July 21, 2021 - New travel rules will take effect from Monday, as all vaccinated British tourists entering Croatia must also present a negative COVID-19 test to enter the country. The same rules apply to tourists from Russia and Cyprus. We're bringing you the details. 

A major change is being introduced to enter Croatia. All Britons, Russians, and Cypriots must have a negative test to cross the Croatian border, regardless of whether they have been vaccinated or have contracted and recovered from COVID-19. The change takes effect next Monday, reports Index.hr.

The basis for the changes is the Decision on the temporary prohibition and restriction of crossing the Croatian border, which states that the CNIPH determines the list of countries to which additional rules apply.

The CNIPH has added the United Kingdom, Russia, and Cyprus to the list of countries that require a PCR test not older than 72 hours or a rapid antigen test not older than 48 hours, which was expected.

The CNIPH published the news, which is transmitted in its entirety below.

"To protect health and prevent the spread of COVID-19, additional epidemiological measures have been introduced, which are applied when crossing the border into the territory of the Republic of Croatia to prevent the introduction of new variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Due to the above, there was a quarantine obligation for arrivals from the Republic of South Africa, Brazil, Zanzibar, and India for a period of 14 days, which a negative PCR test can shorten after 7 days.

Since the Delta strain was imported from India, it has now become dominant in the European Union. The list of countries for which quarantine is mandatory remains the Republic of South Africa, Brazil, and Zanzibar. For persons coming from India, the mandatory quarantine after crossing the border is abolished. The obligation to present a negative test result on SARS-CoV-2 is introduced within 48 hours when crossing the border if it is a rapid antigen test or within 72 hours if it is a PCR test, regardless of whether the person has contracted COVID-19 or has been vaccinated.

Due to the worse epidemiological situation in the United Kingdom, Cyprus, and the Russian Federation, as an additional measure for all persons coming from these countries, a negative SARS-CoV-2 test performed in the home country, regardless of vaccination status or recovery from COVID-19, is required before entering the territory of the Republic of Croatia.

The change will be published on the CNIPH website and will take effect on Monday, July 26, 2021," the CNIPH said.

For all you need to know about coronavirus specific to Croatia, including vaccination points and testing sites, make sure to bookmark our dedicated COVID-19 section and select your preferred language.

April 10, 2021 - According to the Minister of Tourism and Sports Nikolina Brnjac, the State will cover part of the testing costs for tourists in Croatia.

With a good epidemiological situation, we can expect a higher percentage than last year, said the Minister of Tourism and Sports Nikolina Brnjac for HTV's Dnevnik, answering what percentage we could achieve in the season compared to 2019.

On Friday, it was announced that 70,000 tourism workers would be vaccinated in mid-April. Brnjac told Dnevnik that a survey revealed that about 68,000 tourist workers would like to get vaccinated.

"Tourist employees are in direct contact. It is an epidemiological measure by which we can prevent further outbreaks," said Brnjac.

Germany also put Croatia on the list of high-risk areas. Will it affect tourists?

"First of all, we will look at the epidemiological situation. After that, of course, tourists will look at the vaccination coverage of tourism workers. The segment of the Safe Stay in Croatia project is also important to them, where we have developed all epidemiological standards, protocols, together with the CNIPH, which should be adhered to by all of us in the tourism sector," said Brnjac.

She stated that so far, about 12,000 facilities have received the Safe Stay in Croatia label. Three levels of control have been introduced - one will go from the Ministry, and the other will be professional associations. The third and most important is the guest themselves - the tourist will see how someone behaves and whether they adhere to all measures and protocols, said Brnjac.

"They will see through the QR code in the facility about the protocols are, the standards, whether everyone adheres to them and will be able to send a direct e-mail with their comments, which goes directly to the Ministry, If it is negative, that facility will not get that label," said Brnjac.

When asked about the price of antigen tests at mobile testing points for foreign guests returning to their countries, she could not give a concrete answer, but she said that the state would cover part of the cost.

"The state will cover part of the cost; it will participate in a rather large amount as far as the price of the antigen test is concerned," said Brnjac.

Follow the latest travel updates and COVID-19 news from Croatia HERE.

For more on travel in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.