ZAGREB, April 12, 2020 - Austrian daily Kurier on Sunday wrote about the Croatian island of Šolta as the second home of Austrian tourists who, because of the COVID-19 epidemic, could not visit it now.

"Our longing has a name, the small Dalmatian island of Šolta which rises to the surface from the infinite deep sea, and because of the coronavirus it is uncertain when it can be visited again," Kurier said.

"The small Croatian island of Šolta between Split and Brač used to be our second home for two to three weeks at the end of summer, and the trip to the island was a special experience and ritual," it added.

Some Austrians booked their holidays on Šolta this year when people did not know about COVID-19. But the outbreak has changed everything and no one knows when normal travel will be restored.

"For now, coronavirus is forcing us to stay home, but this only increases the burning desire to live soon as we lived before," Uwe Mauch wrote in Kurier.

He says Šolta is full of beautiful olive groves, gardens with lemon, orange and fig trees as well as fragrances of lavender, rosemary, laurel, immortelle and other Mediterranean plants.

A unique environment and the smell of the sea, the relaxed and nice southern population, their songs, dishes, wines, customs, walks through orchards and olive groves, and local honey are just some of the specificities of Šolta, Mauch wrote.

It would be beautiful if at the end of the endless tunnel of restrictions caused by coronavirus, it would be possible to visit Šolta again at the end of this summer, he added.

According to the Austrian health ministry, 13,945 Austrians are positive for the virus and 350 have died.

More news about Šolta can be found in the Lifestyle section.

April 8, 2020 —  The coronavirus will decimate the tourism sector, according to Tourism Minster Gari Cappelli and Croatian National Tourist Board Director Kristjan Staničić.

The two industry heavyweights offered gloomy predictions of revenue falls of up to 75 percent, damping down expectations of a quick recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cappelli and Staničić joined Director of the Croatian Tourism Association Veljko Ostojic, President of the Dalmatia-Dubrovnik Family Accommodations Community Nino Dubretić and President of the Association of Vessels Accommodation Providers - Charter, during last night’s “Otvoreno”, for a roundtable debate program on Croatian Radio Television.

Capelli predicted revenue drops between 60 and 75 percent, even if the tourism sector salvaged some fraction of the July through September tourism high season.

“If we manage to catch [the summer season], it would already give some results so that we could generate about 25 to 30 percent of revenues compared to last year,” he said, according to Jutarnji List.

He added Croatia as a car-centric destination in the region enjoyed advantages over countries that are aviation dependent.

Staničić, the HTZ director, said the fiscal third quarter was the most important.

“It is already certain that the second quarter will be practically at zero or maybe with some mild tourist traffic,” he said, adding that Croats must also be a little optimistic and try to capture at least part of the tourist season.

He believes that Croatia's advantage is the proximity of our key markets — namely Central Europe — and stressed the importance of domestic tourists.

Ostojic said that recently adopted government measures will help tourism survive, and are much more concrete than the first package. Yet he expects additional measures.

“We do not have a realistic basis, and we do not have the right to expect a fabulous season,” he said. “we must be realistic and ready to start working as soon as the opportunity arises.”

Dubretić said private renters have 90 percent fewer bookings than last year, with a 70 percent decline overall.

He believes that the current measures are cosmetic and that a year-long moratorium on debt payments is a priority.

“Three or six would mean that it's just a matter of what month the renter will stop paying loans,” Dubretić said.

Cappelli denied allegations the government neglected family accommodations, adding that the Ministry of Tourism immediately wrote off a lump sum of tourist taxes for the first six months for all 108,000 registered private accommodations.

“One hundred sixty-four million HRK was written off, deleted, for the first six months - said Cappelli, adding that their philosophy was "zero generated - zero will pay".

A moratorium is being discussed, he added, emphasizing the government considered including private renters.

Klisović said that nautical tourists spend more than twice as much as average tourism guests.

“The nautical sector is ignored in a couple of important segments,” he said. “The ships moored in the marinas are not in operation, and the cost, the most important and largest in the structure of all costs, is the cost of berths in the marina.”

