As Novac writes on the 19th of August, 2020, although many thought that this year's tourist season would look catastrophic, Croatia could end 2020 with about 50 percent of last year's results, which is a result that is better than what was expected by just about everyone with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic firmly in mind. Unfortunately, this is obviously not the case in Rijeka because its most famous hotel, one of the symbols of the city on the river Rjecina, the legendary Bonavia - is closed.

The only available information as to why this was so, came from the most powerful global tour operator, the wildly popular Booking.com, which removed Bonavia from the list of Rijeka's offer with the remark: Additional safety and hygiene measures are currently being implemented at this facility due to coronavirus (COVID-19).

An explanation for the closure of Rijeka's much loved Bonavia, which is obviously of great public interest, was provided by its owner, the Porec-based company Plava laguna.

''Hotel Bonavia Plava Laguna in Rijeka was closed owing to a business decision of Plava Laguna. This hotel, like all of the other facilities we manage, will be opened in accordance with the booking situation and the demand of guests,'' said Eva Novi Zan Prusina, head of the public relations office of one of the strongest Croatian hotel companies, for Novi list.

In other words, it is obvious that Bonavia's booking status was below profitable figures and the company decided to close its doors, even though we're still very much in the Croatian tourist season.

According to the Kvarner Tourist Board, in June and July, the Opatija Riviera and the Rijeka area were the two worst county micro-regions. The Opatija Riviera achieved just 30 percent of last year's results in June, and the Rijeka area achieved 38 percent of the traffic it enjoyed last year, with both realising 55 percent of July 2019's traffic this July.

This is significantly worse than what was seen on nearby Krk and Cres, which both reached more than 70 percent of last year's results in July. If we look at Rijeka's tourism through this prism, the business decision to close Bonavia's doors makes sense.

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As Novac/Lidija Kiseljak/Zupan.hr writes on the 19th of August, 2020, Istria County entered the finals of the selection for the best EU county project with the BLUE KEP project, which is co-financed by the Interreg V-A Italy-Croatia 2014-2020 programme and was submitted within the Contribution to cross-border cooperation category. With this project, both Croatian and Italian students were involved in education and in practical work in companies, from design and electronic engineering to English, for which they eventually received a certificate.

The total budget of the project is 921,134 euros, while the budget of Istria County is 109,000 euros. The project began on January the 1st, 2018 and ended on September the 30th, 2019. The project leader was Informest, and the partners were Istria County, the Adriatic-Ionian Euroregion, the Marche region, JU Rera SD for Coordination and Development of Split-Dalmatia County and the JU Development Agency of Sibenik-Knin County. The BLUE KEP project exchange programme included six partners, twelve Italian and Croatian maritime and technical high schools, 43 professors, 38 students and more than 20 local companies in the blue sector.

In addition to Istria County, which coordinated the activities, the Pula Technical School and the company Tehnomont shipyard Pula d.o.o. participated in the BLUE KEP project from the area of ​​Istria.

The BLUE KEP project enabled 38 Croatian and Italian students from the included technical and maritime schools to participate in a mobility programme consisting of a theoretical part as part of regular classes based on international educational modules and a practical part as part of professional practice in selected companies. All of the students successfully mastered the programme and at the final conference they were presented with certificates with the achieved ECVET points (a special European system of points in vocational education and training).

''Istria County is making great efforts to improve and modernise the education system, as well as vocational education, so we have accepted the initiative of the region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia to be included in this project and we're very pleased with the results.

With the BLUE KEP project, we showcased the importance of networking with partners from neighbouring countries, involving schools and students in this form of cooperation and generally working together to achieve the highest quality vocational education, focused on the needs of the labour market. We're especially glad that our students and the Pula Technical School benefited the most from the project, because they wouldn't have had the opportunity to experience this unique experience without this particular EU project. I hope and believe that they will be able to use the new knowledge they've gained in the best possible way.

In addition, the school is equipped with modern computers through this project, which will be used in teaching even after its completion, and our teachers have acquired new skills and competencies in accordance with European standards. Istria County will continue to support this type of project,'' Fabrizio Radin, Istria County's prefect pointed out.

