ZAGREB, June 22, 2019 - The Culture and Tourism Department of China's Shanxi Province, in cooperation with the Croatian-Chinese Friendship Society, in Zagreb on Friday organised a conference on cultural and tourism cooperation between the province and Croatia at which both sides expressed a desire to intensify their cooperation.

The conference was organised as part of activities marking 2019 as the year of cooperation between China and Croatia. It brought together over a hundred representatives of the Chinese province's tourism and culture sector, the Chinese Embassy, the Croatian Tourist Board, the Tourism Department of the Croatian Chamber of Commerce and Croatian travel agencies. Before the conference, several travel agencies held a meeting with potential Chinese partners and some of them signed cooperation agreements.

He Zhiyong, the managing director of a Shanxi-based travel agency, said that Croatia was very attractive to Chinese tourists.

"This is my third time in Croatia and I am doing all I can to establish business cooperation with one of Croatian partners, because tourists from our province want to come to Croatia. And we are telling them that they should go not just because of beaches and islands, but also because of Croatia's rich culture and history, which is also very attractive," he said.

He said that he did not have a deal with any Croatian travel agency yet, but believed that this would change soon and Croatian tourists would soon come to Shanxi to enjoy its historical and cultural attractions.

Tourism consultant Dubravka Davidović said that today's conference followed up on the 16+1 strategy to increase tourist cooperation between China and 16 Central and Eastern European countries.

"Since this is the year of cooperation between China and Croatia, we believe that we will have a lot more tourists from China this year than we have had so far, as was the case in other countries," Davidovic said, adding that some countries that hosted 16+1 meetings had seen fivefold increases in the number of Chinese visitors.

Shanxi Province is situated on the Loess Plateau in northern China. It has 271 cultural landmarks under state protection, which accounts for 11.5 percent of all such landmarks in the country. Many of the historical sites are included on the UNESCO world heritage list, including the Terracotta Army, a collection of terracotta sculptures of warriors dating from approximately the late third century BCE.

More news about relations between Croatia and China can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, June 18, 2019 - Security is one of Croatia's tourism brands and we are doing all we can to improve the standard that we have achieved through good cooperation between the relevant institutions, Interior Minister Davor Božinović said on Tuesday in Zadar, where a headquarters for the implementation of security measures during the 2019 tourism season was opened.

"We are improving year in and year out. Our picture of everything that is happening on land and on the sea is increasingly clear and increasingly good. Last year we recorded 158 million people crossing the border and we are caring for all those people," he said.

The security headquarters for the tourism season, which was established last year, has yielded good results and excellent cooperation between institutions and with international police, Božinović said.

"Last year 2,200 foreign citizens participated in more than 19,000 criminal offences and 788 foreigners were involved in more than 17,000 violations of the public order and peace, and 26 foreigners were killed in 33,000 traffic accidents. Border security is the Police Directorate's priority. We are assisting police on the sea with additional officers and equipment," he said.

This year 94 police officers from 19 countries will come to Croatia during the summer season as part of international cooperation.

The security headquarters will operate from June 17 to September 15 and will be open 24/7 for the purpose of coordinating, monitoring and implementing security measures during the tourism season.

Minister Božinović visited the National Maritime Centre which each year receives extra manpower during the season to help with incidents on the sea. This year 238 officers will be deployed, 129 regular police officers, 65 traffic officers and 12 border police.

Maritime borders are being monitored by 6 large, 19 smaller and 30 small vessels, 15 radars and 19 day/night and 7 long-range thermal cameras, helicopters and other aircraft.

More tourism news can be found in the Travel section.

Croatia Airlines introduced a new menu for business class travelers, which will further promote Croatia's tourist and gastronomic offer, reports AvioRadar on June 12, 2019.

The new gastronomic offer on flights was created by the celebrated Croatian chef Dino Galvagno andLeopold Botteria of Uje Oil Bar, partners with whom Croatia Airlines launched the project ‘Inspired Croatia’ at the end of 2016, in which business class passengers are offered meals prepared using native recipes and ingredients of the coastal and continental Croatia.

The new business class menu, which will be introduced on board on June 19 this year, is primarily motivated by the dishes of Zagreb cuisine such as ham, turkey with mlinci, kale with minced meat, štrukli, and other dishes made from local ingredients which have been used in these areas for centuries and are found in all Croatian kitchens. 