“At the level of the entire Croatian fleet, we are talking about EUR 30 to 35 million of liabilities that are due or due in the next couple of days at the level of the year for all charter companies and their vessels - said Klisović, warning that charters need an urgent response from the government.

ZAGREB, April 3, 2020 - According to data from eVisitor, there were 118,200 tourists in Croatia in March, or 75% fewer on the year, while the number of overnight stays decreased by 53%, which confirms that the COVID-19 pandemic has had a negative impact on tourism, says Croatian Tourist Board (HTZ) director Kristjan Staničić.

In the first three months of 2020, 635,000 tourists visited Croatia and generated nearly 1.9 million overnight stays, which are respective decreases of 33% and 20% compared with the same period in 2019.

Of the 118,200 tourist arrivals in March, about 65,000 were foreign tourists, which is a drop of 80.3% compared with March 2019, and they generated 64.5% fewer overnight stays, or nearly 280,000.

The biggest number of overnight stays was generated by domestic tourists, and tourists from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Germany, Slovenia and Austria.

There were 53,300 domestic tourists and they generated 238,800 overnight stays, which are respective decreases of 60.7% and 24.2% compared with March 2018.

Commercial accommodation facilities accounted for 72% of tourism turnover, while non-commercial facilities accounted for the remaining 28%, seeing an increase compared with March last year, the HTZ has underscored.

About 110,000 overnight stays were generated in commercial accommodation facilities, a decline of over 60%, and nearly 8,000 overnight stays were generated in non-commercial accommodation, an increase of 110%.

Staničić said that at this point it was too early to forecast demand for the peak season (July, August and September), underscoring that intensive work will be done to promote and position Croatia as a safe country once adequate conditions have been achieved.

"The focus will be on the domestic market and on those who can reach Croatian destinations by road," Staničić said.

More tourism news can be found in the Travel section.

ZAGREB, April 3, 2020 - Turnover in the hospitality sector has dropped over 90% in the two weeks since the closure of establishments and due to social distancing and uncertainty about reopening, the COVID-19 pandemic is "Armageddon" for the sector, says the president of the national association of bar and restaurant owners.

Locally and globally, bar and restaurant owners will be the hardest hit by this pandemic, Marin Medak tells Hina, voicing more concern about "what will happen, because recent estimates that at least 30% of establishments could be open in early July are no longer that optimistic, especially for restaurants and all other establishments where food is prepared and served."

He says the turnover drop of over 90% in accommodation and restaurants in the last week of March is expected but also shocking because the prospects for the next two to three weeks, possibly longer, are very bad.

That's why, he says, he calls the impact of COVID-19 on restaurants, cafes, bars, catering and the entire hospitality sector as "Armageddon" because they have very limited possibilities to keep or repurpose their business.

"Absolutely everything or nearly everything has stopped. Some restaurants deliver food or operate drive-ins, but that accounts for only... 3 to 6% of the turnover which, combined with the demanding measures for the protection of delivery people and delivery in general, is untenable for many, as well as expensive."

Medak says bar and restaurant owners will utilise government aid for staff and business.

The hospitality sector employs about 110,000 people, nearly half of all those employed in tourism and hospitality, according to his association.

Some employers have decided to keep their staff but many, notably small ones, simply can't if their turnover is zero kuna, which is now the case with almost everyone.

Since it is difficult to expect any business in the hospitality sector before the summer, Medak says his association and the Entrepreneurs' Voice initiative believe that payments should be written off, not deferred.

If the sector manages to do some business in July, August and the rest of the year, it will hardly exceed five to seven billion kuna, and the annual decline could be about 70%, he says.

Even when movement restrictions are lifted and bars and restaurants reopen, it will be tough on them because the question is how much customers will be able to afford, Medak says, adding that it might be easier for cafes with outdoor space.

"If restrictions are lifted by summer, we propose cancelling motorway tolls so that people in Croatia can drive more and visit various destinations and thus be able to more easily afford what the hospitality sector offers."

More coronavirus news can be found in the Lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, April 1, 2020 - Tourism Minister Gari Cappelli has said that last year's increase in tourism revenue of 11% is as expected as 2019 was a good year for tourism, and that the drop in revenue in the hospitality sector in the last month is as expected as well, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and closed tourist facilities.

