ZAGREB, July 27, 2020 - In the last 24 hours there have been five new cases of infection with COVID-19 along the Croatian Adriatic coast, and this is the safest destination for guests from the European Union in the Mediterranean region, the Croatian Association of Tourism (HUT) stated on Monday.

From the area from Istria to the southernmost Croatian city of Dubrovnik, there are about 1.4 million inhabitants, and statistics show that there are only 0.357 newly diagnosed cases per 100,000 inhabitants in the coastal region, HUT explains.

If one takes into consideration that there are also an estimated 700,000 guests vacationing in the Croatian coastal region, the situation can be depicted in more favourable figures: 0.238 new cases per 100,000 people.

HUT has recently launched the Corona Region Tracker which shows that COVID incidence along the whole coast is declining.

ZAGREB, July 27, 2020 - In the last 24 hours there have been 24 new cases of infection with coronavirus in Croatia, the national COVID-19 crisis response team said on Monday.

There are now 807 active cases in the country, of whom 138 are being treated in hospitals, including nine on ventilators.

In the last 24 hours, three people previously diagnosed with this infectious disease have died, thus bringing the death toll to 139.

Since the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in Croatia on 25 February, a total of 4,881 people have been diagnosed with this disease, and 3,936 have recovered.

Currently, there are 3,112 people who are self-isolating at home.

To date, 112,834 tests have been conducted, including 831 in the last 24 hours.

July 27, 2020 - Organized in partnership with Global NGO Executive Committee, the UN Civil Society Communications Workshop Series will consist of several workshops taking place online during the period of July - September 2020.

Srećko Mavrek, a Croatian international educational expert based in New York, participated in the UN Civil Society Communications Workshop: Communication Challenges and Opportunities in the COVID-19 Era on Thursday, July 23, 2020. This workshop was organized in partnership with American Counseling Association, International Council of Nurses, Medical Women’s International Association, NGO Committee on Education, Learning and Literacy, and Akshar Foundation.

“The first session Tools and Techniques of Effective Communication for NGOs addressed civil society communication challenges and opportunities during the COVID-19 era and some contemporary issues related to disparities and discrimination. Participants were exploring the role of effective communication strategies and resources. The second session Transforming NGO Communications: From Conversation to Advocacy, Action and Social Policy addressed the issues of communications regarding complex, global, contemporary societal issues resulting in disparities and discrimination. Both sessions focused on intersectionality as the main cause of all disparities and inequalities,” said Mavrek.

He gave his opinion on the matter: “For nearly 30 years, a flawed theoretical concept of intersectionality has been one of the standard categories in over exaggerated discussions of race in American life, but its proponents sometimes have difficulties with their subjective biases. Identity politics, group identification and tribalism have not led to the social progress and inclusion, but to more divisions by ignoring individualism, character, achievements, and talents. More important questions are how to overcome fake news and social media censorship, how to improve civic culture in communication, and how to protect the right to free speech in the COVID-19 era?”

ZAGREB, July 26, 2020 - Over the past 24 hours Croatia has recorded 65 new coronavirus cases, bringing the number of active cases up to 855, and three persons have died, the national COVID-19 response team said on Sunday.

Currently, 142 patients are hospitalised, including nine on ventilators, and 3,271 persons are in self-isolation.

Since February 25, when the new virus was first reported in Croatia, there have been 4,857 cases, 136 persons have died and 3,866 recovered.

To date, 112,003 persons have been tested, including 1,489 over the past 24 hours.

Dubrovnik tourism has always been able to rest on its laurels. The sheer beauty of the city and its incredible landscape have both always been more than enough to draw tourists in in their droves. Then the coronavirus pandemic struck and the city that was once a victim of its own success was flipped upside down.

As Morski writes on the 26th of July, 2020, the mayor of Dubrovnik, Mato Frankovic, commented on the numbers being realised in Croatia's southernmost city during the tourist season at the end of July. Dubrovnik is one of the cities that have requested the division of the Republic of Croatia into four zones - the northern and southern coasts, and then central Croatia and the eastern part of the country to make it easier for tourists to follow which areas are ''coronavirus free''.

