ZAGREB, 17 Feb 2022 - Croatia's Minister for Foreign and European Affairs, Gordan Grlić Radman, on Thursday thanked the Bavarian State Minister for Federal Affairs and Media, Florian Herrmann, for the assistance this German province had extended to the earthquake-hit Sisak-Moslavina County.

"We consider this gesture a sign of great friendship and solidarity between Croatia and Bavaria," Grlić Radman said after their meeting in Munich.

Last year, Bavaria sent to Croatia over 70 tonnes of construction material, dozens of container homes, packages for children and other aid to help it deal with the aftermath of strong earthquakes that struck Sisak-Moslavina County, central Croatia on 28 and 29 December 2020.

The two ministers said that Croatia and Bavaria fostered very close political, economic and cultural ties, and Grlić Radman noted the role of the sizeable Croatian community in the largest German province as an important factor in maintaining bilateral relations.

Herrmann, a member of the Christian Social Union, reiterated Bavaria's support for Croatia's aspirations to join the Schengen area and the euro zone. Grlić Radman informed him about the situation in the Western Balkans, notably in Bosnia and Herzegovina where talks on the reform of electoral legislation have reached an impasse.

Grlić Radman will talk about this matter later in the day at a panel at the 57th Munich Security Conference. The conference formally opens on Friday, and Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković is due to attend on Sunday.

Apart from Grlić Radman and Herrmann, the panel on the Western Balkans will also be attended by the international community's High Representative to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Christian Schmidt, US Special Envoy Gabriel Escobar and Bosnia and Herzegovina's Foreign Minister Bisera  Turković.

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ZAGREB, 15 June, 2021 - Croatian Tourism Minister Nikolina Brnjac met with Bavaria's Deputy Premier and Minister of Economic Affairs, Regional Development and Energy, Hubert Aiwanger, in Munich on Monday to discuss ways of increasing cooperation in the tourism sector.

Brnjac said that Croatia and Bavaria would continue exchanging experience and best practice in the digitalisation of tourism services and the development of cultural and rural tourism, her ministry announced in a press release.

"Croatia and Bavaria put emphasis on the development of sustainable tourism, and their cooperation in many areas of common interest has been going on for about 50 years within the Bavarian-Croatian Commission," Brnjac said.

She noted that half of German tourists visiting Croatia come from Bavaria, which is why it is very important for Croatia to convey the information on the activities that are being undertaken so that Croatia is recognised as a pleasant and safe destination.

Bavaria supports Croatia's Schengen membership bid

Aiwanger said there was a lot of space for cooperation between Croatia and Bavaria in the tourism sector, emphasising that Bavaria supported Croatia's accession to the Schengen area next year as an important precondition for facilitating movement of tourists.

The working meeting was also attended by the deputy president of the ADAC motoring association for tourism and finance, Karlheinz Jungbeck.

Brnjac and Jungbeck discussed preparations for the summer tourist season as well as expectations and plans for future development. Brnjac said that the cooperation with ADAC, which has 22 million members, ensured the greater visibility of Croatia on the German market, adding that today's meeting set a framework for future institutional cooperation.

According to ADAC, there is a growing interest in visiting Croatia, notably in the camping segment. This year ADAC included 134 Croatian campsites on its list of the best European campsites, the same number as in 2019, and 13 of the campsites were rated as ADAC Superplatz 2021.

About 42,000 Germans are currently vacationing in Croatia, mostly in Istria. Last year German tourists generated 1.6 million arrivals and 12.7 overnight stays, which was 60 percent of overnight stays made in 2019 when a record 21.2 million overnight stays were generated by German visitors. Last year, the 12.7 million overnight stays made by German tourists accounted for 23 percent of total overnight stays in Croatia.

For more about politics in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

ZAGREB, 13 April, 2021 - A large convoy from Bavaria, carrying more than 70 tonnes of humanitarian aid from Bavaria for residents of Sisak-Moslavina County, hit by a 6.2 magnitude earthquake on 29 December 2020, arrived at a divers' base in Petrinja on Monday.