In a telephone interview with Hina on Wednesday, Cappelli said that he could not predict how long the current situation would last.

Commenting on the latest information from the tax authority's fiscalisation system, which shows a major year-on-year drop in the number of invoices issued and amounts in the accommodation and food preparation and serving activity in the last month (February 2 to March 29), of 37% and 41% respectively, the minister said that the decreases were as expected, as was a 96% drop in invoices issued in the last week (March 23-29) and a 93% drop in the amount of invoices issued, compared to the same period of last year.

The current situation will continue until tourism facilities, now closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, reopen, the minister said, noting that some hotels were working and that some restaurant owners were trying to survive by delivering food.

"What we all can do is try to save jobs, which is the purpose of both the first set of economic measures proposed by the government and the second set which is to be adopted by the government tomorrow," said Cappelli.

He repeated that accommodation facilities could receive guests and serve food to them but on the condition of compliance with prescribed measures of social distance.

The minister said that popular pre-season destinations such as Zagreb, Dubrovnik, Split and Opatija were already suffering losses.

Speaking of possible scenarios for this year's season, Cappelli said that the most likely one was a 75% drop in overnight stays, on the condition some of the tourist turnover is compensated for in August, September, October and the period until the end of the year.

Should that not be possible due to the continuation of the pandemic, overnight stays could drop by as much as 90%, the minister said, expressing hope that that would not happen.

More tourism news can be found in the Travel section.

ZAGREB, March 30, 2020 - In 2019 a total of 515,400 tourists stayed in non-commercial accommodation facilities, that is holiday homes and apartments, which is 0.6% down from 2018, but there were 4.4% more overnights stays, or 13.1 million, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (DZS).

Data from the DZS show that more than twice as many foreign as domestic tourists stayed in non-commercial accommodation facilities in 2019, or 376,000 foreign tourists compared with 140,000 domestic. However, there were less tourists from both categories compared to 2018 - the number of domestic tourists was down by 0.2%, and that of foreign by 0.4%.

The number of overnight stays rose in both categories for non-commercial accommodation facilities - foreign tourists generated 7 million overnight stays, or 4% more on the year, while domestic tourists generated 6.2 million overnight stays, an increase of 5.2%.

Tourists from Slovenia accounted for 47% of the overnight stays in non-commercial accommodation facilities, followed by those from Bosnia and Herzegovina with 12% and those from Germany with 9%.

Broken down by counties, Zadar County recorded the highest turnover in non-commercial accommodation with 145,000 tourists and 4.5 million overnight stays, followed by Primorje-Gorski Kotar County, which recorded 124,000 tourists and 3.6 million overnight stays. Istria County came third with 95,000 arrivals and 2 million overnight stays.

More tourism news can be found in the Travel section.

ZAGREB, March 27, 2020 - According to data from eVisitor, there were 10,757 tourists in Croatia as of March 25, 60% domestic and 40% foreign, and the majority (46%) were in non-commercial accommodation, the National Tourist Board (HTZ) says.

Of the 4,308 foreign tourists, 11% were from Bosnia and Herzegovina, 4% from Slovenia and 3% from Serbia and Germany each.

In a response to a query from Hina, HTZ says that on March 25 there were 821 more tourists in Croatia than on March 19, when eVisitor recorded 9,936.

This year through March 25, 630,000 tourists visited Croatia, generating 1.8 million nights, down 25.3% and 15% on the year respectively, which is a direct effect of coronavirus.

More tourism news can be found in the Travel section.

Many are asking just what a measure allowing for a delay in payment of Croatian sojourn tax is supposed to result in, considering the fact that there are no tourists to pay it owing to the coronavirus outbreak.

As Dora Koretic/Novac writes on the 19th of March, 2020, for days, the entire tourism sector had been anxiously waiting for the government to finally present measures to help the vulnerable businesses (which can be read here), but when they finally arrived on Tuesday night, the real sector was once again convinced of how poor the state apparatus' grasp of the domestic economy really is.

