August 9, 2020 - The director of the Clinic for Infectious Diseases "Dr. Fran Mihaljevic" Alemka Markotic was a guest on RTL Today, where she commented on the coronavirus in Croatia and the number of patients in recent days.

"The numbers are a bit better or worse, but the trend is downward; you'll see that we have a downward trend from the beginning of the second wave. Every couple of days, we have some new peaks related to different hotspots," she said, as reported by Index.hr.

She also commented on how tourists should behave.

"It's almost a month and a half into the season, and it's clear that we are a safe country. There were no major jumps among tourists, obviously, those who come are very responsible, and tourism workers are convinced that a lot depends on the season," she said, and added that the problem is in younger people who become infected by going out to enclosed spaces at night. Measures are planned to be taken in this regard.

"These hotspots are not that big; they are gatherings like weddings, bachelor and bachelorette parties and some nightclubs. We will try to introduce new measures and security checks in places where there are hotspots to prevent this from happening again," she added.

She also commented on the rise of young infections.

"These were larger private gatherings, such as weddings and bachelor and bachelorette parties, and individual nightclubs. We must take into account that there are hundreds of those who make sure that all measures are implemented properly. So we cannot punish everyone, but we will try in places where outbreaks appear, introduce additional security checks and see how to improve the situation so that new outbreaks no longer occur in those places," she said.

The age of the infected has also dropped, so there are more and more of them among the young.

"Young people are definitely not among the most at-risk groups. But a large number of them have now relaxed with the measures. There are a lot of movements, activities and the like. Of course, the higher the number, the greater the chances of serious infections. Young people must understand that they can contribute a lot and help the health system and each other. They have been the vanguard many times in difficult situations; I believe that young people will understand this, and you will soon see. A group of enthusiasts and professors from Osijek and Slavonia is preparing a very interesting school program that will relate to biosafety, biosecurity and COVID. I believe that young people will wholeheartedly accept it and help all of us in that," she said.

And to end - did the German graduates become infected on Pag?

"They had symptoms around the third day in Croatia, so it is unlikely that they became infected in our country. They became infected either during the bus trip or before," she added.

She also commented on vaccines and said that America and Russia are in the running.

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

Experts have been constantly warning people that one of the most important ways in which we can protect ourselves from contracting the new coronavirus is to maintain a safe distance from other people. One Zagreb company has an idea...

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 8th of August, 2020, this is where the small Distancer 2M device from the Zagreb company “2M Divison” comes into the question, which is registered for both production and services, and is primarily oriented towards sales and representation. This Zagreb company was supposed to begin operations in March, but due to the coronavirus crisis itself, everything was prolonged, according its director Mario Anic, who has many years of experience and success in the sales sector across various industries. His company currently has no other employees, but given that the Distancer 2M product will be on the market soon, employment is also planned.

''The Distancer D2M is a small electronic device that warns the wearer and their surroundings with light and sound if the social distance measure of two metres is disrespected. It is worn as a badge on the lapel or as a pendant around the neck. The main thing with the D2M is to keep your distance. It clearly says 2M and anyone who sees it on someone or takes it in their hands knows exactly what it refers to. The signals themselves are often not needed. In order to bring something so simple and necessary to the market, we had to gather a team together. That's why 2M Division was founded. We've gathered a team that is dedicated to bringing D2M into the hands and onto the chests of as many people as possible and we expect great progress over the next few months,'' he said in conversation with Slobodna Dalmacija.

''It all started with the SYNERGY project, in which vouchers were awarded through a public tender in six Central European countries (Germany, Austria, Poland, Slovenia, Italy and Croatia) to finance innovative ideas that solve social problems caused by the coronavirus pandemic. At the invitation of the SYNERGY project, the Matija Petar Katancic Elementary School from Valpovo also responded, asking for a solution to the problem of returning students to schools and ensuring social distance. Miroslav Spiranovićc an innovator from Valpovo, was the only one in all of Croatia to offer a solution.

We used the existing technology of ultrasonic and optical sensors and created a small, practical device which is accessible to everyone, and is especially intended for children and the elderly for whom the COVID-19 disease poses a real threat. The innovation itself was made with the help of the Science and Technology Park of the University of Rijeka "StepRi", the company "Tera Tehnopolis" d.o.o. and the Association of Technical Culture Valpovo-Belisce, and along with Spiranovic, Tomislav Kudeljnjak and Dragan Francuz also participated. After a few months, we came to two final versions that we plan to market in the fourth quarter of 2020. The D2M Lite is for personal use, and the D2M Pro is for a professional indoor environment,'' stated this Zagreb company's director, Mario Anic.

