ZAGREB, Dec 9, 2020 - The government has adopted two decrees enabling tourism boards to absorb funds from two tourism funds; one for underdeveloped and continental areas, and the fund for associated tourism boards to support them amid a fall in revenue resulting from the coronavirus pandemic.

Tourism and Sports Minister Nikolina Brnjac explained that the decrees would enable support to be paid out this year already.

She added that the law on tourism fees and membership fees in tourism boards prescribed the establishment of a fund for support to tourism boards in areas with an underdeveloped tourism sector and continental areas to develop tourism products.

Brnjac said that the fund currently has HRK 24 million available and that the money could be distributed to about 170 local and 14 regional tourism boards.

The second decree refers to the fund for amalgamated tourism boards whose funding will be made available to associated tourism boards and boards that sign an agreement on project cooperation before 31 December 2020.

"There are currently 19 registered amalgamated boards and another six that have signed project agreements. The fund currently has HRK 8.8 million," she said, adding that the funds can be used only for tasks envisaged by their annual work programmes or project agreements and that no more than 50% can be used for administrative costs.

ZAGREB, Dec 9, 2020 - Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development Tomislav Coric said on Wednesday after a cabinet meeting that today already 21 applications for COVID loans had been received and that the refreshed HAMAG-BICRO agency for SMEs was processing the applications promptly.

With regard to fast COVID loans, he underlined that credit loans until now covered about HRK 1.8 billion and that 2,600 loans had been approved out of 3,860 applications, while 1,200 were rejected for justified reasons. He recalled that a government decision in early August increased the tranche for these loans by HRK 1 billion and facilitated HRK 1.3 billion for COVID loans.

He underlined that in the meantime HAMAG-BICRO has strengthened its ranks and that the documents required for applications had been reduced from 12 to 10.

A credit line was opened today and every application received will be processed within two months of being submitted, said Coric.

Asked how entrepreneurs will wait all that time because they need to pay fixed costs, Coric said that it isn't possible to approve 4,000 applications in ten days' time.

He underlined that by 10 am today 21 applications had been received and they were processed immediately. He added that some applicants may have to wait a little longer but reiterated that the objective is to resolve them all within two months.

It is assumed that entrepreneurs "have some reserves to settle costs and bridge their cash flow problems," he said, adding that many entrepreneurs were better prepared for this crisis than they were ten years ago.

Reporters asked how many entrepreneurs will be in a position to use these loans considering that there were quite a few who had tax debts, Coric said that the criteria specified that loans are issued to those enterprises that were doing well prior to the COVID crisis and that they had to prove that for last year, not for the past few months.

Extremely bad weather cause of INA offshore platform disappearance

Asked to comment on the disappearance of INA's Ivana D gas platform in the northern Adriatic, Coric said that the accident occurred due to extremely bad weather conditions.

According to him, there was no danger to the environment because the platform has safety valves which were immediately activated.

He does not believe that there is any need to enhance inspections on platforms and is certain that INA will do everything to find who and if anyone is responsible for what happened.

December 10, 2020 - As a sign of gratitude from Split-Dalmatia County, Prefect Blaženko Boban handed over a valuable donation to the head of the Split KBC Clinic for Infectious Diseases, Dr. Ivo Ivić, for all KBC Split health workers who are on the front lines of the fight against COVID-19.

Namely, Dalmacija Danas reports that on behalf of the County, the Prefect handed out vouchers for 79 employees, including doctors, nurses and technicians, cleaners, and other staff who are making superhuman efforts in the fight against the pandemic in these challenging times.

"We decided to give each employee, our heroes on the front lines, a voucher worth 600 kuna from the budget, and I am glad that two valuable devices for the hospital arrived today, after the previous two that have already arrived, which, as we see, initiated an avalanche of kindness, i.e., donations," said the prefect Blaženko Boban, and asked Dr. Ivić to thank each dedicated employee on behalf of the County and his personal name.