The first targets were the measures proposed by the Ministry of Tourism, which, to the surprise of many tourism professionals, decided to help the sector by delaying the payment of Croatian sojourn tax and various tourism membership fees for businesses and renters, limiting working hours, delaying the payment of land concession fees, and some other things.

''What's the point of delaying the payment of Croatian sojourn tax? If there are no guests, then there's no fee to be paid anyway, so it isn't clear what they wanted to achieve with this measure. The whole of Croatia is laughing at this, we expected that our ministry would take this situation seriously and put some measures in place that would help the sector when it's on its knees,'' stated a tourism expert was angry who wanted to remain anonymous.

What most disappointed the entire tourism and hospitality sector was the fact that the measures that offered the most hope for businessmen - those regarding job preservation - weren't sufficiently elaborated on after Wednesday's presentation to make businessmen understand their criteria and the options available to them, not to mention the fact that they will obviously still have to wait around.

''Tourism employers need a measure of support for job preservation right away, and it's obvious that we'll have to wait for the end of the week to see any elaboration on this measure. Many other European countries, such as Denmark, have immediately come up with concrete measures to help preserve their workforce, and it's equally important that this be a priority for the Croatian Government.

It's absolutely essential for them to respond immediately and to assist companies that need to decide how to regulate employment in these circumstances straight away, because they employ workers and have no income to finance their salaries. It's especially important to take into account the specificity of tourism when defining the criteria for the implementation of this measure,'' said the director of the Association of Hospitality and Tourism at HUP, Natali Komen Bujas.

Examples that the state could follow from across the European continent were numerous: Austria has prepared 20 billion euros for part-time work, the German Government has announced that it will cover up to 60 percent of net wages in part-time work, the Netherlands also extended the short-term rules of employment, and the United Kingdom has announced the possibility of a refund to small and medium-sized companies/enterprises and employers.

Although the Croatian Tourism Association said that they welcomed in principle all measures that are aimed at maintaining the liquidity of the country's companies, its president, Veljko Ostojic, said that the sector needs these measures to be put into function immediately.

''They must come into force immediately, they need to be clear and concrete, and now after they've finally been presented, it's clear that it will take everyone a week to understand them and to know the criteria of who can use them and just how they can be used,'' warned Ostojic.

One of the controversial points in the package of measures is the many delays that are foreseen, which is causing some skepticism in the sector. The issue of the payment delays for Croatian sojourn tax is just one confusing and seemingly senseless measure.

''We're taking these measures about delays solely as temporary measures, because it's quite clear that the sector will fall to its knees and that some concrete money will need to be injected into it. We need concrete measures, we want explanations of how they can be used and by who. I expected that we'd know all this by today, and now it turns out that concrete moves are still yet to be done,'' said Ostojic.

Make sure to follow our dedicated section for rolling information in English about coronavirus in Croatia.

March 15, 2020 - Things are changing quickly as the authorities react to the coronavirus threat. A Croatia travel update on the current situation. 

Disclaimer - This is an attempt to give a Croatia travel update on the current situation. Things are changing very quickly, and we are doing our best to keep you informed as best we can. The information is by no means comprehensive, and all the info we have is published below. If you have something useful to add, please contact me on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Subject Travel Update, and we will add if relevant. Thanks for your understanding and support. 

Are the borders in Croatia open?

This is the latest official information from HAK - please check their website travel updates (in English) for the latest information here. 

Due to additional controls at the border crossings there can be long delays in both passenger and freight traffic.

At Batina, Principovac, Principovac 2 and Ilok 2 border crossings all traffic is suspended.

Traffic is closed at the following border crossings:

at Goričan border crossing, detour: Goričan junction-ŽC2026-DC3;

at Dvor and Vitaljina border crossings - open only to passenger traffic;

at Gunja border crossing - there is a traffic ban on freight vehicles and buses.

Due to traffic bans on freight vehicles in Slovenia long delays should be expected in freight traffic at Bregana/Obrežje and Macelj/Gruškovje border crossings starting 1 June.

What about ferries in Croatia?

You can follow the latest ferry information here.

Prizna-Žigljen ferry does not operate due to wind.