The drive, organised by divers and Ante Šistov, helped collect more than 70 tonnes of construction material, including bricks, oriented strand boards, electrical fittings, doors, tiles, etc.

Šistov said this was the second humanitarian convoy for the region of Banovina, noting that so far more than 120 tonnes of humanitarian aid had already been delivered to the quake-hit region.

The base for the collection and distribution of humanitarian assistance in Petrinja was set up by the HRVI Nemo-Adriatic association of divers-disabled war veterans, with support from the Croatian Homeland War Volunteers Association and the Promocija Ronjenja agency.

The campaign, which is still ongoing, has been joined by numerous divers' clubs and centres from Croatia and abroad, firefighters and rescuers from Slovenia, Italy, Germany, Austria as well as numerous German companies.

For more about earthquake in Petrinja, follow TCN's dedicated page.

The stand of the Croatian National Tourist Board (HTZ) with its 24 exhibitors is the largest at this year's Munich Tourism Fair, with the tourism potential of both Zagreb and Slavonia having special emphasis placed on them. Gari Cappelli believes that continental tourism is the future for Croatia's tourism offer.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 21st of February, 2019, through the variety of Croatian snacks prepared by famous Croatian chefs, master chef Branko Ognjenović and the chef of the Croatian football team, Tomica Đukić, numerous visitors to the International Tourism Fair f.re.e 2019 - which, as we reported recently, is being held in Munich, Germany, from the 20th to the 24th of February this year, had the opportunity to get better acquainted with the gastronomic offer of Slavonia and the City of Zagreb yesterday at the stand of the Croatian Tourist Board.

The Slavonian gastro scene showcased Ilok cellars (Iločki podrumi), Kutjevo, Belje, Brzica and Feravino. The promotion of Croatian tourism also includes some of the legends of FC Bayern - Slavonia native Ivica Olić, Giovani Elber, and Andreas Jung.

The f.re.e. tourist fair is otherwise the largest and most visited tourist fair in Bavaria, stretching to over 88,000 square metres, and this year, boasting as many as 1,300 exhibitors from 70 countries across the world, it is bigger than ever before.

The Croatian Tourist Board's stand, with its 24 exhibitors, was the biggest at the fair. Unlike in previous years when Croatia promoted its popular destinations on the coast mostly, this year the often overlooked Croatian continent, more specifically the capital of Zagreb and the Eastern region of Slavonia, which both have a lot to offer to tourists, are taking the limelight. The promotion of Slavonia as a desirable tourist destination is an excellent move for the Days of Croatian Tourism, which is set to be held on 4th to 9th October in the Slavonian region of Osijek.

Croatian Minister of Tourism Gari Cappelli, and Director of the Croatian Tourist Board Kristijan Stančić participated in the presentation of the Croatian tourist offer along with the director of the Zagreb Tourist Board, Martina Bienefeld, Osijek-Baranja County Prefect Ivan Anušić and the domestic manager of the tour operator for Croatia, Selimir Ognjenović.

''Of the three million tourists coming to Croatia from Germany, 1.2 million of them come from Bavaria. So I can say that the Munich Fair is always some sort of indication for us to know what's going to happen this year in regard to tourism. The Germans are the type who appreciate the quality of Croatian tourism, because when those three million tourists return home to Germany, there's a lot to talk about.

Interestingly, we're not presenting the coast but the continent, because I think that's the future through health tourism, special forms of tourism, hunting, fishing, cyclotourism...'' Gari Capelli told Poslovni Dnevnik.

Nera Miličić, head of HTZ in Germany, says that there is a sense of pride in announcing the expansion of the Croatian tourist offer with "The most beautiful Croatian tourist secret" - Slavonia, and the triple winner of the most beautiful European advent - the Croatian capital city of Zagreb.

''We're especially delighted to have organised the largest presentation of the Croatian continent in Bavaria with our partners so far,'' noted Miličić.