Frankovic says that they sent a request for such a division to the National Civil Protection Headquarters.

''It's very important that the statistical data, when sent to the European Centre for COVID Disease Control, is divided by region so that European countries and indeed other countries know exactly what is happening in Croatia,'' said the mayor of Dubrovnik. He believes that the Headquarters will accept this request.

Frankovic pointed out that Dubrovnik will report to the ambassadors of other countries on a weekly basis on the situation with the ongoing epidemic.

When asked when the strengthening of air traffic is expected, Frankovic said that by the middle of next week, Dubrovnik will be connected with 51 destinations, which will hopefully give Dubrovnik tourism a much needed boost.

''August will be much better, we have announcements for the whole of autumn. I believe we will manage to reach the target of traffic of 30 percent for the season,'' he says. He also explained why Dubrovnik is asking for state help.

''I wouldn't like it to turn out that Dubrovnik is a beggar city, but I'd like to mention that the records of Dubrovnik were the ones to have filled the state budget. Now Dubrovnik expects a small part  of that to keep us stable for the future,'' said Mato Frankovic, adding that the state is in some way indebted to Dubrovnik.

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ZAGREB, July 25, 2020 - Over the past 24 hours Croatia has recorded 77 new coronavirus cases, bringing the number of active cases to 881, and five more fatalities, the national COVID-19 response team said on Saturday.

Currently, 134 patients are hospitalised, including nine on ventilators.

Since February 25, when the novel coronavirus was first registered in Croatia, there have been 4,792 cases of infection, 133 deaths, and 3,778 recoveries.

Currently, 3,350 people are in self-isolation.

To date, 110,514 people have been tested, including 1,156 over the past 24 hours.

July 25, 2020 - Getting married during a pandemic - how the Total Croatia Travel INFO Viber community helped American Joshua and Slovenian Noemi marry in Umag. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has been littered with personal stories of tragedy, death, loss and separation. Enough misery to last a lifetime.

But there have also been some stories with happier endings, or reunification and a cementing of loving relationships, sometimes in the form of marriage. 

A marriage such as that of Noemi and Joshua in Umag yesterday, for example.  

I have never met either of them, although I have corresponded with Noemi at length via Viber messenger, but theirs is the one love story that I have followed with interest this year, right up until its happy conclusion and the exchange of rings in Istria yesterday. 

I first became aware of the couple's plight shortly after co-founding the Total Croatia Travel INFO Viber community a couple of months ago. An early contributor was a Slovenian lady named Noemi Jugovac from Buje, whose life plans were seriously threatened by the corona crisis, as she had been planning to marry her love, Joshua Shaquille Johnson from Philadelphia, in a ceremony in Umag on July 24. 

It quickly became obvious that Noemi was going to stop at nothing to find a way to get her American beau into Croatia for the big day, as she devoured every piece of advice and every update, asking for clarifications.  

The big day itself, of course, was destined to be a much more muted affair due to corona, with just 6 people planned in attendance. But if Noemi could not get her man to Croatia, there would be no wedding at all.  

Finally, thanks to the help of Total Croatia Travel INFO Viber community co-founder Kresimir Macan, as well as great feedback from other community members who had made the journey from the USA via airports in Frankfurt, Zurich, Amsterdam, Paris and Copenhagen, Noemi and Joshua were confident enough to book the ticket and be reunited a few days before their wedding. after some two years apart.  

The flight was set for Sunday, July 12, some 12 days before their big day. 

And then, late on Friday, July 10, less than 48 hours before Joshua was due to fly - disaster! Croatia suddenly - and almost immediately - changed the rules for all non-EU/EEA/UK citizens and residents. From midnight on Friday night, less than 48 hours before he was due to depart, a sudden restriction that could potentially scupper their plans. There was no way to get a test done in time and get the results. The alternative was to arrive and have 14-days self-isolation, thereby missing the wedding.  

