ZAGREB, 22 July 2021 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Thursday that after a period of decrease and stagnation, the past week saw a marked increase in the number of new cases of the coronavirus infection, and he called for caution, adding that additional restrictions are being introduced in the Adriatic region.

The largest number of cases were registered in four Dalmatian counties which are all tourist destinations, so the national COVID-19 crisis management team will introduce additional epidemiological measures in that area to limit the possibility of the infection spreading, to control events with a greater number of participants, to avoid risks and to make tourist season possible, Plenković announced at his cabinet's session.

He added that the government took into account the health aspect, but also the tourist, economic, financial, and social aspects.

As for vaccination, he said that as of yesterday Croatia passed the number of 1.6 million people vaccinated with the first dose against coronavirus.

"That's very good, we're getting closer to the number of 48% of the vaccinated adult population. I still call on everyone, especially those in two minds or in fear, to get informed, to have confidence in the profession, medicine, all those who want to protect as many citizens as possible, and to decide to get vaccinated themselves," the prime minister said.

94% of hospitalized COVID-19 patients not vaccinated against this infection

He said that there was "an abundance" of vaccines and recalled last week's decision to enable all Croatian citizens without mandatory health insurance and Croatia from all over the world, as well as all other foreign nationals, to get vaccinated, so, for instance, someone from Mostar going on holiday to Makarska can get vaccinated for free there.

"I would like us to contribute to the protection against COVID beyond our borders also in that way because this is a global game, and with our action, we want to make that contribution," Plenković said, inviting people to use this opportunity.

He also underlined that 94% of hospitalized COVID patients had not been fully inoculated against that infection.

Ministers: Numbers growing, a new package of measures to be introduced

Health Minister Vili Beroš said at the government session that the number of COVID cases was unfortunately rising and that the epidemiological situation in some counties called for caution, while Interior Minister Davor Božinović announced the introduction of a new set of measures.

In the two-week period from 5 to 18 July, Zadar, Split-Dalmatia, Primorje-Gorski Kotar counties and the City of Zagreb registered the largest number of new cases, Beroš said.

"The numbers are unfortunately still growing, the increase in positive cases over the past seven days is 46.1%, the situation in some counties calls for caution, so it requires increased monitoring and caution," said Beroš, warning of the easy spread of the new variant of the virus and of several smaller hotspots.

He said the situation in hospitals was generally favorable, with the exception of some hospitals in Dalmatia, which are recording a slight increase in the number of hospitalized patients. There are currently 122 patients in hospitals, 13 of whom are on ventilators, he said, reiterating that 94% of hospitalized patients have not been vaccinated against COVID-19.

A total of 2.9 million doses have been administered, and the minister announced pharmacies would join the vaccination process and issue COVID certificates.

On the 514th day since the outbreak of coronavirus in Croatia, 179 new cases have been registered, the percentage of positive tests over the past 24 hours is 4.56%, and Croatia's 14-day incidence rate per 100,000 inhabitants is 35.9, the health minister said.

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November 5, 2020 – At the Adriatic Region Investment Forum held yesterday in Zagreb Hotel Westin, participants discussed health and wellness tourism opportunities in Croatia and the Adriatic region.

As part of the fourth Adriatic Region Investment Forum for Health, Sports, and Tourism, held yesterday at the Westin Hotel in Zagreb, numerous potentials of Croatia and the entire Adriatic region were presented as year-round health tourism destinations.

Under the new circumstances, panelists and lecturers were filmed in a set-up studio in the hall of the Westin Hotel, and the forum could be followed online.

Projects of new tourist capacities

Of course, the topic of the coronavirus pandemic and the new circumstances that it brought in health tourism could not have been avoided. Dr. Prem Jagyasi (India-UAE), one of the world's most important experts and promoters in health tourism, gave a lecture on integrating wellness programs into the global health and medical tourism industry and was also joined by Dr. Lutz Lungwitz, President of the German Association of Medical Wellness, Emin Cakmak, founder of the Global Healthcare Travel Council from Turkey, and Dr. Jeana Havidich from the USA (Association of Croatian American Professionals).

The presentation of the prepared projects is a special feature of this Investment Forum, and several projects of new hospitals and other health and tourism capacities in Croatia and the region have been offered, as well as large health tourist resorts.

A synergy of rural and health tourism

The panel "Food as a resource in tourism" provoked an interesting discussion in which the multidisciplinary nature of the participants enabled possible new directions for the development of rural areas in Croatia. The synergy of rural and health tourism can strengthen the production, but also the settlement of rural areas, especially in the next financial period (2021-2027) in which such development will be encouraged, especially if it is set as one of the strategic developments of the Republic of Croatia.

