city itself.

From mid-last year to April 2020, HEP signed contracts for the development of solar power plants with eleven Croatian municipalities and cities. Among other things, HEP signed contracts with the municipalities of Krsan in Istria and Lipovljani in Sisak-Moslavina County. In the first case, a solar power plant with an expected connection capacity of 40 megawatts will be constructed, and in the second, a facility with a capacity of 25 megawatts will eventually come to be. In total, the inclusion of all eleven Croatian solar power plants in the system will generate 120 megawatts of new power.

A new invitation from HEP to local self-government units to express their intention to jointly invest in solar power plants is now underway. At the recent presentation of eleven joint investments from HEP and local self-government units across Croatia, the Minister of Environmental Protection and Energy, Tomislav Coric, expressed his belief that HEP's new call for joint investments will result in an even better response from municipalities and cities across the country.

For more, follow our business page.

Meet e-Blockade, a service introduced during lockdown in order to make things easier to those residents of Croatia who owe money to the state...

As Gordana Grgas/Novac writes on the 2nd of July, 2020, during the temporary suspension of carrying out foreclosures on funds which was introduced due to the coronavius crisis, the state has recently expanded the available information to debtors as well as access to documents for the implementation of a simple consumer bankruptcy procedure through the popular e-Citizen system.

Namely, through the free e-Blockade service, users can now see, in addition to the "register of unexecuted payment bases", the specification of the execution of the payment basis (for example, the enforcement decision, debenture, a misdemeanor order), as well as information on their order and the amount of outstanding liabilities recorded before the last basis for payment.

Some extra documents are also available, such as an invitation to the consumer to submit a statement for the implementation of a simple consumer bankruptcy procedure or a proposal for the implementation of that procedure.

According to experts in debt collection and restructuring, the newly introduced e-Blockade servic eases the situation for people who have so far had to keep going to pick up documents in person at Fina. Something that is loathsome about life in Croatia in general.

"The data that has been visible via e-Citizens so far was only the amount of the blockade and the date when the account was blocked or unblocked," explained Igor Skrgatic, the owner of the company Be-On Consulting.

''It can now be seen which enforcement document is in the background [of a procedure], which is important to people because it isn't always clear who the creditor is (as the creditor can also be represented by a law firm which is then seen as the bailiff). It's good that documents for simple consumer bankruptcies are available online even though this measure didn't come to life as expected,'' he noted.

Due to the temporary measure introduced to delay in the implementation of the enforcement of funds in relation to all natural persons which is due to end on July the 17th, back in May, Fina recorded 9347 people with 814 million kuna of debt on its infamous list.

The real situation, which will be visible when the temporary measures expire later this month and the executions start, will more than likely be dramatically different.

Due to the unexecuted bases for payment on March the 31st this year, before the adoption of the coronavirus measures, 238,135 people were recorded in the register, and their debt amounted to 16.6 billion kuna (principal).

The largest part of that debt, in the amount of 5.9 billion kuna (excluding interest), was to banks, savings banks, credit unions, leasing, factoring and insurance companies.

The aforementioned "register" is in fact a list of all unexecuted bases for payment with data on the total amount of debt, type of basis for payment, issuer and creditor, date and time of the receipt of basis for payment, debt status and all other important information.

The Minister of Finance, Zdravko Maric, recently announced that the suspension of this measure will be extended for an additional three months, which means that the e-Blockade service could become extremely popular in the autumn months.

For more, follow our lifestyle section.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Marija Crnjak writes on the 3rd of July, 2020, Croatian tourism might take a blow as its old rival returned to the tourism game this week, with the official opening of Greece after the lockdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Greece has an extremely strong tourism brand in which it has invested a lot over the last few years, a strong product with a large selection of travel opportunities and attractions, a significantly more developed hotel sector than that of Croatia, and a strong offer of all inclusive arrangements that Croatia cannot boast of because it has never bothered to properly develop its tourism in the same way Greece has.

In addition, Greece is already more price competitive than Croatia, and prices have fallen further this summer due to the coronavirus crisis.

Due to all this, as Poslovni dnevnik has learned from travel organisers, reservations have already started to be transferred from Croatia to Greece en masse since Greece announced that it would be opening up to tourists. This is especially important when it comes to the German market. In addition, other markets are opening up, the Spanish pilot project with German tourists in Mallorca proved to be a complete success, and reservations have since started there as well.

