Croatian Tourist Offer Presented at Virtual World Travel Market in London
November 10, 2020 - The Croatian National Tourist Board, together with 10 Croatian co-exhibitors, is currently presenting the Croatian tourist offer at one of the world's largest tourism fairs - World Travel Market (WTM) in London, which is held virtually for the first time in 40 years.
HRTurizam reports that the fair is held from November 9 to 11 from 7 am to 10 pm to cover all time zones, and participants will communicate through virtual platforms, conferences, workshops, and seminars.
"Once the situation improves, and restrictions begin to ease, the British market will start traveling again, and the final decision on travel will depend on consumer confidence. Health is now a top priority. The entire travel industry will need to adapt and define procedures that reconcile destination provisions with passenger needs, such as digitization and contactless processes wherever possible. The security of Croatia as a destination is one of the most important messages in communication with our guests, partners, and the media on the British market," said the director of the CNTB Representation in the UK, Darija Reić.
According to the CNTB, during the fair, they will hold virtual meetings with representatives of the most important partners, such as TUI UK, easyJet, SAGA, Jet2.com/Jet2 Holidays, Thomas Cook, British Airways, TravelZoo, TourRadar, and others.
In addition to the basic package that includes promoting the tourist offer at the virtual stand and promotional content on the WTM website, the Croatian National Tourist Board will also position itself through the Premium Deluxe package, which includes prominent visibility on the list of co-exhibitors, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, banners on the WTM website, and advertising through sponsored email addresses of visitors.
"The virtual presentation of Croatia will be additionally accompanied by parts of the promotional campaign 'Discover The Colors of Croatia', which is already being implemented in the most important European markets and will last until mid-November. This emphasizes the promotion of tourist products that are most in-demand in these market circumstances, and those are natural beauty, nautical, culture, and eno-gastronomy," said the CNTB.
In addition to the Croatian National Tourist Board as the main exhibitor, co-exhibitors who will ensure their visibility through the CNTB virtual stand are Adriatic Luxury Hotels, Association of Small and Family Hotels (OMH), Croatia Airlines, Dubrovnik Tourist Board, Zagreb Tourist Board, Maistra Hospitality Group, Valamar Riviera dd, Perfecta Travel, Plitvice Lakes and Uniline DM.
"Despite all the challenges, Croatia was one of the most popular tourist destinations this year. We focused on online promotion, creative solutions, and services adapted to current circumstances in line with new trends. Participating in one of the world's largest tourism fairs, although virtual, offers the opportunity to present Croatia as a safe destination with quality products, combining natural beauty, nautical, culture, eno-gastronomy - which are extremely popular this year. Croatia has shown that it can be a leader in innovation and development of offers that represent the future of tourism while thinking of digital platforms and social networks, changing the way we communicate with tourists and present the destination in a new way to the world," said Minister of Tourism and Sports Nikolina Brnjac.
"Most of the events and fair appearances until the end of this year, but also at the beginning of next year, will be held in a new, virtual form, so we have joined the world's most important tourism fair, WTM in London. It is important that, despite the current situation and travel restrictions, we maintain Croatia's presence in our important markets and tell everyone that we are a safe, well-prepared, and quality tourist destination. The goal of participating in the fair is to maintain business contacts and relationships with key partners because it is one of the world's largest tourism fairs for business audiences, which is confirmed by the data on about 50 conferences that will be held in virtual form as part of this year's WTM," said the director of the Croatian National Tourist Board Kristjan Staničić, adding that to make Croatia more prominent at the WTM fair, they co-financed the co-exhibitors 50 percent of the virtual participation amount.
The CNTB also adds that the Croatian tourist offer will be presented at other major world tourism fairs next year, especially in the most important markets for Croatian tourism, such as Germany and the ITB, f.re.e., Boot et al., Austria and the Ferienmesse trade fair in Vienna, Italy and the TTG trade fair in Rimini, the Netherlands and the Vakantiebeurst trade fair in Utrecht, and the United Kingdom and the WTM trade fair in London.
