May the 25th, 2022 - A massive 1.3 billion kuna has been secured for Croatian tourism recovery following to unprecedented pandemic-dominated years in which very little, if anything, was realised at all.
As Dora Koretic/Jutarnji/Novac writes, according to the Ministry of Tourism, for the first time, a significant amount has been secured for Croatian tourism recovery in the next Multiannual Financial Framework, from which the sector will have access to 1.3 billion kuna.
These are funds from within the Competitiveness and Cohesion Operational Programme and the Integrated Territorial Programme for the period from 2021 to 2027, of which most of the money should be available to small and medium enterprises which operate in the field of tourism.
As has since been learned from the Ministry of Tourism and Sport, companies will have 689.4 million kuna available under the allocation for Croatian tourism recovery, which will be made available through financial instruments.
"The money is intended for investment in smart technologies, innovation and development, job creation, for the growth of competitiveness and new products, such as the construction of small hotels, renovation, digitalisation or the green transition," the competent ministry revealed.
Wellness tourism
In addition, 40 million euros/302 million kuna were provided for tourism - twice.
The first part of this cash refers to "improving the role of culture and sustainable tourism in economic development, social inclusion and social innovation", where money is being provided for investments in public tourism infrastructure, primarily healthcare, wellness and wellbeing tourism, then follows active tourism, that is, sports infrastructure and the valorization of natural and cultural heritage.
According to the ministry, this is a grant, while a new 302 million kuna has been provided through the "Integrated Territorial Programme", which is responsible for the development and implementation of the Ministry of Regional Development and EU Funds.
"These investments are focused on public tourism and sports infrastructure in urban areas, hilly and mountainous areas, as well as the islands. All of the investments, as well as those financed by the National Fund for Recovery and Resilience (Croatian: NPOO), focus primarily on the digital and green transition,'' they said from the Ministry, which noted that the ultimate goals should be to reduce the impact of tourism on the environment, reduce energy consumption, increase the production of clean energy and reduce costs in general.
This week, the Croatian tourism sector finally welcomed the announcement of the full and detailed criteria for the possibility of using the money earmarked for tourism under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, under which, the plan for Croatian tourism recovery will have access to money amounting to a massive 2.1 billion kuna.
You can find out more about how Bjelovar is planning to utilise these huge sums by clicking here.
Tourist infrastructure
Details for applying for the first tender, intended to finance tourist infrastructure, after much anticipation, were finally announced at a public consultation this week. These are the details of the call worth 930 million kuna, intended for local and regional self-government units, but also with the possibility of applying to private investors, mainly through public-private partnerships.
Half of the money is actually intended for publicly owned spas, ie for the purpose of wellness and health tourism, while the rest relates to visitor infrastructure and active tourism infrastructure.
However, most of the sector, ie its private part, is most looking forward to the publication of all of the details and criteria for applying for the second call within the NPOO, worth 1.2 billion kuna in total.
The Tourism Ministry revealed that most of the money will be used for hotels, worth 720 million kuna, mainly for investment in accommodation facilities, including ancillary facilities such as bars, restaurants, congress halls or amusement parks.
For more on post-pandemic Croatian tourism recovery, make sure to keep up with our dedicated politics section.