Europe's largest tour operator TUI is announcing programmes for the whole of Europe, with an emphasis on summer resort destinations, and good experiences in the Balearics could encourage the opening up of Madrid, travel organisers hope.

This week, the summer season was opened by the largest European tour operator TUI, with the launch of flights and the opening of its hotels in the Mediterranean. The first flights started from Germany, Belgium and Switzerland took off, and the TUI Group announced that the focus of the first holidays was the Balearic islands, Greece, Cyprus, Portugal, and only then on Croatia.

Most flights are announced for Greece and Spain, while here in Croatia, packages are mostly sold that include car transport, and the balance of reservations stands at approximately 40 percent of last year's sales. Additionally, TUI is particularly pleased with the opening of EU borders to third countries that are assessed to have a favourable epidemiological situation, and they hope to open soon to Turkey and Morocco, for which they are ready to activate their programmes in the short term.

TUI is currently analysing the results of launching holidays in Mallorca in mid-June with German guests. As it is known, the goal was to realise holiday packages in the conditions of a high level of protection against infection, and the first data showed that the concept they worked with in the hotels was highly accepted among guests, and more details on that are planned to be published next week.

In July, the German TUI plans to execute 1,500 flights, mainly to the Balearic islands, Greece, Cyprus and Portugal, and on July the 1st, flights to the Canary Islands also started. TUI Austria has arranged for 60 weekly departures with a focus on the Greek islands, all of which are scheduled for July.

TUI Poland has launched operations in Mallorca and Crete since July the 1st, it then plans to add Bulgaria and the Greek islands to that list. TUI’s second largest market, the United Kingdom and Ireland, is restarting its business from July the 11th, with the first flights departing from London to Ibiza and from Birmingham to Palma.

Greece is especially popular on the German market, as has been evidenced by the signing of a special memorandum of understanding between the Greek Ministry of Tourism and TUI on Tuesday. The strategic agreement stipulates that TUI in Greece will realise least half of its last year's turnover this year, which is a sign of TUI's strong support for Greek tourism. As of Wednesday, a total of more than 230 flights have left for Greece.

Cooperation with Croatia...

While Croatia welcomed the first 500 passengers by train from the Czech Republic on Wednesday, the Greeks welcomed the first flight from Hanover at Heraklion Airport, with live traditional Cretan music to greet the visitors. The island has welcomed about 4,000 passengers on flights from Germany, Switzerland, the Czech Republic and Poland.

When it comes to TUI, they have not yet achieved the desired potential on the Croatian market, partly due to the relatively low share of all-inclusive supply. For comparison, TUI brought 6 million tourists to Greece last year, and about 600 thousand to Croatia, and they have cooperation with hotel companies such as Valamar, Bluesun, and Karisma. These days, the tour operator has activated a special summer package with Karisma hotels in Croatia, which, in addition to a holiday at the TUI BLUE Kalamota hotel, includes transport by plane to Dubrovnik and then continued transport to the island.

40 percent of last year's results are currently recorded by TUI on package reservations for Croatia.

The programme will run from July the 4th to September the 26th, and includes a seven-day half-board holiday, a return flight from Zagreb and a transfer, at a cost of 5,000 kuna per person.

The program lasts until October the 1st, and the packages include a return flight from Zagreb every Thursday, all airfare + luggage, seven nights in a selected 3 to 5 star hotel, breakfast services to all inclusive, and a complete service in the destination, and arrangements start from 3070 kuna per person.

The Palma Agency experience

''We did the first flight on June the 25th from Ljubljana with 76 passengers to Dubrovnik, the group is very satisfied, they took a few trips and enjoyed the nice weather. Interest is still present given the excellent package prices, the speed of arrival to the destination, and it's worth mentioning that today, the first domestic guests are leaving from Zagreb to Dubrovnik, which shows that the domestic market is also showing interest. Bookings are mostly coming in at the last minute, ten days before, and it depends very much on the epidemiological situation - if the situation is good, the market reacts, reservations are made, travel takes place,'' explained Dalibor Canaglic from the Palma agency.

For more on Croatian tourism in the coronavirus era, follow our travel page.

The ongoing coronavirus pandemic has done very little to instil a sense of optimism in anyone, particularly in the enfeebled Croatian tourism sector which has been among the hardest hit economic activities in the country. One Croatian startup, however, wants to save the summer season and return a sense of optimism to those working in the Croatian tourism industry. Meet Divan.hr.