Three students from the Technical School of Pula - Filip Licul, Antonio Plese and Karlo Ritosa - as part of the BLUE KEP project, stayed on a student exchange in Udine, Italy, where they spent 45 days. Of these, they attended classes for fifteen days at the Arturo Malignani High School, the largest school in the region and the second largest in all of Italy, and spent the other 30 days at Aeriano x srl, involved in stainless steel production, where they designed products and had the opportunity to use some of the most modern machines in the sector.

"We had a great time in class and we're thrilled to have been given such a good opportunity," say Filip, Antonio and Karlo. They added that what they liked the most was that after each hour of theory, practice followed, so everything was much more interesting and easier to adopt.

“We made pneumatic and hydraulic assemblies, used new design technology and tested materials. Their school is very large and very well equipped with the latest machines. They also have a large hall with planes where they learn to repair engines. With this project, we've gained new experiences that will definitely help us in the future,'' concluded the Croatian students.

At the same time, three Italian students, hosted by the Technical School, stayed in Pula for sixteen days. From March the 1st to the 16th, Arturo Malignani High School students from Udine - Alessandra Ivanovic, Tommaso Pasut and Thomas D’Andrea - attended classes at the Pula Technical School. The Italian students were happy because they had the opportunity to meet new people, experience new ways of teaching and a completely different education system that they liked very much because there are a lot of short breaks between classes and one slightly longer for brunch, and what surprised them the most was that the students and professors speak English very well.

"I want to emphasise that the environment in the Pula school is completely different from that in the Italian one. Our school is much more formal, classes last longer and we only have one fifteen minute break a day, so at first it was hard for me to adjust to that new rhythm. This was a great experience for me, we learned a lot of new things that we don't learn in our school,'' said Alessandra.

The students pointed out that they had the opportunity to learn a lot of new things from the fields of energy, automation, CNC technologies and designing products using computers that are not available in their school.

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After stagnation due to the situation caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the first passengers of the first Croatian super yacht, Katina, were received.

As Novac/Jozo Vrdoljak writes on the 19th of August, 2020, two families with children arrived, four adults and seven children, who will sail on Katina on the Croatian side of the Adriatic for seven days. As the captain of that 60-metre-long yacht, Antonio Koludrovic, reveals, these are charter guests who will stay for seven days, and then after two days Katina will welcome more new guests. Katina sails in the Caribbean, the Bahamas or the Seychelles for half a year, and spends half the season in the Mediterranean.

The first Croatian super yacht was in operation in the Seychelles for four weeks at the end of last year and the beginning of this year, and they managed to remain in operation for another four weeks because guests decided to give up on using big cruisers and instead rented Katina.

According to Koludrovic, they managed to gain those four weeks in the Seychelles because of the pandemic, but there was a cancellation two weeks into July following the tennis tournament debacle in Zadar. This year, the yacht charter, as the captain of Katina noted, is solid because big cruisers aren't operating. However, despite that, guests are still planning to travel at the last minute.

''We boarded the first guests on the Adriatic this year in Split and sailed to Dubrovnik and then we returned to Split. These are often Forbes-listed guests, vacationing on this Croatian super yacht with their families,'' the captain revealed.

Apart from some people wanting special food requirements, the guests don't really ask for anything special. Katina's crew will also organise parties for children and more. The vessel also boasts its own aqua-park.

''The price of seven-day stay such as that mentioned stands at around 300,000 euros. As part of that price, guests receive everything: three daily meals, including drinks, the fuel is paid for, as are all of the implied port taxes,'' the captain stated.

''Princesses from Saudi Arabia, current and former presidents, and Arab princes have stayed on Katina. The most interesting of them all was a group of Russians and Brits who came with a guide. They came to fish in the Indian Ocean for two weeks. This year we will certainly have twelve weeks of charter, which is satisfactory for 2020 as four weeks guarantee sustainability. This year everything is different,'' the captain of this Croatian super yacht noted, who has been working on yachts for 21 years, but has been attached to ships since he was a child.

''My family, who is from Stomorska on Solta, has been renting boats since 1958, when my nono started driving the French and then the Germans around. We had a wine boat that we later transformed into a tourist boat,'' added Koludrovic.

This impressive Croatian super yacht is sixty metres long, its four decks in the six VIP cabins can accommodate twelve passengers cared for by fifteen crew members and three shore-based employees, and are designed for cruising the Mediterranean and the Caribbean. Guests come from Saudi Arabia, Israel, Argentina, Brazil, Great Britain, Russia, Ukraine, Austria...