"There is a huge amount of work. People are tense and tired, but let this be one candle for them to light up their coming days. Your donation really started an avalanche of gratitude, and we received five more devices from the Split Tourist Board, so we basically met our needs. We still have a hard job ahead of us, it will not be easy, but we will do our best," said Dr. Ivić, who explained that these are high-flow oxygenation devices that are now in use at the hospital.

"The biggest problem in patient care is the supply of oxygen. The first stage is a normal flow of up to 16 liters of oxygen per minute using a nasal tube or mask. For those who are seriously ill, this device allows us to supply them with 60 liters of flow per minute, and for a good part of those patients who have reached the stage that they need so much oxygen, that means they could avoid a ventilator," said Dr. Ivic, and added:

"Our experience so far is that we have managed to bring two of the three patients to recovery with the help of this device. Before these devices, all such patients had to use a ventilator, and it is known that this is a long-term method of treatment when it comes to COVID and for these patients means a high mortality rate, almost 70%," said Dr. Ivic.

On this occasion, he also praised his colleagues at the hospital, from the cleaners, nurses, and technicians to doctors, and others who are really working miracles in these difficult times.

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

December 10, 2020 - Valamar Riviera employees are encouraged to get involved in the "Elements of AI" project, which is considered the best program for mastering the basics of artificial intelligence in the world.

HRTurizam reports that Finland launched free training in cooperation with the European Commission to increase knowledge about artificial intelligence and bring the topic closer to the general public. Croatia is the first country in the region to translate the course and make it available to citizens. "Elements of AI" was developed by the University of Helsinki and the technology company Reaktor. The partner for Croatia is the University of Zagreb, and the project holder is the association CroAI. In contrast, the communication partner of the project is the agency 404.

Valamar applies advanced technologies in various business areas such as sales, marketing, and hotel operations, stating that they enable employees to communicate and learn on digital platforms, improve business processes and nurture an organizational culture that constantly innovates with new technologies.

“Valamar continuously invests in digitalization and business innovations, and in 2018 it founded VALDI, a team for the development of digital services and solutions that is behind numerous steps in Valamar, such as self-check-in and process automation via robots. This year, in response to the crisis, VALDI developed Valfresco in just a few months, an online store that offers delivery of products from local family farms and Valamar suppliers and ready meals from the Valfresco kitchen. Therefore, Valamar reluctantly accepted Elements of AI and invited all employees to get involved for at least 1% of colleagues to accept this challenge and acquire knowledge about artificial intelligence," said Ivana Budin Arhanić, Vice President for Business Development and Corporate Affairs at Valamar.

Valamar will also enable all employees who complete the course to continue working on digital projects and include them in its Valamar Digital & Innovation team. About 50 digital projects and innovation projects are already underway at Valamar, several of which apply technologies and artificial intelligence.

Get involved. It is free.

The project aims to demystify artificial intelligence, encourage as many people as possible to learn what artificial intelligence is, what can be done with it (and what cannot be done), and start developing artificial intelligence methods. Courses are a combination of theory and practical exercises and can be done at your own pace.

You can learn more about joining the project HERE.

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

December 10, 2020 - The latest news for flights to Croatia as the second daily KLM flight to Zagreb offers a wide variety of connections to destinations in Europe and the United States.

As we already announced, KLM will introduce a second daily flight on the Amsterdam - Zagreb - Amsterdam route from February next year. Thus, Croatian Aviation researched the flight schedule, capacity, and connectivity options to other destinations in Europe and the world.

In mid-February, more precisely, from Monday, February 14, 2021, KLM will introduce its second daily flight between Amsterdam and Zagreb. Thus, KLM will land at Zagreb Airport twice a day from that date. The airline will have an evening departure from Amsterdam (departure at 20:55, arrival in Zagreb at 22:55). The four-member KLM crew will spend the night in Zagreb from February and perform the morning flight from Zagreb (departure at 06:30, arrival in Amsterdam at 08:40). 

