ZAGREB, November 21, 2020 - Krapina-Zagorje County head Zeljko Kolar said on Saturday that the epidemiological situation in the county was very serious, with 104 new coronavirus cases and four fatalities in the last 24 hours.

The county head told a news conference that the county health system was functioning only owing to extreme efforts by medical workers.

"Forty-nine people have died since October 23. If that is not reason enough for people to get serious and start complying with epidemiological measures, I don't know what is. We do not want the scenario that is happening in Varazdin County to happen here," Kolar said in reference to Varazdin County being among the European regions with the highest seven-day incidence of coronavirus, with 944 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.

There are currently 1,043 active cases in Krapina-Zagorje County and 1,453 people are self-isolating, the local COVID-19 response team said.

ZAGREB, November 21, 2020 - The Welcome! Initiative on Saturday demanded justice for Madine Hussiny, a six-year-old Afghan migrant girl who died near the Croatian border three years ago, claiming that "nobody has been held to account yet."

The initiative said that on the day of her death, three years ago today, Madine's mother crossed the Croatian border with her six children and walked for an hour before spotting Croatian police, telling them they intended to apply for asylum.

The family says they were told to go back to Serbia and return to Croatia the next month, and that police ignored their plea to spend the night in Croatia because the children were exhausted. Police drove them close to the border and told them to follow a railway track towards Serbia, but shortly after that, Madine was killed by a train.

Welcome! said those responsible for her death had not been punished and that "violence and deaths on Croatian borders are normalised."

"That's why we are requesting justice for Madine and everyone who lost their lives in the search for security, those who are persecuted and those who have died on borders and in the name of borders," said the initiative.

Madine's death will forever be a symbol of the "cruelty of the contemporary border control regime and the European apartheid of which it is part," it added.

Croatian institutions have not taken responsibility and Madine's family has applied the European Court of Human Rights, the initiative said.

This was the third #JusticeForMadine campaign.

ZAGREB, November 21, 2020 - One of the Centre party leaders, Dalija Oreskovic, said on Saturday that there was a state of undeclared lockdown in Croatia.

That way, she said, the government is avoiding its responsibility to give financial support to businesses that cannot operate due to the coronavirus crisis.

"Examples of arrogance, which show that there are double standards for epidemiological measures, just as for anything else in Croatia, started already during the summer. There is one set of rules for the HDZ and their privileged categories of people and events, and another one for us, less important mortals," Oreskovic told a news conference.

Coronavirus under control yesterday, today it's a plague we are to blame for

"Coronavirus was under control by the national COVID-19 response team yesterday, while today it is a plague we ourselves are to blame for. Tomorrow, when the HDZ holds intraparty elections, the virus will be laughed at, but the day after we will be admonished for being responsible for its explosion," said Oreskovic.

She noted that her party was not a proponent of conspiracy theories or disregard for science, calling on citizens to be twice as responsible as asked of them by the national COVID-19 response team, which she described as politicised.

"One should remember, when any next election is held, who are those who treat citizens as fools with whose lives they dare play on the verge of an undeclared lockdown in which all rights and credit will be theirs and all responsibility and damage ours," said Oreskovic.

November 21, 2020 - The brand new Fitness Centar 17 in Trogir is the first in Croatia to be protected with the Truu Original Air disinfectant. 

24 Sata reports that a sense of security is paramount today as our hygiene fears have been heightened thanks to the coronavirus pandemic. Hospitals, schools, kindergartens, shops, salons, gyms, banks, and shopping malls, are places we visit every day, but given the current pandemic, we cut our time there short, and masks are a necessary accessory.

In Trogir, as part of the Marisa shopping center, a new Fitness Center 17 has opened, and it is the first public space in Croatia that has been completely disinfected with truu original air. Therefore, it is completely protected from bacteria, viruses and allergens.

Peter Fabijan

Truu is a revolutionary long-term disinfectant that has recently become available in Croatia and which has attracted the attention of the public with its presence. "Truu original air pro" and "truu original air pro" act against microbes on all surfaces, just like in the air we breathe. Fitness center 17 is equipped with Life Fitness equipment, and its modern decor grabs your attention as soon as you enter the space. It is interesting that at the very entrance there are thermal cameras that measure the temperature of visitors, which at this time, is also quite important. Inside the gym, you can also consume fully purified truu water at any time.

truu

"Truu original air pro" and "truu original air pro" can be applied to any surface, whether it is concrete, glass, ceramics, wood, metal, or even textiles. They are based on evaporating water. After the water evaporates, a microscopic thin layer remains on the surface that can act for years. It is this method that has ensured that at the newly opened Fitness Center 17, everyone will be more than safe.