''Given that for Croatian tourism, Germany is the emitive market from which we have the largest tourist turnover, we've created a rich and original event program at the Croatian stand that is attracting the attention of numerous visitors.

This is also the confirmation of a well-founded cooperation with FC Bayern Munich which gives us additional promotional value on the Bavarian market, where every other German tourist comes to us from,'' commented HTZ director Kristjan Staničić.

As a tourist destination, Croatia is a serious competitor on the German market. During these times of major changes, an increase in the amount of airline passengers from Germany to Croatia has been recorded, which has positioned Croatia among the most competitive destinations, alongside Spain, Turkey, Greece, Portugal, Egypt and Tunisia, countries which many tourists seeking package deals are usually attracted to.

Although Croatia was otherwise perceived as a destination to drive to from Germany, through the country's camping and private accommodation offer, it has also entered into the package holiday segment (hotel, transfer, flight) which is sold through a tour operator network. All in all, the interest of German tourists for Croatia remains very high indeed.

Numerous tour operators are continuing to expand their programs, smaller operators have begun ''selling'' Croatia, and some airlines are continuing to announce new lines.

The Germans are still in the leading position when it comes to the number of overnight stays realised by foreign tourists in the Republic of Croatia. In addition, the largest number of tourists from Germany come from the regions of Nordrhein-Westfalen, Bavaria, and Baden-Württemberg. However, the Germans typically enjoy more family oriented holidays, often bypassing potentially more ''specialised'' types of tourism on offer.

Therefore, the presence of Croatia's more specialised tourist offers at such fairs is crucial to boost the awareness of German tourists to the country's more numerous tourist offers, and in particular to awaken tour operators to Croatia's more luxurious package of arrangements,'' stated Dragan Kovačević, Vice President of Agriculture and Tourism at the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK), who is also representing Croatia's tourist offer in Munich.

Make sure to stay up to date with more on continental tourism, the Croatian Tourist Board and Croatia's various tourist offers by following our dedicated travel and lifestyle pages.

f.re.e., Fair for Leisure and Travel (Die Reise und Freizeitmesse originally) ist the largest tourism-related fair held in the German state of Bavaria, and one of the most important such fairs in Europe. Today it was opened in Munich, and the organisers say that this year's installment is the largest for the fair in Munich.

It holds an additional layer of importance for the Croatian tourism, as a largest proportion of tourists in Croatia, especially in the Northern part of the Croatian coast, come from Germany, so the number of Germans is often seen as the most importan factor in determining the success of the tourist season. So, this year Croatian Tourist Board and the Tourist Board of Kvarner are participating - the Kvarner stand at the fair in Munich is shared by Krk Island Tourist Board, Kovačine camp and Kimen hotel, Rab and Lopar Tourist Boards, Poljana camp, Opatia Riviera, Crikvenica Tourist Board and Jadran Crikvenica Hotels.

On the first day of the fair a presentation of Žlahtina, a wine variety indgenous for the region was held (imagine what the rest of the programme for the expected 135 thousand visitors will look like, if they planned the wine presentation for the first day!) Tanja Augustinović from Kvarner Tourist Boards told Novi list about the importance of the guests coming to Croatia from Bavaria, as they are familiar with Croatia, Croatia is close to them so they visit on shorter trips as well (weekends in the pre- and post- season); however they're always looking for novelties. This year a lot is being done to promote the health tourism of the region, as it is something to be proud of.

This year's fair is oriented towards active vacationing and camping, so Croatian exhibition at the fair also includes a lot of information about that segment. Dina Blažević from Krk Tourist Board explains that the camps are very popular among German guests, especially the now five star camp in Omišalj, but also the other four and five star camps.

Representatives from Opatija Riviera are promoting their outdoor tourism segment at the fair in Munich, as it is the second time the comprehensive brochure of the outdoor activities in the region is presented. They are also promoting the numerous events held in and around Opatija, such as the carnival, marunada (chestnut festival) etc.