The price will be affordable for customers, and the Distancer 2M has a battery that lasts for about five days and is charged on a standard USB port.

For more, follow our Made in Croatia section.

The Croatian tourism structure is changing as a result of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, and the country is seeing a considerable shift in numbers and arrivals from certain countries.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 8th of August, 2020, a survey conducted among members of the Group of Unique Luxury Hotels of the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK) showed that the structure of guests in this segment of Croatian tourism has changed significantly. Before the appearance of the new coronavirus, the US was the priority market for most respondents, and now it has become Germany. It is interesting to note that Croatia is increasingly visited by guests who spent their annual leave before the pandemic came to be in exotic destinations far from Europe such as the Bahamas and the Seychelles, and that a large number of them are now coming to Croatia.

"Currently, most of our guests come from the German-speaking areas and from Croatia, and there's been a noticeable increase in arrivals from Ukraine, Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, etc. Most of them are guests who come in their own car, and a number also come by plane, often by private flight. Our experiences with them are extremely positive and in most cases these are guests who are visiting Croatia for the first time, looking for an alternative to the long haul destinations they normally visited. It's interesting that many noticed how much easier it is to choose a closer destination, and many of them said they'll come again, given the fact that we met their expectations in terms of a high level of privacy, and the quality of accommodation and services,'' said Sandra Juric, the director of sales and marketing at the Meneghetti Hotel, which is a member of the Stories group, Croatian Unique Hotels.

Tomislav Milinovic, the director of the Calvados Club travel agency, has also noticed quite the change in terms of Croatian tourism and its emitting markets.

"Otherwise, our main markets are the United States, Canada, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Mexico and Australia. Other markets are below 5 percent of total turnover, and the EU market is negligible for us. However, agencies and clients from the European market, mostly from Germany and Scandinavia, are now contacting us, but they're really only looking for luxury accommodation such as villas, apartments in a luxury hotel or a yacht,'' Milinovic explained.

Among the respondents, online advertising dominates in attracting guests, whether it is done on social networks, via Google advertising or on classic sites such as Booking.com, and to a lesser extent at tourism fairs.

When it comes to advertising on social networks, the markets of greatest interest to all are those of the United Kingdom, Austria and Germany, followed by Slovenia and other European countries.

“We've undertaken a number of additional marketing campaigns in collaboration with our long-standing partners, agencies, DMCs, the media and on social media, and the results are tangible. Booking has become exclusively short-term and therefore very unpredictable, but it's much more intense than we once expected. There are obvious oscillations that show a strong and immediate reaction of guests to any change in the situation in Croatia or surrounding countries. The influence of the media or changes in the policy of individual governments change the picture from day to day,'' said Juric of Croatian tourism in the coronavirus age.

Half of the participants in the Croatian Chamber of Commerce survey recorded a shortening of the number of overnight stays since the beginning of the coronavirus crisis, while a smaller number recorded an increase or an equal duration of guests' stay. Most of the respondents introduced benefits and additional facilities in the form of discounts, and to a lesser extent, the offer of gastronomic packages, boat tours and the use of sports facilities. Everyone involved in Croatian tourism emphasises the need to intensify marketing activities in traditionally strong markets that are currently in decline, as well as across all markets from which it is possible to visit Croatia by car.

“We're continuing with strong marketing activities in the US, Canada, Mexico and Brazil because once lost, some markets are harder to regain than to gain new ones. Therefore, I appeal to the system of tourist boards not to redirect marketing funds intended for promotion in overseas markets. On the contrary, we need to think about the future, because all this will pass one day, and we must be ready for that,'' concluded Milinovic.

Through the brand Stories, HGK promotes small luxury hotels that are associated in the Group of unique luxury hotels HGK.

“Our goal is to position ourselves on the international market through top service, a unique offer and a special gourmet experience. The crisis we're all going through shows new trends, but reaffirms the fact that the product is the most important thing and after this crisis our guests will be looking for small hotels with the most authentic and personal experience even more, which is what Stories hotels base and develop their offer on,'' noted Nenad Nizic, President of the Group of Unique Luxury Hotels of the Croatian Chamber of Commerce.