The stunning sea view will make every workout even more beautiful, and the delicately designed bathrooms and locker rooms, as well as the exercise space itself, are complemented by a popular industrial style. 

truu

Fitness Center 17 is the first public space in Croatia that is protected in this way. Stay protected from all kinds of harmful substances with the help of invisible and environmentally friendly water-based coatings, which work effectively 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. And up to a few years! The gym is located at 112 Kardinala Alojzija Stepinca Street, Trogir.

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

November 21, 2020 – The European Cities Marketing organization has named Zagreb Visitor Center employee Morana Suton as the tourist informant of the year in Europe.

As the Zagreb Tourist Board reports, at the 7th Tourist Information Centres Expert Meeting, which was held online, Morana Suton was selected among the registered candidates and became the first tourist informant from Croatia with such valuable recognition.

According to the ECM, for the 5th year in a row, before this year’s edition of the TIC Expert Meeting, European Cities Marketing organized a friendly competition amongst its members, who were asked to nominate a member of their tourist information center staff who gave added value to their work on customer services.

Among all of this year’s applications, the TIC Knowledge Group jury awarded Morana Suton from Zagreb with the ECM TIC Hostmanship Award 2020 for being present at the Zagreb Airport Visitor Center on the day of the earthquake, to greet, encourage, and guide visitors in extraordinary circumstances.

The Zagreb Tourist Board nominated Morana Suton because she showed the qualities of a true tourist worker. Namely, Sunday, March 22, 2020, was planned as the last working day of the Visitor Center at the Franjo Tuđman International Airport due to the introduction of the lockdown. However, the earthquake hit Zagreb and extraordinary circumstances occurred. Informant Suton called immediately in the morning and expressed her desire to go to work, explaining that all visitors who find themselves there will need help and guidelines for further action. After the security checked the airport building, the informant Suton was permitted to go to work and she went there around 10 am. Despite the immediate cancellation of all flights, scheduled air traffic was soon re-established, and all passengers who found themselves at the airport were very grateful for the help and information provided by Morana Suton.

"The job of an informant at the Visitor Center is not only to provide information and present a destination to tourists but also to provide a sense of security and a carefree stay to every visitor. Our informant, Morana Suton, did her job professionally and with the maximum level of responsibility, and I am extremely proud of her composure and dedication, which showed the qualities of a true tourist worker in particularly difficult circumstances. We have decided to nominate her for the European Informant of the Year, and we are happy that the profession has recognized this, awarding her this valuable recognition," said Martina Bienenfeld, the director of the Zagreb Tourist Board.

The 7th Tourist Information Centres Expert Online Meeting / Source: European Cities Marketing

"This year, our tourism workers have shown exceptional responsibility, creativity, and adaptability. In this way, they contributed to the positive image of Croatia as a safe tourist destination. I am proud that the quality and professionalism of the Croatian tourist worker has been recognized by the profession, and I would like to give my sincere congratulations to Morana Suton. This recognition is another confirmation that the people are the key to success in tourism," said Croatian Minister of Tourism and Sports Nikolina Brnjac, who welcomed Morana Suton and the director of the Zagreb Tourist Board at the ministry.

Along with this award, Morana was granted a gift box from other TICs of Europe and a two-day work experience at Girona’s TIC in 2021 where the next TIC Expert Meeting will be held.

"On behalf of the Zagreb Tourist Board and myself, I want to express that I am very happy and truly honored to win the TIC Hostmanship Award 2020. It was a great pleasure for me to be able to represent the Croatian capital Zagreb at the TIC Expert Meeting and to meet TIC experts from other countries. I also want to thank my office, Zagreb Tourist Board, for nominating me for the TIC Hostmanship Award, thus allowing me to be a part of this year’s meeting and competition. TIC Expert Meeting 2021 in Girona is already on my calendar and I look forward to attending it next year. It will be my pleasure to get in touch with other people doing the same job as I do and sharing professional experience. It’s always interesting to meet my European colleagues and talk about the similarities of our job while learning at the same time how to improve our work to give the best in representing our city to the visitors," commented Morana on her award.

