Travel

June 1, 2019 - The eagerly-awaited opening of Palace Elisabeth, Hvar's first 5-star hotel, is getting closer, with the external renderings now complete.  Some nice things are happening on the island of Hvar.  The island with the most sun in Europe and the most UNESCO heritage of any island in the world, is focusing more attention on its rich cultural heritage, and 2019 has already seen some significant milestones. Having celebrated 150 years of the oldest organised tourism in Europe last year (after the founding of the Hvar Health Society in 1868), last month saw another significant event - the…

The city of Šibenik is one of the few towns in the world with two cultural monuments listed on UNESCO's cultural heritage list - the St. James Cathedral and the St. Nicholas Fortress, reports HRTurizam on June 1, 2019. The St. Nicholas Fortress will again welcome visitors from June 15, after nearly two years of being closed to the public. During this off period, construction works were carried out to clean the building, with necessary restoration and measures for the safety of visitors. The boat dock at the main entrance was restored and provided secure and organized access to the…

If you've ever visited Croatia and you're not the hotel type, the chances are you've used the massive private accommodation booking and reservation platform Airbnb. The company, despite having faced numerous obstacles from multiple countries around the world, has gone from strength to strength since its ''birth'' not so long ago, and after having entered the Croatian market a few years ago, its popularity among travellers who fancy a much more personal and local experience has done nothing but grow. Airbnbs can be found all over the country, from the glitz of the Dalmatian coast and its many islands to…

The Croatian Tourist Board (HTZ), in cooperation with tourist boards of Spain, France, Catalonia, Monaco and the City of Zagreb, is presenting its luxury tourism segment at the prestigious Mediterranean Luxe event in Singapore, held at the same time as the International Luxury Travel Mart Asia Pacific tourist fair. The Mediterranean Luxe is a special presentation of the luxurious products and services, actually of which types of luxury tourism certain destinations offer. This year, it brought together over 80 international buyers and businesses, the Croatian Tourist Board reported. "Luxury tourism is the tourism which has added value, and Croatian participation…

As Barbara Ban/Novac writes on the 30th of May, 2019, world tourism officials met this Tuesday in Zagreb at the 64th meeting of the World Travel Organisation Commission (UNWTO), which was inaugurated among others by UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili, a well known Georgian politician and diplomat. This event has now been held for the second time in the Republic of Croatia, and it's particularly important because Croatia is chairing the commission. With that, the largest number of delegations to have come to Zagreb arrived - from as many as 44 countries. Pololikashvili has nothing but complete praise for Croatia's striking…

Thanks to a group of tireless enthusiasts - people who love the sea and maritime tradition have been working hard on organising the Fiumare festival - The Kvarner Festival of the sea and naval tradition. It's an exciting event for both local people and visitors to Rijeka, taking place for the eighth time, with the final goal of reviving the hundred-year-old maritime tradition of the city. During the festival, Rijeka is taken back one hundred years, when the area around the Dead Channel was the location of the intensive merchant traffic every day.  It's a unique festival of the sea…

May 30, 2019 - There is a new entertainment hot spot on the island of Hvar, one which is more than 400 years old - the multi-functional oldest public theatre in Europe. It was closed for almost 20 years for renovation, but it seems that Hvar fully intends to make maximum use out of its newly renovated cultural treasure, the oldest public theatre in Europe, which dates back to 1612. The theatre, which lies on the first floor of the imposing Arsenal building which guards the entrance to Hvar Town's majestic main square, reopened earlier this month with a series…

May 30, 2019 - Red History Museum, a new museum in Dubrovnik looking at Croatia's socialist past, is proving rather a hit on a topic which usually polarises opinion. If there is one thing I have learned living in Croatia, it is that talking about Croatia's recent Socialist path is the shortest way to disagreement and argument with someone.  I can totally understand why the Tito period is so divisive, and why the former Yugoslav leader is so reviled and loved by different sections of the population.  And so when I heard that two brothers had opened a new museum…

May 30, 2019 - Game of Thrones promotion of Croatia - the public versus the private sector. An update from Unforgettable Croatia on THAT competition offer. It was possibly the most anticipated event in television series history - the opening of Season 8 of the wildly popular HBO show, Game of Thrones.  All over the globe, major international brands teamed up with HBO to produce GoT-themed variations of their popular products. Brands such as Johnnie Walker. One of the main locations for Game of Thrones, of course, is Croatia, and Dubrovnik. As a global marketing opportunity for Croatian tourism, this…

The town of Kaštela is located by the Bay of Kaštela, consisting of seven villages: Kaštel Sućurac, Kaštel Gomilica, Kaštel Kambelovac, Kaštel Lukšić, Kaštel Stari, Kaštel Novi, Kaštel Štafilić, which used to be seven fortresses (which is exactly what the word Kaštela means). Now, they've decided to tell the story of their town through an innovative project, including a children's book, a website, an audio story and an illustrated map of the town, by a local artist called Nataša Jukić, and the main character of the entire project is Seagull Bepo, a friendly face who will tell you the story…