Tugomir Majdak, State Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, Marcel Medak (President of the Health Tourism Association of the Croatian Chamber of Commerce), Assistant Professor Sanja Music Milanovic (HZJZ), Zeljko Ivancevic (Consultant - ECS Brussels), and John Raffetto (American Adriatic Health Ltd, Washington DC) participated in this panel.

AI in health and rural tourism

Another interesting panel entitled "Challenges of the application of artificial intelligence in health and rural tourism" is the work of experts from the company Infodom, which was the main sponsor of the Forum this year. About this interesting and instructive topic through the application of new technologies, Hrvoje Sagrak, President of the Management Board of Infodom, Ph.D. Silvana Tomić Rotim, director of the Croatian Institute for Informatics, Mislav Malenica, president of the CRO.AI association, and prof.dr.sc.Slavko Vidović, a founder of Infodom, gave their opinions.

Source: Adriatic Region Investment Forum

Sports and health infrastructure

In previous years, the topic of sports was opened at the Forum as part of what is important for the branding of Croatia, and this year again one of the panels is dedicated to this topic. The intention was to emphasize the need for sports infrastructure as a basis to be able to brand sports potential in various sports in which Croatia achieves above-average results.

Sports infrastructure, including human resources, is a strong basis for fitting the sports offer into the overall year-round tourism offer. The last, but very interesting and energetic panel entitled "Sports and health infrastructure in the branding of sustainable tourism" was attended by Ranko Ćetković, Assistant Secretary General of the COC, prof.dr.sc. Igor Jukić, Ph.D. Miljenko Bura and a pioneer of the health industry, prim.dr. Vlasta Brozičević from Terme Selce.

Terms and circumstances of investing in Croatia

The investment forum was opened by the envoy of the Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, State Secretary of the Ministry of Tourism and Sports Tonči Glavina, and introductory speeches were given by the envoy of the Mayor of Zagreb Milan Bandić, Ana Pandža Kunčević, Violetta Yanshevskaja (who spoke from Kiev), President of Global Healthcare Travel Council, and the main organizer dr.sc. Miljenko Bura.

Some of the main names on the list of speakers are dr.sc. Jakša Puljiz (Institute for Development and International Relations), Tonči Glavina, State Secretary at the Ministry of Tourism and Sports, Šime Erlić, State Secretary at the Ministry of Regional Development and EU Funds, Jurica Mateša from the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development, and John Gašparac (PWC Croatia), who also moderated an interesting and informative panel which discussed the stimulating conditions and circumstances of investing in Croatia.

Special emphasis was placed on the topicality of "European" money, which must contribute to faster achievement of strategic goals of the National Development Strategy of the Republic of Croatia until 2030. Invitation and messages were sent to interested investors to create preconditions for intensive investment in the next ten years.

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November 3, 2020 – As a one-day event in new circumstances, with an emphasis on the online presentation model and a smaller number of participants, the fourth Adriatic Region Investment Forum of health, sports, and tourism will be held in Zagreb tomorrow.

The fourth Adriatic Region Health and Tourism Investment Forum will bring together world-renowned experts, entrepreneurs, and investors at the Westin Hotel in Zagreb, to consider exploiting the Adriatic region's exceptional health and tourism potential to become a year-round desirable destination.

The Forum will address topics related to the national development strategy of the Republic of Croatia until 2030 in the sectors of health, tourism, and health tourism, through the challenges of developing a year-round destination of sustainable tourism, the synergy of rural and health tourism, and food as a resource in tourism.

This year's Investment Forum will be officially opened on Wednesday, November 4, at 9 am by the envoy of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Croatia, State Secretary of the Ministry of Tourism and Sports Tonči Glavina. The esteemed audience will be addressed with words of support by the President of the largest international health tourism association, which brings together representatives from over 60 countries, dr. Violeta Yanyshevskaya (Global Healthcare Travel Council) and the President of the Organizing Committee of the 4th AHT Invest Forum, Ph.D. Miljenko Bura, director of the Forum organizers (Bura Medical Group).

After the grand opening ceremony of the Forum, participants will have the opportunity to follow the presentations of world experts via video link, which will be held by dr. Lutz Lungwitz, President of the German Medical Wellness Association, dr. Prem Jagyasi, author of medical and wellness tourism guides, Emin Cakmak, founder and honorary president of Global Healthcare Travel Council from Turkey, and Dr. Jeanna Havidich from the Association of Croatian-American Experts, a section for health tourism.

The organizer of the forum is Bura Medical Group, and the detailed program can be found on the official website of the event.

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