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Pollster Oraclum Called Trump 2016, Brexit, Narrow Biden 2020, Comments on Electoral Fraud
November 10, 2020 - Who to believe about the US election results and the allegations of fraud? Meet Oraclum, the Croatian pollster who correctly called Trump in 2016 and a narrow Biden win in 2020, including the chaos which followed.
I learned a LOT about American geography last week.
Give me a map of America and I could probably have placed about 15 states in their correct place. After last week, I know exactly where the Blue Wall is, the neighbours of Nevada and Arizona, and Georgia is on my mind.
I also learned a lot about the US media and the US on social media. Moving between Fox News, CNN and Breitbart was as entertaining as it was scary - were we all watching the same election?
Social media was even more brutal. The conspiracy theorists were out in force, the accusations, the hate, the total division of a nation on full display. Any analysis seemingly had an agenda. In such a polarising vortex of fake news, which analysis to trust?
And then a post from Croatian brainbox Vuk Vukovic came into my Facebook feed. Aha!
Vukovic is one of the three co-founders of Oraclum Intelligence Systems. As the Oraclum website says, Oraclum is a data science company that builds prediction models. We created a disruptive innovation that will be the future of market research, and we used it to successfully predict both Brexit and Trump in 2016.
Yep, that's right - while every other poll was predicting a Clinton victory, this small Croatian startup correctly called Trump four years ago. And also, perhaps even more impressively, Oraclum also predicted the correct Brexit vote. How did Vuk and his colleagues do it? He explained a little in this 2016 TCN interview.
So how did Oraclum call the 2020 race? A narrow win for Biden. This is from their pre-election report. Interestingly, this year they decided to charge for the report to see if there was a market for such accurate information in these volatile times. And it seems that there is a very nice market indeed. You can read the pre-election report here.
If the results stay this way – a closer than expected Biden victory – we are looking at a high probability of post-electoral uncertainty and a contested election scenario. In fact, 64% of our users anticipate a contested election. The reason is simple: if Trump holds on to wins in FL and AZ (with NC also borderline), this will be known already on Election Night which means waiting for vote counts in PA and WI to confirm the winner of the race. In both of these states Biden is in front (and has been continuously since the start of our polling), however it will take time before this is confirmed which could result in continued market uncertainties next week.
If the situation remains as it is under our most likely prediction, where Trump wins FL and AZ, in addition to OH, GA, TX, IA and all the other states going as expected then there will be no clear winner on Election Night, and the results will depend on late vote counting in PA and WI.
If Biden however wins FL and AZ, while keeping all the others based on our projections, then he will have 270 electoral college votes already on Election Night (accounting for all the states going in the expected direction except for swing states).
The scenario with a higher likelihood after this week’s polling numbers is the first scenario, where the country will be engulfed in weeks of post-electoral uncertainty over who the winner is while votes are being counted in PA and WI.
Currently our method is predicting that Biden is leading in both of these states. Were this a normal election this result would be obvious already on Election Night and there would be much less postelectoral uncertainty. But given that this election depends on mail-in ballots, where half of the country already voted this way, the significance of PA will be even bigger than it usually is.
To conclude, Biden still has a much clearer path to victory, and if keeps PA, even if he loses FL and AZ (and even NC), he will come on top. But this might not be obvious on Election Night.
Oraclum also published a post-election article 5 days ago, which is a very interesting read - Post-election uncertainty: exactly as foretold.
Oraclum was not alone in calling the Biden win, as it had been with Trump in 2016, but the closeness of its predictions compared to other pollsters - both in electoral votes (294 v 244) and percentage of votes in crucial states, was impressive. Polling error in some states was 7-8%, while Oraclum got MI, WI and PA within 1%.
"For us the most important thing was to guess Florida," said Vuk, "as this was a big signal of whether the outcome would be known already on election night. We were clear that Trump is winning FL, but we never saw our method delivering PA, WI or MI to Trump. That gave us the confidence to call the race for Biden. Despite the fact that Trump won both OH and FL - usually two crucial states."
I asked Vuk about all the allegations of electoral fraud:
"I don’t think so. Any campaign has a right to ask for a recount, but with the entire world watching the process, I highly doubt that there was any fraud involved.
"After all, in many nondemocratic countries when people feel that there was election fraud, they spontaneously challenge this on the streets. This did not happen in the US. Quite the contrary actually.