For more on Croatian tourism in the coronavirus era, follow our travel page.

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Croatian hotels were closed for a long time, and as things begin to re-open in attempt to save what remains of 2020's season, one of the most luxurious Croatian hotels announces the opening of its doors.

The coronavirus pandemic has turned the world on its head, and tourism is one of the most heavily affected industries across the globe. Croatia, which relies heavily on tourism as it makes up 20 percent of the nation's GDP, has been far from immune from the virus' negative consequences.

As Novac/Jozo Vrdoljak writes on the 8th of August, 2020, Adriatic luxury hotels is set to open their fifth hotel in the gorgeous Dubrovnik area. Hotel Bellevue will receive its very first guests this year on August the 11th. In addition to Hotel Bellevue, Hotel Excelsior, Hotel Dubrovnik Palace and Hotel Croatia in Cavtat and Hotel Odisej on Mljet have also opened their respective doors.

"The operational procedures in our hotels have been fully adjusted to comply with all of the prescribed measures and recommendations for the operation of Croatian hotels during the COVID-19 epidemic, as issued by the Croatian Institute of Public Health, with maximum effort placed on maintaining the expected level of luxury hotel service," reads a statement from Adriatic luxury hotels.

To quickly recall, Hotel Bellevue was completely reconstructed in April last year after the renovation that began on the last day of October of the previous year. In the complete reconstruction of rooms and apartments, the company has invested an impressive 400,000 kuna in each room, which is the first significant investment made within Hotel Bellevue since its opening back in 2006. The hotel boasts 115 rooms and 14 luxury suites with the Lovor Presidential Suite.

The redesign saw the complete renovation of the reception area and the area of ​​the Spice Lounge bar and restaurant Vapor with its terraces overlooking the bay. The investment, which included fundamental changes to all accommodation facilities and part of the hotel's interior, created a boutique hotel with stunning panoramic sea views. The Boutique Hotel Bellevue, is carved high into the rocks above Miramare Bay. The Portuguese design studio Tereza Prego was hired for the project, specialising in interior design of exclusive hotels and residences. After the renovation, in addition to the existing restaurants Vapor and Nevera, a new The Wine bar was also renovated.

The company to which it belongs is a leading hotel company based in Dubrovnik. Its brand has six hotels of the highest category under its belt: Hotel Excelsior, Villa Orsula, Hotel Bellevue, Grand Villa Argentina, Hotel Dubrovnik Palace, Hotel Kompas, Hotel Croatia Cavtat, two luxury villas: Villa Agave, Villa Sheherezade, Hotel Supetar in Cavtat and the only hotel - Odisej on the island of Mljet.

Photos of the aforementioned hotel can be viewed by clicking the link in the first paragraph of this article.

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ZAGREB, Aug 8, 2020 - Over the past 24 hours 77 new coronavirus cases have been registered in Croatia, bringing the number of active cases to 569, and two persons have died, the national civil protection authority said on Saturday.

Hospitalised are 120 patients, including eight on ventilators.

Since February 25, when the first case was registered in Croatia, 5,534 persons have been infected with the new virus, 157 of whom have died, while 4,817 have recovered.

Currently 1,962 persons are self-isolating. So far, 127,405 persons have been tested for coronavirus, including 995 in the last 24 hours, the authority said in a press release.

ZAGREB, Aug 7, 2020 - The German T-online.de portal on Friday reported that 10 German graduate students who had been on Pag island for an excursion had returned infected with the coronavirus and are currently in self-isolation.

According to a spokesman for the Goppingen district, north of Stuttgart, ten school leavers developed symptoms with respiratory problems.

Fifteen school leavers and 50 other people who have been in contact with them are also in self-isolation.

The head of Goppingen's public health institute, Heinz Pohler, underscored that more and more people returning from the Balkans were being diagnosed with the coronavirus disease.

Earlier in the day Slovenia's health authorities reported that despite controlling local transfers of the virus, recently "imported cases" had been detected again.

"In the past week, of the 21 imported cases, a little more than half were from Croatia," Marta Grgic Vitek from Slovenia's national public health institute said, adding that most of these cases were detected among young people, noting that one of the epicentres was Zrce Beach on Pag island, a popular spot for clubbing with often large gatherings of young people.