“In the selection of meals for the Zagreb menu, I was guided by the idea of creating the ambiance of the Zagreb family table from the beginning to the middle of the 20th century, bearing in mind the strong influence of the Austro-Hungarian cuisine and the wealth of food offered by the nearby rural economy. Zagreb families buy the ingredients for the dishes on our menu at the Dolac market and they are enjoyed almost daily. We want the taste and smells of these dishes to accompany passengers to their new destination,” said Dino Galvagno at the presentation of the menu in Zagreb. 

Apart from Zagreb cuisine, the new business class menu also promotes local ingredients from other Croatian regions, such as anchovies, bacon, cuttlefish and broad beans. Additionally, the new meals for business travelers on all Croatia Airlines flights will contain more vegetables and will be prepared by traditional cooking methods with a minimal change in the character of the ingredients. A special challenge in this project was also synchronizing several catering service providers in Croatian airports, specifically in Zagreb, Split and Dubrovnik, to achieve the uniformity of taste and quality.

Other news in the Croatia Airlines’ culinary offer is the new project called ‘Croatia Airlines full of taste’, which is being prepared in cooperation with the Croatian Tourist Board and is expected to start in April 2020.

“Croatia Airlines 'full of taste’ is a project of Croatia’s wine and gastronomy on our airplanes, whose values will be felt by business and economy travelers. We will realize it with renowned Croatian chefs, restaurants, wineries, sommeliers, oil producers, and other Croatian producers of native Croatian products. Every six months, in summer and winter, we will completely change the menus and their visual presentation following the various concepts of the Croatian gastronomic map, to further increase the pleasure of passengers on our airplanes,” said Jasmin Bajić, President of Croatia Airlines Management Board.

As a national carrier and a company that continuously improves service, Croatia Airlines wants to offer added value to passengers within these projects and bring them closer to the gastronomic wealth of Croatia through taste, smell and color,  concluded the airline in their announcement.

To read more about travel in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page. 

Ryanair, one of Europe’s favorite budget airlines, celebrated 4 million passengers in Croatia since the beginning of its operations in the country in 2006, reports AvioRadar on June 6, 2019.

The 4 millionth passenger traveled on Ryanair’s new service from Eindhoven to Zadar, which is part of the summer. schedule this year. The 2019 summer schedule also includes new escapes such as Berlin, Cologne, Dublin, Krakow, and Prague. Ryanair will transport 550,000 users in Croatia this year and boasts more than 400 staff in the airports of Dubrovnik, Pula, Rijeka, Split, and Zadar. 

Ryanair’s 2019 summer schedule in Croatia boasts two new airports (Dubrovnik and Split), five airports in total (Dubrovnik, Pula, Rijeka, Split, Zadar), and 11 new routes, including Zadar to/from Cologne, Eindhoven, Krakow, Hamburg, Milan, Bergama, Nuremberg, Poznan, and Prague. Dubrovnik and Dublin are also connected on Ryanair this year, as is Pula and Berlin, and Split and Dublin. 

Ryanair has a total of 31 routes in Croatia. 

The celebrate 4 million passengers in Croatia, Ryanair dropped seat prices down to 22.99 euro for trips in June, which should be booked by midnight on Saturday, June 8, 2019. 

“Ryanair is pleased to celebrate 4 million passengers in Croatia and the record 2019 summer. As part of the celebration, in June, we will sell seats from Croatia for 22.99 euro. This offer is available until Saturday, June 8, at midnight,” said Olga Pawlonka, a representative of the airline in Zadar. 

Josip Klišmanić, the managing director of Zadar Airport, said:

“It has been 12 years since Ryanair started flying to Zadar. Then, we handled only about 65,000 passengers. I am happy to announce that more than 750,000 passengers will travel through Zadar Airport this year. Ryanair is the most important partner in achieving this goal. I believe that this will remain and that we will celebrate more and more travelers in the future.”

To read more about travel in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page. 

There's no doubt that Croatia is truly a stunning country with a lot to boast about. From being extremely rich in natural resources to outstanding beauty, there's something for everyone in this very conveniently positioned little nation of a mere four million inhabitants. 

Pristine beaches and the sparkling Adriatic sea, the glitz and the glamour of the Dalmatian coast, Istria's rolling wine country, the funky Croatian capital of Zagreb, the rugged beauty of Gorski Kotar and Lika, to the golden fields of Slavonia and Baranja... the list goes on and on. The Croatian Tourist Board didn't do badly in picking the now classic ''Croatia full of life'' slogan to market the country to the rest of the world, but is it really true? 