"Plus there is no evidence of fraud, just like there was no evidence of fraud back in 2016. Trump even had an inquiry into this which found nothing.
"The confusion were mail-in ballots. There were simply too many of them this time and some states were not allowed counting before the election. That’s why we had to wait until Saturday - also something that we anticipated (see our report).
"As for the polling error — we explained this 2 months ago. It’s not the Shy Trump voter that’s the problem, it’s the non-response bias. And you cannot fix this by adjusting models (e.g. towards lower-educated voters) which are wrong to begin with."
Fascinating stuff, and congratulations to the Oraclum team. If you need some prediction services, you can find out more about what Oraclum offers on the official website.
Plenkovic: Croatian Citizens to Get COVID-19 Vaccine as Soon as EU Gets It
ZAGREB, Nov 10, 2020 - Croatia will get a verified and certified coronavirus vaccine as soon as the the EU gets it, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said on Monday evening.
Following news that a COVID-19 vaccine would be available soon, Plenkovic was asked by the press whether the EU would buy it.
"The pharmaceutical company that first produces a verified and certified vaccine, that one will be purchased, and as soon as the EU gets it, Croatian citizens will get it too. That's our responsibility and we are working on it," the prime minister said.
The European Commission will soon sign a contract with the Pfizer and BioNTech pharmaceutical groups for the procurement of 300 million doses of vaccine against Covid-19, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced on Twitter on Monday.
The two companies reported earlier on Monday that their experimental COVID-19 vaccine was more than 90% effective based on initial trial results.
"Great news from Pfizer & BioNTech Group on the successful results of their latest clinical trial for a COVID19 vaccine. The EU Commission to sign contract with them soon for up to 300 million doses," the EC president tweeted.
Balkan Brilliance: How Zagreb Airport Fixed Its 'Toilet Disabled' Signage Problem
November 10, 2020 - Despite the 330 million euro investment in the new Zagreb Airport terminal, it seems there was only a tiny budget for translation - and for correcting the legendary 'Toilet Disabled' signs.
It opened with great fanfare in the middle of June, 2017 - the pride of Croatia. Its capital FINALLY had a high quality, modern airport as an impressive entry point to Zagreb.
Everyone smiled, and everyone was happy, especially those involved in its construction. The cost of the new Split Airport terminal was approximately 60 million euro, slightly less than Zagreb's reported 330 million.
And then the media started taking a closer look, highlighting some embarrassing language fails, the most hilarious (embarrassing, depending on your point of view) - toilets disabled. Meant of course to point out the toilet facilities for disabled passengers, 'toilet disabled' actually means toilet out of use.
A hard thing to get wrong, and an easy thing to correct, one might think
And the Zagreb Airport authorities were quick react, as you can see from the same sign above. No more embarrassing 'Toilet Disabled' anymore. In fact, nothing at all in English. The English translation was simply erased, with disabled passengers left to work things out via the picture of the Croatian version. Presumably the decision-makers were worried about the cost of an accurate translation. If a bad translator had contributed to the 330 million euro cost, how much would an accurate translation of a toilet sign cost? Much easier just to erase the whole thing.
I don't fly often these days, but I passed through Zagreb Airport last December on a business trip to Berlin. I was curious to see the toilet signs, to see if there were any gems still remaining. There were.
Toilet Women.
They are presumably related to Toilet Men, who exist today in English, next to the now erased Toilet Disabled. I don't know what is worse, erasing Toilet Disabled because a correct translation is too difficult, or assessing the sign to see if there were any more language fails in the only two English words which remain (there are).
Perhaps Zagreb Airport was trying to prepare its passengers for the world of Balkan brilliance and epic language fails, for this region certainly specialises in them,
Here are some of the best in Lauren Simmonds' excellent piece - Smallpox, Diarrhoea and Free Hand Jobs: Lost in Translation in Croatia.
Instead of a Market, Here's the First Book About Advent in Zagreb
November 10, 2020 – Hrvoje Dečak, author of the first book about Advent in Zagreb, believes it will at least slightly replace the "real" Advent this winter, and that it will be a valuable Zagreb souvenir in the future as well.