The second daily flight will depart from Amsterdam at 09:40, and arrival in Zagreb is planned at 11:30. After 50 minutes in Zagreb, the plane will take off for the capital of the Netherlands, with the expected arrival in Amsterdam at 14:30.

This summer, the airline gradually increased the number of flights to Zagreb and currently operates daily, with E190 aircraft with a capacity of 100 passengers. Since September, larger aircraft of the B737-700 and B737-800 types have frequently operated on this route.

KLM will offer almost 80% more seats per day to and from Zagreb Airport

With the introduction of the second daily flight on the Amsterdam - Zagreb - Amsterdam route, smaller aircraft (E175) with a maximum capacity of 88 passengers will operate. Still, KLM will increase the number of seats to and from Zagreb from the existing 200 to 352.

The mentioned two daily flights are currently on sale until Saturday, March 27, 2021. Namely, the airline opened sales on the second daily flight only in the winter flight schedule ending on that date. Still, KLM confirmed that it plans to operate between Zagreb and Amsterdam twice a day and in the summer flight schedule next year, so it is expected that booking will be possible soon on the above flights until October.

Add to this the daily flights of Croatia Airlines, which normally operates on this route with A319 aircraft (currently due to the pandemic's impact with the smaller DashQ400), the number of seats offered since February will increase significantly compared to this year.

The second daily flight's main advantage will be the greater possibility of connections via Amsterdam to numerous destinations in Europe and the world.

Given that many Croatian citizens living and working in Ireland and the United Kingdom use the existing one-day KLM flight to Zagreb, the introduction of the second will increase the choice of connections and reduce waiting times in Amsterdam. For example, London City Airport to Zagreb with KLM via Amsterdam can be reached in just 4 hours of travel (not including check-in time at the airport). There are also excellent connections from Dublin via Amsterdam to Zagreb, twice a day.

From Zagreb via Amsterdam to Dublin in just 3 hours and 50 minutes!

The time spent waiting in Amsterdam for many destinations does not exceed two hours (often only 45 minutes), such as to and from Manchester, Dublin, Stockholm, Oslo, and many other destinations.

KLM will also offer excellent connections to the USA, primarily to New York, Atlanta, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, both on their own and on American Delta flights.

Apart from those traveling directly between Amsterdam and Zagreb, transfer passengers will have a wider choice of destinations with significantly better connections. If we add that KLM often has favorable airfares and excellent service on its flights, these flights should have no issue reaching capacity. In fact, even at this time of year and during a pandemic, KLM has a solid occupancy on the line to Zagreb.

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

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December 10, 2020 – Why did the chicken cross the road? Well, to go to the dućan (store) with his owner, of course! Residents bewildered to see one man taking his pet chicken shopping in the city streets of Split.

Understanding Croatia is often like looking through a kaleidoscope – the closer you look, the more it shifts in and out of the focus of comprehension. Nowhere is that more true than in the seaside city of Split.

Visitors are not the only ones to see this. Split's inhabitants know it too. Despite its reputation for the unorthodox, happenings in Split are still capable of raising the eyebrows of those who live there. And, that was certainly the case a couple of days ago, when residents of the Gripe neighbourhood were bewildered to see one man going shopping accompanied by his pet chicken. Their casual walk to the shops, which sees the pet chicken being led on the kind of leash you'd more usually find on a dog, was captured on video. It is one of the more curious chick flicks TCN has seen this year.

Gripe in Split is a family neighbourhood, known for its sporting facilities and the old fortifications which lie on the hill after which it is named. Even in times of social distancing, it's not uncommon to find neighbours milling around, chatting to each other on a weekend morning. Their idle gossip was given egg-stra fuel on Saturday when the man and his pet chicken made their remarkable hen-trance.