Those of us living and working here know very well that Croatia being full of life certainly isn't true in the economic sense, unless it is providing Croatian lives to the labour markets of other countries as some sort of export product, that is. Tourists, however, get to enjoy the freedom of ''surface level Croatia'', it looks a bit like a runway model before she takes her makeup off. The sea, the sunshine, the picturesque scenery and the friendly locals who you'd never know are likely working under less than acceptable conditions paint a beautiful image of Croatia for those merely here to enjoy it. Apparently.

As Glas Istre writes on the 6th of June, 2019, stinking drains and sewers, poor and very limited public transport, overcrowded cities, national parks and beaches, and a total and utter lack of parking places are just some of the far more negative aspects of Croatia that foreign tourists claim to experience when visiting the country. Although it is indeed seen as strikingly beautiful, Croatia, as foreign guests consider it, has enormous problems in managing its destinations, according to a report from Novac.hr.

The perception and brand of Croatia itself is defined by its incredible nature and natural beauty, those are things we can't influence (thankfully, as if we could we'd likely mess them up).

Owing to Croatia's lucky geographical position, as many as 55.6 percent of Croatia-related announcements on social networks or any other websites and platforms mention Croatia's abundance of sunshine, the sea, the beaches and the national parks, which are things that, rather ironically, tourists see as the only good things about the country. Nature, as Siniša Topalović, a partner in the consulting company Horwath HTL states, isn't a term used by the Croatian Tourist Board to brand Croatia.

Croatia Full of Life is not remotely what tourists actually perceive because no events are mentioned anywhere by the aforementioned tourist board. Croatia, at least in the eyes of our visitors, is not full of life, according to Topalović. In fact, only the Croatian capital of Zagreb succeeded in living up to the ''full of life'' slogan. Along with the city's Upper Town (Gornji grad), where tourists are typically delighted with various events and festivals which are now well recognised, both during winter and summer, and tourists visiting the Croatian capital are fascinated by the city's numerous quirky cafés and the cultural phenomenon of coffee drinking throughout the day.

On the other hand, gastronomy, which Croatia is indeed often praised for, is recognised as one of Croatia's ''stand out'' features, either. When tourists write and talk about their visit to Croatia, less than ten percent of them mention the country's food and drink, and when they pay attention to our gastronomy, they do so in a typically very generic manner, mentioning only the basics, whereas when discussing other countries and their gastronomic offers, much more detail tends to be revealed.

However, that is actually in line with what the Croatian Tourist Board does present on their social networks. Of the total of 1,100 published pieces of content on Instagram between July and October last year, only 40 of the posts are about the country's rich gastronomy, while out of 400 such posts on Facebook, only about 15 of them talk about food and drink. Most of the content, as expected, refers to Croatia's natural architecture.

The results of what tourists really think of Croatia were part of pilot studies conducted jointly by the startup thinktourism and the consulting company Horwath HTL through the new eDEST platform, which should serve as a support in managing tourist destinations.

It is, as Topalović explained, an innovative tourism product that provides an insight into tourists' perceptions about a specific country, region, destination or particular tourist attraction. EDEST gathers together all comments, posts and reviews made by tourists from all forums, social networks, blogs and other websites and analyses and compares the perception of tourists about a particular destination with what the destination is actually trying to brand.

''People write all sorts on the Internet, and more than sixty percent of tourists are just browsing when choosing a location to spend their holiday in. With younger generations, this is the case in over ninety percent of cases. Therefore, we collect what they write and publish, and we offer an insight into what tourists are saying about this location, that is, eDEST is able to see the destination through the eyes of the visitor,'' explained James Chappell from Horwath HTL.

The idea for this platform came from the start-up thinktourism, whose employees noted that there was a strong discrepancy between what a particular destination would want and what it actually was portraying in the eyes of visitors.

Make sure to follow our dedicated travel page for more information on tourism in Croatia and much, much more.

June 4, 2019 - Croatia Airlines has joined the anti-plastic movement with their latest announcement - they’re trading plastic cups for paper on board all of their flights!

Namely, Croatia Airlines announced that the new measure came into force on Monday, June 3, and that plastic cups are a thing of the past for this national air carrier. 

“In line with current trends and legal requirements in the area of environmental protection, Croatia Airlines is discontinuing the use of plastic cups on all flights as of today. The use of paper cups will additionally raise the quality of our services, as well as promote a positive relationship towards the environment,” the airline announced on their Facebook page. 