A walk through the decorated center of Zagreb, drinking mulled wine at the small houses, ice-skating on the beautiful ice rink on King Tomislav Square are just some of the memories that bind us to the Zagreb Christmas Fair Advent in Zagreb, which this year, unfortunately, due to the coronavirus pandemic, we will not be able to relive.
Well, not on the Zagreb streets, but inside the cover of the eponymous book “Advent in Zagreb”. At the end of November, right at the time when the "real" Advent was supposed to begin, the first book about the most important Zagreb manifestation will be published.
Available in English as well
It is the work of long-time Croatian journalist Hrvoje Dečak, who was amazed by the Zagreb Advent and its huge popularity from year to year and decided to preserve a trace of it.
"My admiration for the creativity of the people who create the Zagreb Advent – and I think Croatians are extremely creative people – prompted me to inquire if there is a book about it. When I was convinced that there isn't one, I suggested to the director and the editor of the Publishing house 'Meridijani' where I work, prof. Petra Somek, to make a book about Advent," explains Dečak, noting that the book, above all, brings 120 gorgeous photos of last year's Advent variegation, signed by the prominent Croatian photographer Romeo Ibrišević.
Zrinjevac Park during the last year's Advent in Zagreb / Romeo Ibrišević
"In the text of the book, we summarized what Advent is, where Croatia and Zagreb are, when Advent variegation began to appear on the streets of Zagreb, and we briefly described the components of Advent in Zagreb as it was until the last winter: locations in the city, food, drinks, souvenirs, cultural and other events. There is a line about Zagreb and the people of Zagreb as well," describes Dečak.
They immediately decided to make the book bilingual – in Croatian and English, because Zagreb has been especially popular among tourists from all over the world in recent years, as evidenced by the three consecutive titles of the Best Christmas Fair in Europe in 2016, 2017, and 2018 awarded by the European Best Destinations organization.
Advent in Zagreb 2019 / Romeo Ibrišević
'Books can preserve the content'
However, at the time they started writing it, the authors could not have guessed that the world would be hit by a pandemic and that there would be no favorite Zagreb Christmas fair, except in a symbolic form. This makes this book special because this year it will at least partially replace Advent in Zagreb.
Dečak notes that "Advent in Zagreb", in addition to beautiful photographs, brings three interesting additions. The first of them briefly describes Croatian Christmas customs. The second brings interesting facts about Zagreb, such as the shortest funicular in the world, the Linen Book of Zagreb (the longest Etruscan inscription in the world that wrapped the mummy in the Archaeological Museum in Zagreb), and the world-famous Professor Balthazar. The third edition describes the short history of Zagreb and Croatia, where the authors chronologically described the most important events in Zagreb, but also in the Croatian history so that tourists and other foreigners can learn something about us.
"We tried to say very succinctly, but clearly, the main thing about the key events and people of the 20th century, because in the world, there are still a lot of distorted views of Croatia, its people, and recent history," said Dečak.
Rich offer of Croatian traditional products on the stands of Advent in Zagreb 2019 / Romeo Ibrišević
The book can be ordered in the editorial office of the publishing house "Meridijani", and it is possible to get a 20 percent discount until November 27. After that, the book will be available on the premises of "Meridijani" in Samobor (Obrtnička 26), on their webshop, and in bookstores.
"Media articles are scattered, but in a book, something can still be conjoint and permanently preserved, and at the same time easily accessible. Admittedly, some predict that books will die out, but I don't believe in that," says Dečak confidently.
The book "Advent in Zagreb" / Source: Meridijani
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16-year-old Croatian Skier Zrinka Ljutic Achieves Excellent Result in First FIS Giant Slalom Race
November 10, 2020 - Sixteen-year-old Zrinka Ljutic, a promising Croatian skier, achieved an excellent result in the first FIS giant slalom race of her career.
Index.hr reports that with a starting number 114, she finished the first run in 33rd place, and in the second run, she finished in 21st with the second-best time of the second run.
The FIS races are just below the World Cup races, in which the best skiers in the world participate, and in which the last Croatian representatives were Janica Kostelic, Ana Jelusic, and Nika Fleiss.