''Katina was constructed in Brodosplit, the entire crew is local, and as far as the Adriatic is concerned, we can rightly say that we can give the guests the most and show them the most,'' Koludrovic pointed out. Brigita Vuleta has been working aboard the vessel for several months, and detailed her experiences:

''There are of course some more demanding guests, but also those who have almost no requirements, they simply behave normally and casually. Some are initially professional or colder towards the crew, and some immediately start communicating on a more friendly, open level. It has also been noticed that both types of guest, sooner or later, want to communicate with the crew. They like to hear our side of the story and the way we live.

We, on the other hand, learn from some things from them that we couldn't learn elsewhere. This is perhaps the best way to get to know the lifestyle of wealthier people and see how their families function. It's an experience that few have. We try to be at their service all the time and do our best. The guest should never see that we are, for example, tired or in a bad mood,'' concluded Brigita.

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August 21, 2020 - After the transfer of his life, Croatian goalkeeper Ivo Grbic introduced himself to Atletico Madrid fans.

Croatian goalkeeper Ivo Grbic introduced himself to the fans of Atletico Madrid, where he signed a goalkeeping contract on Thursday. Grbic has signed a four-year contract and will be the reserve goalkeeper for Slovenian first-keeper Jan Oblak.

"I am very happy. I am grateful to all the people at the club who welcomed me. Thank you to the fans for the welcome. My dream has come true. I have come to Madrid and I will play for one of the biggest clubs in the world," said the new Atletico Madrid goalkeeper.

"Atletico is one of the biggest clubs in the world. I watched all their games this season. I like coach Simeone and the character of the team. In all games, all the players give 100 percent of themselves, have a great coach and top fans. My favorite players in Atletico's history are Forlan and Fernando Torres, and today Jan Oblak," Grbic said and continued how much he loves and appreciates the Slovenian keeper.

"All my dreams have come true. I will do every training and learn from one of the best goalkeepers in the world. For me, he is the best. Oblak is from Slovenia near Croatia and I will learn from him every day."

Grbic is a child of Hajduk. He grew up at Poljud and left the club two years ago for Lokomotiva, which brought him for free. Today, he made the biggest transfer in the history of the Kajzerica club.

"I'm from Split, a city that has the biggest club in Croatia, which also has the mentality of always giving 100 percent on the pitch. It has the best fans in Croatia. I know everything about Atletico. Vrsaljko told me everything I need to know; he told me that we have the best coach in the world and I am really happy to play for this club. Aupa Atleti," said Grbic.

[?️] INTERVIEW

Ivo Grbić’s first words as an Atleti player:

“??’? ? ????? ?? ???? ??? ??? ?? ??? ?????’? ???? ?????."

? #WelcomeGrbic
?⚪ #AúpaAtleti pic.twitter.com/EgTg1mzaGp

— Atlético de Madrid (@atletienglish) August 20, 2020

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August 21, 2020 -  Why does Dalmatia have such poor numbers, much worse than Istria, Primorje, and other tourist regions? A closer look at COVID-19 in Croatia.

Jutarnji List writes that Germany, the country from which the largest number of tourists come to Croatia, decided on Thursday to put two Croatian counties on the red list - Split-Dalmatia and Šibenik-Knin.

These are counties that have an increasing number of infected people from week to week and are the main reason why the whole country has been placed on the red list of other countries that are important to Croatia, such as Italy and Slovenia.

But why does Dalmatia have such bad numbers, many times worse than Istria and Primorje, and also tourist regions in which, in proportion to the number of inhabitants, there are more tourists this year than in the south? The numbers are laid out quite clearly in the Official Croatian COVID-19 weekly report, and illustrated by the table below: 

In short, experts believe it is a combination of recklessly relaxed and casual behavior of Dalmatians and relatively mild measures and recommendations of the National Headquarters, which has always tried to balance so as not to jeopardize the season.

They wanted to save the tourist season as much as possible, all doors were open, the result was more than 50 percent of revenue last year, which is ultimately extremely good for the state budget, and covers the costs that await us until the end of the year. However, also the fact that in the last 14 days, including Thursday, Croatia had a cumulative 47.2 infected per 100,000 inhabitants. This is a high number that puts Croatia in an unenviable 7th place among EU countries.