ZAGREB, Aug 7, 2020 - There have been 62 new cases of the coronavirus infection in Croatia in the past 24 hours, which puts the number of active cases at 533, the national COVID-19 response team said on Friday.

Among the active cases, there are 122 patients who are hospitalised, including seven who are on ventilators. There have been no new fatalities.

Since February 25, when the first case of the disease in Croatia was reported, a total of 5,466 people have contracted the virus. Of that number, 155 have died and 4,758 have recovered.

A total of 2,052 people are currently in self-isolation. To date, 126,410 people have been tested, including 1,093 in the past 24 hours.

As Novac writes on the 6th of August, 2020, on Tuesday, the President of the Management Board of ACI, Kristijan Pavic, expressed his satisfaction with the revenue generated in the first half of the year, which stood at 72 million kuna, which is 23 million kuna less than in 2019.

Adriatic Croatia International Club (ACI), which manages 22 marinas on the Adriatic, generated 72.9 million kuna in revenue in the first six months of this year, which is 24 percent less than in the same period last year. According to the company's financial report published at the end of last week, the company recorded a loss of 13.5 million kuna when compared to profits of almost 7 million kuna a year earlier.

Kristijan Pavic pointed out on Tuesday that the achieved business results showed that there was an unfounded fear that due to the coronavirus pandemic, there will be no season to be had in 2020 for Croatian nautical tourism.

"In terms of annual berths, we generated 50 million kuna in revenue, which is at the level of 2019, which allowed us to keep the current number of employees and not reduce salaries. In the first part of the year, we achieved 30 percent of last year's transit result, and in July that number rose to 69 percent. I expect a positive trend to grow in both August and during the off-season,'' Kristijan Pavic said.

Pavic visited the ACI marina in Dubrovnik, emphasiing that the Dubrovnik region was most affected by the coronavirus pandemic crisis, primarily due to the lack of air connections. "In July, there was a recovery through the growth of transit and I believe that this trend will continue in August and during the off-season, so that we can ultimately view this region as successful," Kristijan Pavic said.

He announced that ACI is following the trends in the development of megayacht marinas, so after the average length of berths in the marina in Rovinj are extended from 11 to 17 metres, a new investment is expected in the ACI marina Dubrovnik. "The county spatial plan enabled us to expand the marina down the Ombla river, so now we're working on a project that will enable the acceptance of much larger yachts," Pavic said.

The director of the ACI marina Dubrovnik, Leo Ajdukovic, pointed out that the marina recorded 30 percent of last year's result at the beginning of July, and is currently at 50 percent.

"It's hard to compare it to last year, which was the most cost-effective and best in history for us. The numbers have been improving in July and August and we're going in a new direction,'' said Ajdukovic, adding that charter cancellations are becoming less frequent.

At the end of July, ACI received a building permit for the renovation of the Sorkocevic summer house in the ACI marina Dubrovnik, and the project worth more than 60 million kuna will apply for European Union funds. The renovation of the building and the associated garden is planned, and among the future facilities will be a school of old crafts, a restaurant, galleries and boutiques.

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ZAGREB, Aug 6 (Hina) - In the past 24 hours there have been 28 new cases of the coronavirus detected in Croatia, bringing the total number of active cases to 561, while one more person has died, the national COVID response team said on Thursday.

There are currently 110 people in-hospital treatment, with seven being on ventilators.

Since the first case was recorded in Croatia on 25 February 2020, there has been a total of 5,404 people infected with the disease and 155 people have died, while 4,688 have recovered.

There are currently 2,171 people in self-isolation. 

To date a total of 125,317 tests have been conducted for the virus, 934 in the past 24 hours, a press release by the response team noted.

ZAGREB, Aug 5, 2020 - Fifty-eight new cases of the coronavirus infection have been confirmed in Croatia in the past 24 hours, and there are currently 633 active cases, the national COVID-19 response team said on Tuesday.

Among the active cases, 111 are hospitalised, including seven who are on ventilators. There have been no new fatalities.

Since the outbreak of the coronavirus epidemic, 5,376 people have contracted the disease. Of them, 154 have died and 4,589 have recovered.

Currently 2,314 people are in self-isolation. To date, 124,383 people have been tested for the virus, including 1,167 in the past 24 hours.