With this result, Ljutic won 51.36 FIS points, the most that any Croatian skiers won in their first FIS race. At the beginning of 2020, Ljutic became the best skier in the world, winning as many as four gold medals at the strongest international competition for young skiers.
Sixteen-year-old Zrinka has a dream season behind her; she is untouchable in slalom and giant slalom, which she proved at the Alpe Cimbra Cup, the unofficial world championship for younger ages, once known as the Topolino Trophy.
Behind these successes stand the harmonious Ljutic family. Dad Amir and four children, 17-year-old Tvrtko, 16-year-old Zrinka, 15-year-old Dora, and 13-year-old Hrvoje, spend most of the year in Innerkrems, Austria, where they train and continue learning.
Despite spending more than nine months a year in the snow, Zrinka and her older brother are great surfers. Her brother is also one of the best young surfers in Europe in the freestyle discipline.
"At sea, we train, surf, windsurf, freestyle. We’ve been doing it for a long time, and we’re good at it, but it fell into the background; it just became a hobby. We train, we have excellent training conditions, we get away from skiing and everything," Zrinka told Dnevnik Nova TV.
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Filip Hrgovic Announces Zagreb Fight in December
November 10, 2020 - Croatian boxer Filip Hrgovic announces Zagreb fight in December if all goes to plan.
The best Croatian heavyweight boxer Filip Hrgovic (28), who reached his 12th professional victory with a triumph against 39-year-old American Rydell Booker, announced on his return to Zagreb that he has the opportunity to fight again this year, but that a real breakthrough in the IBF challenger rankings is expected next year when he should fight someone from the top of the world in February or March.
"It is best to be at home; I am happy to be back," said Hrgovic in a good mood and thanked everyone for welcoming him at Zagreb Airport.
"The referee made a good decision to end the fight. Booker had no control and was behind in points. He might have endured another round, but that wouldn’t make sense; he’d get even more beatings. I think I played that fight very well, and I am the first to manage to ‘finish’ him. Bulgarian Kubrat Pulev, who has twice fought for the world title, won it by a referee's decision after ten rounds," Hrgovic said.
The next fight should be on December 19 in Zagreb, but that has not been confirmed yet. The location is unknown at this time.
"It will probably be without an audience; we just need a place for the ring and cameras."
After the victory against Booker, he named the boxers he wants to fight next.
"The ones I called out, I should fight against them in February or March. But an agreement needs to be made with them. It doesn't matter who it would be, but it is important that it is an opponent from the top of the world and that it resonates worldwide. If that fight goes well, I should be among the top five on the IBF challenger rankings. Also, then next year, I could have three or four fights," said Hrgovic and added:
"Our goal is to fight for the IBF title. I may fight for the title as early as next year or 2022. But it may never be. We will have to wait to see how things develop."
Source: HRT
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Flights to Croatia: Air Transat Plans to Reconnect Toronto and Zagreb Summer 2021
November 10, 2020 - The latest news for flights to Croatia as Air Transat plans to reconnect Toronto and Zagreb next summer.
Croatian Aviation reports that the Canadian leisure airline, Air Transat, confirmed for their portal that in the 2021 summer flight schedule, it plans to reconnect Toronto and Zagreb with a direct airline.
Air Transat is the first airline from a distant market to confirm its return to Zagreb in the next summer season. After the complete withdrawal of Emirates, and at this moment, indecisive carriers such as Korean Air and Air Canada Rouge, Air Transat has confirmed its plan to return to Zagreb Airport.
Air Transat made its first flight on the Toronto - Zagreb route in June 2016, continuously increasing the number of weekly flights on this route from season to season and extending the duration of operations (currently from May to the end of October).
This airline mainly transported many Canadian tourists to Zagreb (to a lesser extent the diaspora, but is mainly used the Air Canada Rouge), and it was logical to temporarily cancel the route for this summer season, given the reduced demand and passenger restrictions on state borders.
"Croatia is a well-known tourist destination, and we believe that in 2021 we will reconnect Toronto and Zagreb with a direct line. Tickets are already on sale, and operations will depend solely on passenger demand - our intention is clear, we want to reconnect these two markets!"