We could have expected that the number would increase by reopening, but the other option was quarantine, which in the end would not be good for either the economy or the citizens. Namely, even this restriction on night clubs is not a sufficient obstacle for the spread of the coronavirus,  when a million people from abroad and from the continent come to the Adriatic. The most important thing for them is not the sun and the sea, but socializing, and they will do it either in restaurants or somewhere on the beach.

"Of course, that close contact increases the number of infected people," explains Dr. Krunoslav Capak, director of the Croatian Institute of Public Health. He adds that despite a large number of infected people, most of their contacts are being managed so that newly infected people will arrive from that ‘cluster’ in the coming days, as many have returned to their places of residence.

New possible coronavirus-related measures and strategies will be discussed at the Government's COVID-19 Scientific Council next Tuesday.

Austria, Italy, Slovenia and the UK reacted very quickly to Croatia's large numbers by putting Croatia on the red list, so their citizens are leaving the Adriatic to avoid a 14-day quarantine, and new tourists from those countries will certainly not come this season. Some tourists are being tested for coronavirus in Croatia, so there is currently a real state of siege in public health institutes.

The Zagreb Teaching Institute for Public Health, "Dr. Andrija Štampar", says that in the past few days, they have taken more than 1000 swabs, most of which are Croatian citizens returning to work abroad, but there are also foreigners. The Split institute is also crowded, mainly because hotel houses organize testing for guests. It is estimated that more than 500 citizens are tested daily, of which about fifty are foreigners.

In the last 14 days in Split-Dalmatia County, 79 positives per 100,000 inhabitants were recorded, which is an absolute record since the beginning of the epidemic. That’s the figure until August 17, and it has grown significantly in the past three days.

“Currently, 15 patients with COVID-19 are being treated in our clinic, and two of our patients are on a respirator.

Most of the patients are older than 50 years, but there are also younger ones, but their clinical picture can be said to be moderately severe," says Dr. Ivo Ivic, Head of the Clinic for Infectious Diseases, University Hospital Center Split. He adds that there could be more elderly patients soon, because young people, unfortunately, will surely infect their elderly family members as well.

Split-Dalmatia County is followed by Sibenik-Knin County with 61.91 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, while in Zadar, it was 35.09 cases.

Vukovar-Srijem County, with 68.02 patients per 100,000 inhabitants, is also included in this group of fast-growing corona cases, because according to data, more than half of the positives come from vacations.

At the same time, the three counties of the northern Adriatic are not among those in which tourists and vacations activate the virus. For example, in Istria County in 9 days, there are 9.58 infected per 100,000 inhabitants, or eight times less than in Split-Dalmatia County.

In Primorje-Gorski Kotar, it is 12.67, and in Lika-Senj 22.13 per 100,000 inhabitants, which is a lot for that county, and the reason, according to the numbers, is Zrce. Namely, 159 foreigners who became infected in Croatia were reported to the European EWRS system in just over a month, namely 69 Austrians, 52 Slovenes, 13 Germans, 22 Britons and three Italians. Among the reported infected foreigners, most of them fell ill in Novalja, 71, and Makarska and Split 65.

From these data, it is evident that large gatherings, regardless of whether they are nightclubs, weddings, or birthday parties, are a source of infection for a large number of people. That is why a week ago, the National Civil Protection Headquarters limited the working hours of nightclubs until midnight, and even before the number of those who can stay indoors in those clubs.

However, at that time, there were already too many infections so that this would not drastically affect the overall picture of the coronavirus in Croatia. As expected, many caterers were not pleased. Some even said that these were communist moves, because they were not all the same; some respected the measures already introduced, and they were punished in the same way.

However, after opening nightclubs in the summer, it is evident that the Headquarters will have to weigh the good and bad and learn from this experience to determine what behavior will be allowed during the winter.

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August 21, 2020 - The latest news from around Croatia’s airports for flights to Croatia with updates for Zagreb and Split.

Croatian Aviation reports that from August to October 2020, Dutch KLM offers flights to 92 European destinations. A look at the flight schedule for September to Croatian airports.

For comparison, in 2019, in the same period in August, KLM performed 19,000 flights, in September 18,800, and in October 14,700 flights. In August 2020, 10,000 flights are expected, in September 13,500, and in October 11,000 flights.

KLM will continue to operate on the Amsterdam-Zagreb route daily, and in September, and in addition to KLM's direct flights, Croatia Airlines also operates on this route, also every day of the week.