I will never forget that next morning as had given several staff the day off and was looking forward to a quiet Saturday, with slow, weekend traffic on the Viber community. I could not have been more wrong. The announcement was made on a Friday night and implemented at midnight, but then it was the weekend and much harder to reach officials and offices to find out what the situation was. The community was full of panicked messages from airports from Kiev to New York CIty, as passengers with all the documentation for travel painstakingly prepared found themselves with a last minute spanner in the works. Would they be allowed to travel at all?  

Thanks to the information and help obtained through the Viber community, the couple received clear instructions on what to do and what the procedures are, and within a month of contacting the team with Total Croatia Travel Info, Joshua finally arrived in Croatia. Immediately upon arrival, he went for testing to the Hrvatski zavod za javno zdravstvo, and after it was determined that the test was negative, he was released from self-isolation after waiting for the results overnight. He was then free to proceed to his fiancee's house in Buje, and from there the big day. 

The wedding took place yesterday, a very small affair with Noemi's parents and the best man in attendance, and there will be a much bigger party when all this is over.  

We wish the happy couple all the best in their new union, a love which corona could not stop, despite its best efforts. 

The wedding has already attracted the attention of the Croatian media, and it was featured last night on the national news, with both Noemi and Joshua speaking to the cameras in English.  

About the Total Croatia Travel Info Viber community

The Total Croatia Travel Info Viber community is intended for foreigners who, despite the situation with COVID-19, want to visit Croatia. Up-to-date and verified information on travel, borders and flights to Croatia is exchanged in one place through the community, and thanks to automatic translation, messages can be read in 24 languages. Communication in the community is two-way and members receive real-time information that interests them about coming to Croatia and exchange experiences with each other.

Founded in May on the initiative of Paul Bradbury, founder of the Total Croatia News portal and communication expert Krešimir Macan, this Viber community today has more than 5,000 members. It achieves more than 150,000 views on a monthly basis and, depending on the day, between 300 and 500 messages are exchanged in the community on a daily basis. Thanks to the adequate informative support, advice and experiences of other members, the community regularly receives thanks from all those who arrived in Croatia safely through Total Croatia Travel Info.

Join the Total Croatia Travel INFO Viber community (you will need to download the app).

For the latest travel info, bookmark our main travel info article, which is updated daily. 

Read the Croatian Travel Update in your language - now available in 24 languages

July the 25th, 2020 - Some mixed messages have arrived on the coronavirus-dominated tourism front recently. The Netherlands quickly placed Croatia on its orange list, advising against all but essential travel and asking Dutch nationals to return from Croatia, followed by Germany firmly keeping the country on its ''safe list''. 

Despite the Dutch Government asking its citizens to return home to begin their fourteen days of self-isolation and organising for travel agencies to secure return journeys home for those Dutch nationals using them, Dutch holidaymakers aren't that willing to listen. In fact, they've even gone as far as to launch a petition to have Croatia placed back on the Netherlands' yellow list.

As Morski writes on the 25th of July, 2020, the news that the Dutch Government has placed Croatia on the orange list of countries owing to their handling of the coronavirus pandemic on Tuesday night surprised many. Although some decided to leave Croatia, a good part of Dutch tourists decided to gather information and stay. Some went so far as to organise a petition to have the Dutch Government return Croatia to its yellow list.

Nobody knows why Croatia suddenly managed to find its place on the famous orange list and by what criteria it occurred, because the current epidemiological picture definitely is not the reason. The situation is much worse than Croatia in France or Austria, which are not included on that country's list of high-risk countries.

Apart from the fact that this news shocked all tourist workers, it also surprised the Dutch tourists themselves. Some left, but others rolled up their sleeves and decided to collect 40,000 signatures to send a message to their government that they aren't happy with the bizarre decision, with the aim of returning Croatia to the yellow list.

The petition has so far been signed by almost 6.5 thousand people and is being shared through social networks and channels. The petition can be found at this link: Kroatië terug naar geel.

For more on travel to, from and within Croatia during the coronavirus era, follow our travel page.