As the weather across Croatia turns colder, this is the traditional time for pigs to be turned into the sausages and bacon that will last through the winter. The chickens and turkeys are safe for now, although only for another week or so. Perhaps this timing egg-splains the walking of the pet chicken? Maybe the owner didn't want to let the prize bird out of his sight so close to Christmas? Or perhaps, given that a camera seems to have been at the ready to film their exploits, the walking of the pet chicken was just a welcome moment of tomfoolery? Whichever it may be, the footage does have an endearing quality. Poultry in motion, if you will.

December 9, 2020 – It's been a funny old year. Funny as in unusual. Not so much funny haha. The extraordinary nature of the year is reflected in the most-popular Croatia Google search list for 2020, which has just been published. This year's searches hold a stark contrast to last year's.

In 2019, the end-of-year list for Croatia Google search was dominated by results for sporting fixtures, celebrities and entertainment. Although the EU election results and the long-running teacher's strike in Croatia also scored highly in 2019, this year has been dominated by searches of an even more serious and pressing nature.

It will come as no surprise to anyone that the number one Croatia Google search for 2020 was Coronavirus. The global pandemic is likely to top lists all over the world. In this country, its ramifications also created several other high-ranking inclusions on the Croatia Google search list 2020.

Software Google Classroom and Office 365 za škole also feature in the top 10 Croatia Google search list 2020, as parents and students coped with the closure of teaching institutions and prepared to learn and receive lectures online. Another piece of online tech that features in the top 10 was ePropusnica, the travel pass required for inter-regional travel and international travel by car during the various stages of lockdown. If these results are anything to go by, Coronavirus has dominated the lives of Croatians in 2020.

Another big Croatia Google search term in 2020 was Zagreb earthquake. For anyone in Zagreb at the time of the first large tremor, this will also come as little surprise – it was the biggest earthquake experienced for 100 years in Croatia, and it came without warning. Though lasting just a few seconds, there was no reaction more immediate than that of city residents, who ran out into the streets partially clothed. Thousands must have searched the term to find out what was happening, and also after many of the hundreds of aftershocks that have followed.

Here's the list of biggest Croatia Google search terms in 2020

The most-popular Croatia Google search terms in 2020

1. Koronavirus
2. Google Classroom
3. Office 365 za škole
4. Potres Zagreb (Earthquake Zagreb)
5. Kobe Bryant
6. ePropusnica
7. Izbori SAD (US elections)
8. DIP
9. Joe Biden
10. Masoni (Masons)

The most-popular Croatia Google search apps in 2020

1. ePropusnice
2. Zoom
3. Andrija

The most-popular Croatia Google search events in 2020

1. Potres (Earthquake)
2. Izbori SAD (US elections)
3. Izbori (elections) 

Aside from the inclusion of the Masons (freemasons), the list is understandable on an international level. It perhaps tells us something about how Croatians use the search engine and how well they respect it as a source for delivering credible information. With Coronavirus vaccines now announced and, all hope, the biggest potential earthquake out of the way, for now, it's understandable for most Croatians to be looking forward to the return of more trivial matters dominating their Google searches in 2021.

ZAGREB, Dec 9, 2020 - Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa will represent Croatia at Thursday's EU summit, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said on Wednesday.

Plenkovic will not attend the summit as his isolation has been extended due to a cough caused by COVID-19.

Speaking at a virtual cabinet meeting, he said he first suggested to President Zoran Milanovic to attend.

"I offered (Milanovic) to go on Croatia's behalf. He appreciated the gesture, thanked me, but given the topics, he assessed that he would not go to Brussels," Plenkovic said, adding that Milanovic agreed with Jansa being authorized to represent Croatia.

The two-day in-person summit will focus on Hungary and Poland's veto on the EU budget and recovery plan, relations with the United States, and the pandemic.

Plenkovic will isolate a few more days at doctors' orders due to a cough. The government said earlier today that he was feeling well and did not have a temperature and that he would continue to work from home. He tested positive for coronavirus on November 30.

At the cabinet meeting, he said it was very important for the decreasing trend of new infections to continue, calling this a still "very demanding task."

"It's important that we all together comply with the measures so that we reduce the dynamic of the epidemic before Christmas."