As Novac writes on the 3rd of July, 2020, Maroje Sabljić and Matina Tenžera, the duo behind Croatian startup's Divan.hr service, has been highlighting the best the City of Zagreb has to offer on its website and on its application (app) for the third year in a row now. This summer, given the dire circumstances caused by the global pandemic of the new coronavirus, they prepared the first complete digital guide to summer in Croatia's capital city - Zagreb.

"The user is offered a choice of more than 200 events across the city that can be reached in a few minutes of searching," says Tenžera, who is also the project manager for this Croatian startup. Their summer guide to Zagreb was designed so that users can also participate in the creation of content, and include all summer outdoor events, restaurants, concerts, stuff for children, etc.

However, in addition, in cooperation with interested managers and owners of hospitality facilities, they launched the #divanfiling initiative. In particular, from week to week they give away tickets for events, they treat users to booze and food in Zagreb's very best bistros and restaurants, and ensure safe entertainment for all of the app's users. The purpose of these donations is to help those in the hospitality industry, cultural facilities, performers and organisers of events bring back their much-needed guests, audiences and visitors and increase turnover and earnings.

''We want to restore optimism to people and send a clear message that summer in Zagreb has never failed,'' the creators of this Croatian startup explain.

Marin Levaj, the manager of Mojo bar, was among the first to join this campaign.

''I'm glad that we joined this initiative because we believe that guests will recognise the effort behind our modest restaurant, and also allow them to relax a bit after the past shocks caused by the pandemic and the earthquake,'' said Levaj.

Divan.hr is curently visited by 50,000 users a month.

For more, follow Made in Croatia.

Update (July 11, 2020): While all of these were true when this article was written, a major change took place on July 10, when the new rules for entering Croatia were introduced. Please follow the article about those changes to get the latest information, as it becomes available. 

July 4, 2020 - Croatia is open for tourists from North America, and as these real-life experiences from the Total Croatia Travel INFO Viber community show, paperwork and persistence will see you board the plane. 

How confused are you at the moment regarding the travel rules to Croatia? Green zones, yellow zones, infection ratios, air bridges, proof of paid accommodation, IATA rules. It used to be a lot easier...

Now imagine you work at an airline check-in desk in the United States and are processing passengers to Europe, with the USA not on the list of safe countries to enter the EU. Add to that all the wrong information in the international media (the latest from the BBC about current rules for Croatia). You work in an industry where if you let someone onto the plane who should not be allowed on, the consequences could be significant. 

So you naturally err on the side of caution. 

I have heard SO many stories of Americans trying to fly to Croatia over the last 5 weeks since we started our Total Croatia Travel INFO Viber community. The situation before the July 1 border update was very unclear, and many were denied boarding, as they were told that they were not allowed to travel to Croatia. 

But last month, we started getting more successful reports from community members on their travel experiences from North American to Croatia. And most of the tales had two things in common. 

Persistence and paperwork to argue their case.

 A couple of days ago I wrote an article called Can Americans Visit Croatia after July 1, 2020 EU Border Update? Mostly due to feedback from the very active Viber community, as well as answers to some official questions, I figured out the following, which was officially endorsed by the Croatian border police:

First, the soundbite sentence to put things in a nutshell. I have asked the Croatian border police to confirm everything stated in this article, which they have done, making the advice stated here official:

Croatia is open for tourism with paid accommodation outside the EU. Croatia is not in the Schengen zone, and so you can transit through a Schengen airport and come to Croatia, no problem, as long as you have the right documentation.

The main advice is the more documentation, the better. This should include at least:

1. Proof of paid accommodation.

2. The confirmation email after you fill in the entercroatia.mup.hr form. 

3. Some of the testimonies you will see below to help you argue your case.

4. The latest IATA guidelines for travel to Croatia. 

Now imagine you try to check in at LAX or JFK and you have a check-in person who is careful not to let the wrong people board. With so much uncertainty,  it is easier to deny boarding than to let someone fly. But with paperwork and persistence, you can guide them to check the rules and confirm that you can, in fact, board the flight. 