European Cities Marketing (ECM) is a non-profit organization for tourist boards, convention offices, and city marketing organizations in Europe, founded in 1991. It gathers more than 120 members, including tourist offices from cities such as Vienna, Berlin, London, Madrid, Paris, Rome, and others. Apart from Zagreb, the Croatian cities of Dubrovnik, Rijeka, and Opatija are also members.

The TIC Expert Meeting traditionally takes place physically for two days, but due to the pandemic, it was held online this year. As many as 140 Tourist Information Centres’ professionals representing 42 leading European cities joined this year's Digital ECM TIC Expert Meeting to exchange knowledge and best practices of adaptation and innovation on Tourist Information Centres.

To read more about Croatia, follow our dedicated page.

November 21, 2020 - Often overlooked by its more fashionable neighbour on the western tip of the island, the luxury hotel story in Stari Grad on Hvar is developing nicely, with or without Four Seasons. 

When I bought my house in Jelsa back in 2002, the island of Hvar was very different. It was only seven years after the Homeland War had finished, and tourism was only just beginning to recover. Nowhere was this more true than in the hotel industry. With almost no tourists during the war, some of the hotels were used to house refugees and internally displaced people from parts of Croatia and Bosnia which were badly affected by the fighting. Some of those hotels have never recovered. 

Back then, some 18 years ago, there were very few truly luxury places to stay on Hvar, despite its elite island reputation. It would be four more years until ORCO Group took over Suncani Hvar Hotels in Hvar Town and began to add the four and five-star luxury that one can enjoy today. 

The hotels in central Hvar were not so fortunate with post-war investment. Soon after I moved to Jelsa, the town's hotels were sold to a Hungarian investor. At the time, there was much excitement about a new era for Jelsa tourism, with investments promised. Back in the 1980s, Jelsa was THE place to go on Hvar, with no less than four nightclubs, so I am told. It was named the best destination in former Yugoslavia in 1983 (from memory), and its hotels very popular. 

Sadly, the expected investment did not materialise, the oldest hotel on Hvar, Jadran (which opened in 2011) closed, and the town has been stuck in tourism limbo every since with its 2 and 3-star hotels. 

It was a similar story initially in both Vrboska and Stari Grad, both of which have moved onto a path of better fortune. 

In Vrboska, the old two-star Hotel Adriatic was not even available for tourist rental for many years, as the hotel had a contract with the Czech government to host its sick children, who enjoyed the healthy Hvar climate and pristine Adriatic waters. That all changed back in 2016 with a 30 million euro investment, as Hotel Adriatic was transformed into the 4-star standard Senses Resort. 

But by far the most interesting story has been taking place in Stari Grad over the last decade. A story which continues to write new chapters and is quietly becoming a quality destination which offers significant competition to Hvar Town. I wasn't in the least surprised, for example, to learn that the first Michelin-recommended restaurant on the island (Apolon) was in Stari Grad, not Hvar Town. 

And it is with Apolon where  - at least from my perspective - the rise of the hotel scene in Stari Grad began. 

Back in 2013, as Croatia prepared to join the EU, I took a journalist from The Independent to meet Jelsa winemaker Andro Tomic. Tomic at the time was the poster child of EU accession, due to the Italian objections in the 'prosek v prosecco' debate. After the interview and accompanying wine tasting, Tomic suggested we go for lunch at a great new place that had just opened in Stari Grad. As the island blogger, I was intrigued as I had never heard of it. 

(Apolon in 2013)

Restaurant Apolon and the 7 luxury rooms in a historic building at the top of the expanded Stari Grad riva were a statement of intent from owner Tonci Tadic, with no expense spared to open the first four-star luxury accommodation in Stari Grad. It was an instant success, with many higher-paying guests choosing the peace and quiet of the Stari Grad waterfront, as Hvar Town went through its experiment with party tourism. Stari Grad finally had an alternative for those looking for a great place to stay and eat in the oldest settlement on the island. 

Stari Grad's main hotels, the Helios Group, were in a similar situation as Jelsa. Two and three-star, trying to recover from the war, and deprived of investment and with significant ownership issues. The lack of quality hotels was holding the destination back from development.  

And then, slowly, things changed for the better. 

(Brizenica Bay, Four Seasons Hvar plan back in 2016)

Ironically, the biggest move towards luxury hotel tourism in Stari Grad on Hvar is the one which is looking increasingly less likely ot happen - the Four Seasons Resort at Brizenica Bay a short walk north of the town. If the 140 million euro investment were to go ahead, it would be one of the most luxurious hotel resorts on the entire Adriatic coast. Despite former Minister of Tourism Gari Cappelli announcing that the resort would be expecting guests for the 2019 season, the project is still waiting for its building permit. But while the Four Seasons may be on hold, there is plenty of other tourism good news for the hotel industry in Stari Grad. 