It’s not hard to see why the company decided to make the environmentally-friendly move. Ex Yu Aviation reports that plastic cups generate about 28% more greenhouse gasses than paper cups and take up to one million years to decompose. Thus, by switching to paper cups, Croatia Airlines will remove around 26 tons of plastic waste annually. 

Furthermore, Croatia Airlines expects another stellar year ahead with an anticipated 5 percent growth in passenger traffic. Last year, 2.17 million passengers were transported by the airline. 

In this year's tourist season, as well as last year, Croatia Airlines boasts 12 aircraft in their fleet - four Airbus 319, two Airbus 320 and six Dash 8-Q400 aircraft. As in the past two years, two more aircraft will be hired for the tourist season from May to October.

The company marks its 30th anniversary this year, too. For the special occasion, the airline utilized its employees to select the best slogan to commemorate the big birthday, which is “Creating memories for 30 years!”

Along with the slogan, a unique birthday design was created, which also saw the help of its creative employees. 

To mark 30 years, Croatia Airlines has chosen to enhance the visuals of its fleet. Namely, on its 12 aircraft, the “CROATIA” logo has been enlarged, making it even more noticeable. Furthermore, the checkers, as a recognizable symbol of Croatian national identity, extend to the hull of the aircraft. 

The visuals on the exterior can also be noticed on the lower part (belly) of the aircraft, which is now white, giving the plane a touch of elegance. Thus, the Croatia Airlines fleet, which is usually a traveler's first introduction to Croatia, has become even stronger and more recognizable. 

To celebrate three decades, the company will also conduct several competitions this year where visitors or citizens can expect valuable prizes. The competitions will be conducted in cooperation with the media and on social networks, and surprises can also be expected on flights. All details can be found here. 

The story of Croatia Airlines began on August 7, 1989, when it was registered as Zagal (formally, Zagreb Airlines). On December 23, 1990, Zagal changed its name to Croatia Airlines and became the national carrier of passengers, goods, and mail. 

The first commercial flight of Croatia Airlines took off on May 5, 1991, from Zagreb to Split, while the first international flight was between Zagreb and Frankfurt on April 5, 1992. 

From the very first flight to the end of February 2019, Croatia Airlines has achieved 585,500 flights and carried over 38,240,000 passengers. Of these, 11,407,500 passengers flew on Croatian flights, 24,014,500 flew on international routes, and 2,818,000 were carried on special charter flights. For the upcoming tourist season, Croatia Airlines will travel to 38 destinations in 24 countries. 

It is almost essential to note that in the last 30 years, Croatia Airlines has become a member of the most important aviation associations, such as the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and Star Alliance, the largest aviation association in the world. Today, Croatia Airlines is classified as a mid-sized European airline, recognized by passengers for flight safety, professional staff, and quality of service. 

To read more about travel in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page.

ZAGREB, June 3, 2019 - Croatia has excellent conditions for the development of equestrian tourism and in cooperation with all other stakeholders in the appropriate destinations for that type of tourism, such demanding guests can be provided with superb services and experience, an international expert, Renzo Tomi, has recently said during his visit to Croatia.

Tomi, an Italian expert for equestrian tourism, arrived in Croatia to give a lecture at an international conference on this topic in Bjelovar.

Bjelovar, a town 80 kilometres east of Zagreb, has an international certificate for the Bilogora equestrian tourist trail, according to information provided by the National Environmental Equestrian Guide (ENGEA) in Croatia.

The 90-kilometre Bilogora equestrian tourist trail has a score of horse-welcome points.

ENGEA Croatia, an association established in 2016, has reported that all training and educational events for equestrian guides in Croatia have so far been supported by the Croatian National Tourist Board.

ENGEA Croatia says that there are a dozen equestrian associations in the region of Bjelovar and Bilogora, plus several family farms that are engaged in horse breeding and tourist trade.

More news about Croatian tourism can be found in the Travel section.

ZAGREB, May 28, 2019 - A meeting of the UNWTO Commission for Europe (CEU), which is taking place in Zagreb on 27-30 May, was formally opened on Tuesday morning by Prime Minister Andrej Plenković who described the event as a compliment to Croatia and its tourist trade.

The meeting, which is taking place in Zagreb for the second time, has brought together representatives of more than 40 countries and Zurab Pololikashvili, the Secretary-General of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), who praised Croatia as a good example of the development of the tourist sector and of the whole country.

