On Monday, the Ministry of Tourism held the 42nd session of the Croatian National Tourist Board (HTZ) Tourist Council, whereby members of the Council presented the proposal for the annual work program of the Croatian National Tourist Board for 2019. At the session, a call for expressions of interest for the implementation of the ‘Sportska Hrvatska’ (Sports Croatia) project in 2019 and a proposal for a decision to form the Commission for Sports Croatia was issued.
An outstanding emphasis on future work will be placed on the new program and in cooperation with Croatian Olympic, Handball and Football Federations with the goal of strengthening Croatia's position on the dynamic world tourism market, reports HRTurizam on November 22, 2018.
As highlighted by HTZ, the reason for a more systematic approach to branding through sport is because of this year's results of sports promotion and, therefore, for next year, the Sports Croatia program is being prepared to support the top sporting events in Croatia and will carry out promotional activities in cooperation with international known Croatian athletes.
Sports Croatia has already supported projects and events such as the Tour of Croatia, ATP Croatia Open in Umag, the Pannonian Challenge, the Downhill UCI MTB World Cup in Mali Lošinj, and the World Series TP52 Super Series race held in Šibenik and Zadar last year. In addition, the proposal for a decision on marketing cooperation with the Croatian Olympic Committee on the project "Sports Croatia” and decisions on marketing cooperation with the Croatian Football and Handball Federationss was adopted.
“It is important to point out that Croatia's promotion through a combination of sports and well-known people is also currently one of the most effective promotional tools, as confirmed in Russia this summer for one of the most watched World Cups. Through the cooperation with top Croatian athletes, winners of medals and participants of the most important international competitions in domestic and foreign markets, as well as through cooperation in the maintenance of top sporting events in Croatia, our goal is to further strengthen the brand and raise awareness of Croatia as an attractive tourist destination of various tourist offers throughout the year. As some kind of ambassadors of our country, athletes deserve our maximum support in work and development, and I also believe that cooperation in domestic and broadcasting markets will have a positive impact on increasing tourism and general spending,” said Tourism Minister and President of the Croatian Tourist Board Gari Cappelli.
In the forthcoming period, the Croatian National Tourist Board will thus have four years of cooperation with the Croatian Olympic Committee for the implementation of marketing and PR cooperation in the "Sports Destination Croatia" project on the trail of quality infrastructure and recognition based on the athletes' successes, created and delivered as an innovative product focused largely on the foreign sports market.
Also, from 2019 to 2021, the Croatian National Tourist Board and the Croatian Handball Federation, in order to further strengthen the brand, will cooperate through matches and performances the Croatian men's senior handball team will play during the term of the contract. The proposal of cooperation, among other things, includes branding sports equipment with Croatian tourism, highlighting the same on the handball court at matches organized by HRS and other allied materials, the use of HRS visuals and other activities related to the implementation of HTZ promotional activities. In addition, by the end of 2018 to the end of 2022, cooperation with the Croatian Football Federation will be implemented, which will include marketing and PR activities related to home games and training in Croatian and foreign markets.
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