KLM's other destination in Croatia is Split Airport, where this Dutch company currently has 12 flights a week (two flights a day every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday, and one flight a day on Fridays and Saturdays).

From September 1, KLM will significantly reduce the number of weekly flights on the route Amsterdam-Split and will operate only three times a week, on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays through September, with smaller capacity aircraft - E190.

Furthermore, Norwegian Air will not return to Zagreb Airport this year.

Norwegian Air, a well-known low-budget company with bases across Europe, will not return to Zagreb Airport this year. The company operated on the Copenhagen-Zagreb route in the summer flight schedule, but it was completely canceled for this year.

The line used to be year-round, but the company turned it into a seasonal line at the end of 2018. Now, due to the coronavirus crisis, it will cancel it completely for this year.

Norwegian Air operated from Stockholm to Zagreb twice a week, but that line was previously suspended and is no longer in operation.

The Copenhagen-Zagreb line was operated twice a week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays, in the summer flight schedule. It is not yet certain whether Norwegian will return to Zagreb in the summer flight schedule in 2021, given that many routes have not yet been announced for next year.

On the Copenhagen-Zagreb route, Croatia Airlines operates, every day of the week, on the A319 and DashQ400 aircraft.

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August 20, 2020 - The United Kingdom has put Croatia on the quarantine list due to the deteriorating epidemiological situation in the country. 

Vecernji List reports that as it was announced from the local Ministry of Transport, British tourists and others staying in Croatia are invited to return home immediately because the mandatory 14-day isolation for all returnees from Croatia begins to apply.

Data shows we need to remove Croatia, Austria and Trinidad & Tobago from our list of #coronavirus Travel Corridors to keep infection rates DOWN. If you arrive in the UK after 0400 Saturday from these destinations, you will need to self-isolate for 14 days.

— Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP (@grantshapps) August 20, 2020

According to information from the UK, there are currently 20,000 tourists from that country in Croatia. Britain views Croatia as a whole, without regional or county demarcations, and warns that the situation has deteriorated dramatically compared to three weeks ago.

They refer to the latest data from the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control, according to which Croatia has recorded 37.7 confirmed infections per 100,000 inhabitants in the last two weeks. For comparison, Britain records 21.2 infected, Slovenia 12.8, and Sweden 39.5.

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ZAGREB, Aug 20, 2020 - Despite everything, Croatia is having a good tourism season this year, and we are doing our best to ensure its continuation, including constant communication with partners on foreign markets on a safe stay and the epidemiological situation, Tourism Minister Nikolina Brnjac said on Thursday.

"Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, forecasts for this tourism year indicated a fall in tourism turnover of up to 70%, nevertheless, better results have been recorded and by mid-August 52% of last year's bed nights were generated, noting that for three months, March, April, and May and even the start of June, there was no turnover at all," said the minister.

She added that in July, 62% of bed nights were generated compared to July 2019 and 69% to date in August.

Since the start of the year, 6.2 million visitors were recorded in Croatia and 41.6 million bed nights. Currently, there are about 700,000 holidaymakers in Croatia and in addition to local guests the majority of tourists are from Germany (177K), Slovenia (80K), Poland (73K), Czech Republic (54K) and Italy (32K), she said.

675,000 tourists in Croatia per day on average since reopening of borders

Since Croatia opened its border there have been 675,000 tourists in Croatia per day on average with the maximum number in one day of 850,000 being recorded in the first week of August.

The best results have been achieved by family-run farms and holiday houses, achieving 80% of last year's turnover, followed by nautical tourism with a turnover of 70% y-o-y and boat charter generating a turnover of 60% on the year as they provide accommodation with the possibility of keeping a distance.

"A record number of mega yachts have sailed into Croatia this year, about 200, and thanks to being well prepared and adapting, hotels and camps have achieved excellent results particularly now in August generating 55% of last year's turnover, and current capacity utilisation is about 70 to 80 percent," Brnjac explained.

She reiterated that she was in constant contact with the relevant bodies abroad and was monitoring trends in countries where tourists are coming from.

"I believe that our international partners will recognise our measures and activities and take them into account before making any decisions, while Croatia will continue to do everything so that those international institutions have precise information based on which they will decide which countries to include on lists of safe destinations," she said.

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