Plenković said that Croatia's National Tourist Board would open its office in Madrid where the UNWTO main offices are located.

As for the Croatian tourism sector, the premier spoke about a shift to sustainable tourism, and added that more and more efforts were being made to develop the tourist trade in the interior of the country, notably in the eastern region of Slavonia.

He said that during Croatia's chairmanship of the European Union in the first half of 2020, Croatia would organise a meeting of EU tourism ministers in the country.

Addressing the event, Mayor Milan Bandić spoke about Zagreb's tourist results in recent years.

Bandić and Tourism Minister Gari Cappelli, who are the hosts of the 64th meeting of the CEU, underscored the importance of Croatia's cooperation with the UNWTO. Cappelli said the UNWTO was an important partner to Croatia in many international projects.

More news about Croatian tourism can be found in the Travel section.

After the record tourist results in 2018, Zagreb County continues with positive trends in the tourist sector, as the number of tourists continues to increase. Thus, in the first four months of this year, Zagreb County recorded as much as 15 per cent more overnight stays and 14 per cent more arrivals than in the same period last year, reports Lokalni.hr on May 25, 2019.

Out of a total of 43,115 overnights, foreign guests realized almost 27,000. Zagreb County seems to have become a hit destination for tourists from Asian countries. There is a noticeable increase in the number of tourists from all parts of Asia, especially from China. Data for Italy, Bulgaria and Germany follows a similar trend.

The number of tourist arrivals increased to more than 24,000, with foreign guests realising more than 15,000 of them. The most visited towns in the first four months were Velika Gorica, Samobor, Ivanić-Grad, Sveta Nedelja and Zaprešić.

“The reasons for the positive results are the new programmes for tourists that have been developed in the Zagreb County tourism sector. The main projects are city breaks, cultural tourism, wine and dine, health tourism, cyclo-tourism and adventure tourism,” said Ivana Alilović, director of the Zagreb County Tourist Board.

“More and more guests want to live in a healthier and more dynamic style. They want to have new authentic and traditional experiences, try local wines and food, spend a lot more time in nature, and this can be very much done in the green ring surrounding Zagreb,” added Alilović.

Zagreb County continues to invest in the development of tourism in its area. The authorities financially support different tourism projects. Currently underway is a competition to award a million kuna grant for events that are significant for the tourism industry, as well as a 1.5 million kuna public call for co-financing of the development of public tourist infrastructure, such as congress centres, playgrounds, ice rinks, amusement parks, promenades, and cycling trails.

Another tender for entrepreneurs in tourism is expected soon. It will award a million kuna of non-refundable funds to increase the quality standards of hotels, camps and other establishments offering accommodation services.

In 2018, Zagreb County recorded nearly 129,000 tourist arrivals, which was 41 per cent more than in the same period of 2017, when the number was slightly higher than 87,000. The number of overnight stays increased by 33 per cent, from 154,000 to nearly 205,000.

Translated from Lokalni.hr (reported by Jelena Pišonić Babić).

More Zagreb County news can be found in the Lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, May 22, 2019 - Croatian National Tourist Board (HTZ) and Lonely Planet, one of the world's leading travel platforms, have launched a page dedicated to Croatia, "Discover Croatia", with four new videos of Croatian destinations, the HTZ said on Wednesday.

Two videos, made in cooperation with the HTZ, show the eastern region of Slavonia as "Croatia's best kept secret", with emphasis on its wines, cuisine and the cultural and historical heritage, and the central coastal town of Zadar as a destination for outdoor adventures such as hiking in Paklenica National Park or sailing in the Kornati National Park.

The two other videos were made by a Lonely Planet team in the Zagorje and Međimurje regions in the north of the country, with emphasis on their castles, and in Istria, focusing on truffle hunting.

The material will be shown in Great Britain, Germany, Poland, Sweden, Italy and Austria.

HTZ director Kristjan Staničić said effective tourism promotion nowadays was unimaginable without cooperation with the world's leading media platforms such as Lonely Planet, which he said logs 13 million visits a month.

Lonely Planet creative director Matt Parish said he was proud the platform could contribute to Croatia's promotion in the world, describing it as a destination, rich in diversity that was made for discovery.

Croatia's northern Adriatic peninsula of Istria has received Lonely Planet's prestigious Best in Europe 2019 award.

More news about Croatian tourism can be found in the Travel section.