Here are three real testimonies in the last few days from the Total Croatia Travel INFO Viber page which illustrate the point that paperwork and persistence pay off:

Experience 1 

Just got past security at LAX- make sure you bring everything with you! Tourist accommodation and rules printed off IATA. Took a while and initially they tried to turn me away. They didn’t take the attestiment for France because they said that they could print that out here and it means nothing, but I did have to remind her I'm allowed to transit through CDG to a 3rd country. All in all??? experience so bring as much paperwork as you can and don’t give up!

This was KLM operated by Air France. 

Experience 2

Greeting fellow Croatian Travelers! I am US Citizen in transit to Croatia....BOS-ATL-AMS-ZAG via Delta/KLM.

I had no issues in Boston at ticket counter or gate. ATL Gate agent tried to turn me away under “the travel ban”...I replied, “not to Croatia”. She went to computer and I presented the IATA Map and regulation, my MUP form and my paid accommodation receipt. As others have referenced today, bring the paperwork with you. It definitely helps. Took gate agent 10 minutes to figure it all out. Thank you all for the assistance and guidance through this!

Experience 3

Hello! Made it Dubrovnik from chicago. I travel to Croatia every summer. This experience wasn’t much different other than wearing masks & the flights being half empty. I have a US passport only. Although I have family in Croatia, I didn’t have to mention that to authorities. I traveled ORD-CPH-SPU and then had a driver pick us up at airport and drive us to Dubrovnik. I was asked what my purpose was in Croatia by SAS airlines and I said I’m coming as a tourist & that Croatia is allowing us with paid accommodation & that I have a letter from Cro government saying I’m allowed to enter (EnterCroatia announcement). I gave her the EnterCroatia form, the IATA map w highlighted part about Croatia, my paid receipt and the email by This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. saying I’m allowed to enter.

She brought it over to her supervisor and he barely thumbed through it. She said great, be sure you keep this with you so you’re allowed in by Croatian authorities.

The plane was 25% full. Everyone had a row to themselves & wore masks the entire time. It was amazing. We had a two hour layover in empty airport, and a half full flight to Split, again with SAS. At the airport in Split, customs asked me zero questions. I tried showing her my EnterCroatia form which she didn’t look at.

My driver drove us through the BIH boarder at Neum with no problems. No one asked to see my EnterCroatia form or anything. Only my US passport.

It was really a great experience. The only anxiety I had was prior to my trip with all the questioning about being able to travel. 

Experience 4

Just an FYI. My parents (US citizens) were able to board a plane to Croatia from the U.S. a couple of hours ago (LIT-ATL-AMS-ZAG) to be here for the birth of our child. They printed the following:

1) the English version of the MUP page (http://bit.ly/CroatiaTravel)
2) their entry acceptance from https://entercroatia.mup.hr/
3) a copy of the email from the MUP (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) giving them permission to enter with proof of accommodations
4) their receipt for the accommodations.

My dad said that it was a good they had all the documentation. They were questioned when checking in, showed everything, and received their boarding passes for the entire trip. They are now crossing the Atlantic. I assume they'll have no issues in Amsterdam. If they do, I'll update again. Update: they made it.

Have you had a recent flight experience to Croatia originating from outside the EU/UK/EEA? We would love to hear and publish it. Please contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Subject Flights. 

For the latest travel info, bookmark our main travel info article, which is updated daily. 

Read the Croatian Travel Update in your language - now available in 24 languages

Join the Total Croatia Travel INFO Viber community.

The Netherlands - as of July 21, Croatia is placed on the "Orange" list by the Dutch government, which means that both the Croatian nationals and the Dutch nationals returning to the Netherlands from Croatia are strongly advised to self-quarantine for 14 days.

ZAGREB, July 3, 2020 - The Electoral Commission (DIP) said on Friday that people infected with the novel coronavirus would be allowed to vote by proxy in Sunday's parliamentary election.

"Anyone who has been diagnosed with coronavirus infection will be able to vote with the help of another person of their confidence, who will fill in the ballot as instructed by the infected person," DIP spokesman Slaven Hojski told a press conference after the Constitutional Court said that DIP had a duty to ensure for infected people to be able to exercise their right to vote.

Hojski explained that after a call from a COVID positive person, a member of the polling committee will come in front of their house or apartment, without coming into direct contact with the infected person. The person of confidence will then fill in the ballot, put it in an envelope, and return it to the member of the polling committee outside the apartment.

"The infected person must not come into direct contact either with the member of the polling committee or with the ballot," DIP vice-president Ana Lovrin stressed.

The person of confidence is usually a member of the infected person's household.