The first flight on the Toronto - Zagreb route has been announced for Tuesday, May 11, 2021. The line will operate once a week until the end of May, with departures on Sundays from May 30 and flights on Thursdays from June 17.
From June 17, Air Transat intends to operate on this route three times a week until the beginning of September, and then the number of weekly flights will decrease as the summer season approaches.
On the Toronto - Zagreb - Toronto route, A330-200 aircraft have been announced, which have a capacity of 332 to 345 seats in the fleet of this airline.
Departures from Toronto are on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays in the evening, and as it is a night flight, a departure from Zagreb to Toronto is the next day (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday). Apart from Toronto as a final destination, passengers from Zagreb have access to other Canadian cities, such as Calgary, Vancouver, and Montreal.
Air Transat's intention to return to Zagreb in the summer of 2021 is certainly positive news; if we live a normal lifestyle again next summer, there is no doubt that many Canadian tourists will use this line and come to Croatia on vacation.
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Coach Zlatko Dalic Announces Updated Croatia Lineup
November 9, 2020 - The Croatia national team gathered on Monday ahead of its upcoming matches against Turkey, Sweden, and Portugal. Coach Zlatko Dalic announced an updated Croatia lineup and game plan.
The Croatia national football team is expected to play three matches in just six days. The 2018 World Cup finalists will play against Turkey in a friendly match on November 11, followed by their final Nations League campaign against Sweden on November 14 and in Split against Portugal on November 17.
Dejan Lovren was dropped from the squad at the last minute for the friendly match, and the Zenit stopper cannot play against Sweden due to cards. Lovren will thus join the national team in Split.
"I expect all invited players to come throughout the day and everyone to attend training. I know there were some problems, but we don't have any new announcements regarding absences. The only one who will be absent is Lovren, in agreement with me. He will stay in Russia and join the national team when we come to Split. He has a minor tendon injury and two yellow cards, so we don't have him against Sweden. We know that Kramaric will not attend due to injury, and the others on the list are all there," said Dalic.
The national team includes debutants Tomo Basic of Bordeaux and Marin Pongracic of Wolfsburg.
"Basic deserved an invitation based on his games for his club, and we want to try Pongracic, who has already received an invitation several times but could not come due to injuries. This time he is healthy, but I know he has been absent for a long time. I want him to be in the national team and feel the atmosphere," said Dalic.
Livakovic was also dropped from the lineup. Dalic thus has Kalinic, Grbic, and Sluga at his disposal, who will probably get a chance ahead of the others.
"Lovre Kalinic has been with us for a long time, but he hasn't been goalkeeping lately. There aren't many dilemmas because Sluga is the only one regularly in goal; he has rhythm and form. We will try to give a chance to two goalkeepers depending on the situation. I hope that Livakovic will be ready soon, he could join us already during these matches, but we will not rush with him. I trust the goalkeepers who are there," concluded Dalic.
Source: HNS
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Bale and Bjelovar Win Miko Tripalo Award for Promotion of Local Democracy
ZAGREB, November 9, 2020 - The Istrian municipality of Bale has been given the Miko Tripalo Award for promoting local democracy through participatory development and local governance while Bjelovar, a town east of Zagreb, has been awarded for promoting local democracy through budget transparency.
The Miko Tripalo Centre for Democracy and Law, established in tribute to the prominent Croatian politician, reformer and dissident, said the award went to the two local government units which "are bright examples of local democracy in Croatia, creating room for the necessary change of the public governance paradigm at the local and regional levels and promoting the values of a democratic and open society."
Since 2019, residents of Bjelovar have had access to information on payments from the town budget, including payments to legal and natural persons as well as daily allowances for town employees.
With participatory development, Bale municipality has turned to the strategic planning of development based on environmental protection and the preservation of natural resources and the cultural and historical heritage.
The award-giving ceremony, held in Bale, was addressed by the president of the Miko Tripalo Centre for Democracy and Law, former president Ivo Josipovic, and the chair of its Steering Board, historian Tvrtko Jakovina, as well as Bale municipality head Edi Pastrovicchio and Bjelovar deputy mayor Igor Brajdic.