For the latest travel info, bookmark our main travel info article, which is updated daily. 

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July 25, 2020 - The Croatian Tourism Association (HUT), has launched an epidemiological map where you can monitor the number of coronavirus cases in each Croatian county.

Namely, HRTurizam reports that the Croatian Tourism Association launched the website www.croatiacovid19.info to timely and accurately inform the public about the number of COVID-19 cases in Croatian regions.

On the map, Croatia is divided into four regions: Northern Coast (Istria and Kvarner); Southern Coast (Dalmatia); Central Croatia (Zagreb and surroundings) and Eastern Croatia.

"We hope that this corona region tracker will help in planning a vacation for all guests coming to Croatia," said the Croatian Tourism Association. 

The main story is that the private sector could no longer wait; in this case, HUT. Thus, they reacted and created a platform, which should have been made by the state.

Unfortunately, if the public system, primarily the Ministry of Tourism and the Croatian National Tourist Board, in cooperation with the Croatian Public Health Institute, epidemiologically mapped and set up the same platform for each county, especially because tourism is 20% of Croatia's GDP, we would have a much more positive image of Croatia as a safe tourist destination. And the situation we now have with the Netherlands would certainly be avoided, writes HRTurizam.

Interestingly, precisely through the diplomacy of the Croatian Government, Slovenia started to epidemiologically map and look at each Croatian county individually, which was great news for Croatian tourism. Because if it were the opposite due to the epidemiological situation, the whole of Croatia would already be on the red list.

Croatian experts had spoken about epidemiologically mapping regions for weeks, and in this crisis situation and "media and political war", we have to and had to react much faster and more efficiently for every guest. But unfortunately, again, the system was too slow and too late with reactions and communication.

As Nedo Pinezic recently pointed out: “Croatia is a 'thorn in the eye' due to its high attractiveness and accessibility to individual guests. Hence why the media is hunting Croatia. We are in a position to defend ourselves, but we are doing it quite clumsily.” We are simply lost in this crisis situation, and we have to admit it to ourselves so that we can react better tomorrow, HRTurizam adds.

Well done to HUT, but it is a pity that the system itself did not react much earlier, especially to the wave of diplomatic success in the context of Slovenia. Communication and proactivity are always, let alone in crisis situations, extremely important. And when looking at the example of the Netherlands, they are crucial.

For the latest travel info, bookmark our main travel info article, which is updated daily. 

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To read more about lifestyle in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

ZAGREB, July 24, 2020 - Health Minister Vili Beros said on Friday that 81 new coronavirus cases had been registered in Croatia in the last 24 hours, correcting the director of the Croatian Institute of Public Health (HZJZ), Krunoslav Capak, who had previously confirmed 84 cases.

"Officially, according to the HZJZ platform, 81 new cases have been recorded in the last 24 hours, and Capak mistakenly said that there have been 84 cases," the health minister said at the first meeting of the new cabinet.

The number of active cases in Croatia is 1,032, 139 people are being treated in hospital and nine of them are on ventilators. Since the start of the outbreak in the country in late February, 128 have died, including eight in the past week, Beros said.

He said that the known hotspots relating to nightclubs in Zagreb and a monastery in the eastern town of Djakovo had been placed under control and that the number of new infections in these areas was on the decline. He added that smaller clusters in Sisak-Moslavina and Virovitica-Podravina Counties were also under control, while a hotspot in Ivankovo in Vukovar-Srijem County remained active.

The other continental counties are mainly calm, without any major clusters, while several smaller clusters have been observed in the coastal counties. However, 54.3 percent of the positive cases today come from self-isolation, which means that these persons are under observation, the minister said.

The national coronavirus response team reported 104 new cases on Thursday and 108 on Wednesday, and Beros said that most of the new cases were currently exhibiting milder symptoms. 

"Although the epidemiological situation is under control, we must not be satisfied because we have shown that we can do better. That's why I call on the citizens to observe simple rules to protect themselves and others from the infection," Beros said.