Perhaps the most significant in the long term is the new ownership of the flagship hotels from Helios Group. They have been taken over by Valamar Hotels, the first investment on Hvar from the influential Croatian company which is a dominant player in the hotel industry here. The plans are in place, and the news is good - a complete overhaul of the existing hotels towards a four-star offer more in keeping with the quality of the destination. The renovations will take a couple of years, but once completed, the spectacular position of Hotel Arkada in particular should be a very popular spot for those wanting to combine a beach holiday with a relaxed setting. 

(Photo credit - Hotel Antica)

But there is more happening in the higher quality hotel story in Stari Grad. With a much lower profile, another 4-star hotel opened back in 2018, close to the ferry, as we reported at the time - Hotel Antica. 

And 2020 took the Stari Grad hotel offer to new heights, despite the attentions of the pandemic. While the Four Seasons project was arguing building permits with the town council, across the harbour on the other side of the ferry, one project was doing everything right - Maslina Resort in Maslinica Bay, the first five-star hotel for Stari Grad. Indeed, it is only the fourth 5-star hotel on a Croatian island (excluding the very small boutigue hotels), the others being on Losinj, and Palace Elisabeth heritage hvar hotel, which was the first 5-star hotel to open on Hvar last year. 

(Photo credit - Maslina Resort)

With its signature motto, Mindful Luxury, Maslina will be looking to set the standards of hotel luxury not only on Hvar, but also the Adriatic, when it opens for its first full season next year. You can check it out here. 

It is just 7 years since Apolon opened in Stari Grad, bringing four-star excellence to the town. Valamar, Antica, Maslina, as well as a host of higher-quality private accommodation options in the historic old town and villas overlooking the sea, are helping to life the tourism offer of what was once the capital of this beautiful island. 

I predict good things for Stari Grad's future - a safe, authentic lifestyle destination which is developing tourism as it should be. 

Follow the latest from the island of Hvar in our dedicated Hvar section. 

November 21, 2020 - While many kids are glued to their phones and other gadgets, the team from Outdoor Croatia offer a more natural way to spend a day - Velebit with kids. Stunning!

It has been a while since I checked out one of my favourite YouTube channels promoting Croatia, and it is great to see it going from strength to strength. 

Longer-term followers of TCN might be familiar with the series of articles we did on the man and dog team from Outdoor Croatia, whose efforts are quite simply the best video promotion of The Great Outdoors in Croatia that exists on YouTube. I hope they are being supported and rewarded for their efforts. 

I first came across the channel a few years ago when I came across this mesmerising winter run through virgin snow at Plitvice Lakes, a reminder that Croatia's most famous national park and UNESCO World Heritage Site is very much a four-season destination. Since that video, I have toured some of the most beautiful nature spots in Croatia vicariously through the camera of the outdoors Croatia crew - by kayak, hiking, bike and running, all year round. 

And in this era of social distancing and avoiding crowds, Croatia's endless natural beauty and stunning open spaces are ever more attractive, providing a very different family experience for those who can leave their gadgets behind and go out to explore. 

The latest episode from Outdoors Croatia was uploaded yesterday, entitled Velebit with Kids. Not a soul in sight for much of the day, and you would be hard pressed to find better views than this in the region. 

We spent the holiday on Velebit, on Premužić's path south of Alan and back along the path that goes along the ridge over Buljma, altogether a little more than five kilometres. 

You can follow the latest from Outdoor Croatia on their YouTube channel.

For more from the TCN One Man and His Dog series, click here. 

ZAGREB, November 21, 2020 - A record-high 3,573 new coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Croatia in the last 24 hours and there have been 47 related fatalities, the national coronavirus response team said on Saturday.

Currently, there are 19,079 active cases in the country, of whom 1,981 are receiving hospital treatment, including 213 who are on ventilators.

Since February 25, when the first case was confirmed in Croatia, 100,410 people have been infected with the novel virus, of whom 1,304 have died.

A total of 80,027 people have recovered, including 2,640 in the last 24 hours.

A total of 45,150 people are currently in self-isolation.

To date, 667,749 people have been tested for coronavirus, including 9,877 in the last 24 hours.