July 15, 2020 - Tourism was on hold when we started this series of articles, but most of us still have plenty of time. So let's look at the virtual resources available to explore Croatia virtually. We continue our new Virtual Croatia series with the tools to discover Bibinje, one of the many picturesque small towns near Zadar.

A few weeks ago I wrote that being a tourism blogger in the corona era was about as useful as being a cocktail barman in Saudi Arabia. I feel less useless now, a few weeks later, and I am encouraged by the number of Croatian tourism businesses who are contacting us wanting to start thinking of promoting post-corona tourism. 

One of the challenges of writing about tourism at the moment is that there is nothing positive to write about. With people confined to their homes and tourism in Croatia currently not possible, many have decided to go into hibernation until it is all over. 

I think that this is a mistake, and I have greatly enjoyed the TCN series by Zoran Pejovic of Paradox Hospitality on thinking ahead to tourism in a post-corona world.  You can find Zoran's articles here.

Way back on March 14 - several lifetimes ago - I published an article called Tourism in the Corona Age: 10 Virtual Ways to Discover Zagreb. The way I saw things, now was an OUTSTANDING opportunity for tourism promotion. People have time, they yearn for their freedom and former lives, so give them the tools to thoroughly research and enjoy your destinations, and you will have then longing to be there. And when they do come, they will have a deeper understanding of the destination due to their research. 

South Africa and Portugal were the first to do their post-corona tourism promotion videos several weeks ago (Post-Corona Tourism Planning: Lessons from South Africa and Portugal), a trick which has been followed by other tourism countries, the latest being Croatia with the national tourist board campaign, #CroatiaLongDistanceLove, going live yesterday.

But while these campaigns create longing and market presence, they don't really educate. People now have time to really get into destinations. And dreams of escape to somewhere more exotic are high on the list of priorities of many. 

So TCN has decided to help with that education with a new series called Virtual Croatia, where we will be helping you discover many of Croatia's destinations with all the best virtual tools available on your self-isolating sofa at home. 

We started with Tourism in the Corona Age: 10 Virtual Tools to Discover Hvar.

After this, we put our a press release (which you can read here in English and Croatian) offering a free article to any local tourist board in Croatia who would like the free promotion in our Virtual Croatia series. 

The Sinj Tourist Board was the first to respond, and now you can see just how rich the tourism offer is in this proud Alka town - your virtual tools to Discover Sinj. This was followed by Discover Opatija, Discover Brela, Discover Rogoznica, Discover Stari Grad, Discover Omiš, Discover Lumbarda, Discover Jezera, Discover Šolta, Discover Cavtat and Konavle, Discover Koprivnica, Discover Pašman, and Discover Gradac.

Marijana Kovač from the Tourist Board Bibinje helped us put together a series of resources to introduce Bibinje. 

Let's begin! 

Discover Bibinje - the Beach Gems

A postcard of Bibinje in 4K

Another video postcard, featuring mostly beaches

Tourist Board produced promo video

Bibinje from the air, earlier this year

Bibinje from the air, during the high tourist season

Tourist-recorded video of their vacation Bibinje

What to do in Bibinje 

Catching squid in Bibinje

Bibinje fishermen

Good Friday procession

Local food competition in Bibinje

Local Bibinje traditions

Discover Bibinje Websites

Tourist Board Bibinje website has a great website, which will help you experience Bibinje before you even arrive there. Their Facebook page is also quite active, and they'd love to answer any questions you might have. 

Will your next visit to Bibinje be a day-trip from Zadar, or a longer, relaxing vacation in a place with amazing beaches?

To discover more of virtual Croatia, you can follow this series in our dedicated section, Virtual Croatia. 

If you are a local tourist board in Croatia and would like your destination featured in this series for free, please contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Subject Virtual Croatia (and destination name)

April 17, 2020 — The rumor went something like this: Authorities installed a 5G antenna in a secret operation to avoid public outrage. It spread across the small town of Bibinje, outside of Zadar. Soon, unnamed locals returned the favor with their own clandestine attack on the suspicious device — a wifi hotspot funded by the EU. 

The Municipality released a formal statement denying any 5G antennas were installed, revealing it kept mum on the free internet to prevent public gatherings.

"As information emerged that the Municipality of Bibinje secretly and at night installed equipment for the 5G signal, we are obliged to deny such allegations," town authorities wrote in a statement laced with embarrassment and frustration. "That's not true. It is actually amazing that at such times someone is peddling such false information and lies to the public."

The damaged apparatus was actually a €15,000 wifi hotspot networked gifted, for free, by the WiFi4EU program. The initiative gives municipalities "free access to Wi-Fi connectivity for citizens in public spaces including parks, squares, public buildings, libraries, health centers and museums in municipalities throughout Europe."

The anti-5G movement suggested the increased wave density of the new network causes health problems — namely cancer. Animus towards the invisible cell phone network ramped up with the coronavirus's emergence, which conspiracy theorists tied to 5G in various ways. Either 5G helps the virus's spread, or the virus has been a diversion to allow nefarious governments to install 5G while fear-laden locals worry about a deadly respiratory illness.

The various theories have gained traction within a certain sect of skeptics in the Balkans.

Authorities said they kept mum on the new wifi hotspot after it's installation last month because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The router was delivering free internet to three locations in the town where the public typically gathers — the town square, the municipal building, and a popular promenade.

Authorities didn't want locals racing to free wifi in an age of social distancing and "stay at home."

"Given the new situation, we found it inappropriate," authorities wrote in the statement, "bragging about the implementation of equipment that provides free internet access on frequent public areas (outdoors)."

The authorities said the area where the vandals hit was under video surveillance, and they should identify the culprits soon.