Split-Ancona international line does not operate till 1 April, Dubrovnik-Bari till 19 April 2020.

Till 1 June 2020 401 Zadar (Gaženica)-Ist-Olib-Silba-Premuda-Mali Lošinj ferry does not embark at Silba port due to roadworks.

Information about bus travel in Croatia. 

Restrictions are also happening on bus routes. I don't have any comprehensive information, but it would be reasonable to assume that the Split Bus Station decision to stop international routes and likely limit domestic ones will be mirrored elsewhere. You can read about Split details here. 

International train travel to Croatia.

For the latest train travel information, the HAK travel update in English is here.

Railway traffic is suspended between Slovenia and Italy as well as at Bogojevo-Erdut border crossing (with Serbia).

Flights to Croatia? What is the situation with flight cancellations?

More flights are being cancelled every day, and this is a trend which is likely to continue. We don't have access to the full picture and can only put together part of the picture, but some significant developments in recent days include Croatia Airlines suspending all international flights to the coast, Ryanair postponing its base in Zadar until 2021 (please note that this is not the same thing as all flights being cancelled - the details are in this article); mass cancellations of flights globally by the likes of Norwegian (4,000 flights) and Lufthansa (up to half its entire flights) tell their own story. With 14-day self-isolation increasingly becoming a requirement in many countries, including Croatia in some cases (see below), the likelihood of less travel and more flight cancellations is strong. If you are booked to fly to Croatia, your airline booking will give you better information in your individual case than we can. We did a big update a few days ago, much of which is out of date already, but some of the links to airlines will still be relevant. 

Self-isolation in Croatia? Who does this apply to?

''The Croatian Government has introduced with immediate effect a compulsory fourteen-day self-isolation for all foreign nationals arriving from the UK, France, Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Austria, Netherlands, China, Korea, Japan, Singapore and Sweden.

Visitors with no residence in Croatia will be asked for proof of an accommodation booking. Those refusing self-isolation will be denied entry into Croatia and be instructed to return to their point of origin. Failure to comply with public health decisions may result in fines or even criminal charges.''

This list will no doubt be updated - follow the latest coronavirus updates on the dedicated TCN section. 

If anyone has some useful information and links to add to this resource, please contact us on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Subject Travel Update, and we will add if relevant. 

March 6, 2020 - At the regular daily coronavirus press conference of the Civil Protection Staff, which began at 16:00 CET, the Croatia Tourism Minister announced a tourism promotion for Croatian citizens called “A week of rest is worthwhile” (Tjedan odmora vrijedan). The promotion will offer Croatian citizens a 50 percent discount on domestic tourist services from more than 100 participants.

*Follow this article for live updates and this page for updates from Total Croatia News on the coronavirus in Croatia. An archive of updates can be found here. Contact numbers for epidemiologists, travel advisories and measures for preventing the spread of the coronavirus can be found here.

Cappelli: Croatia Tourist Bookings Down, 50 Percent Discount Offer

Tourism Minister Gari Cappelli spoke about the impact of coronavirus on tourism in Croatia. He said there hasn't been a major downturn yet, but confirmed that some tourists had cancelled their vacations in Croatia. "It is important that we get through the next 40 days," the minister explained. "The May Day holidays will provide us with an important indicator when hotels and camps are usually 80 percent full," he added. "The high season has not been compromised, bookings have not been cancelled, but they have slowed down for the fourth and fifth and sixth months," Cappelli pointed out.

The minister also announced a special tourism promotion for Croatian citizens and announced that it would be presented next week. It is a campaign called “A week of rest is worthwhile” in which Croatian citizens would receive a 50 percent discount on tourist services from more than 100 participants, such as Croatia Airlines, Jadrolinija, Plitvice and several hotels. Earlier today, the minister told HINA that the discount for domestic guests is expected last from April 10 to April 19, and that the project was designed to stimulate domestic tourist traffic during the pre-season and post-season, according to Zdravka Grund/Telegram on March 6, 2020.

Davor Božinović and Gari Cappelli | N1

Interior Minister Božinović: Need for Awareness, Solidarity Within EU

"All planned and ordered activities are being implemented throughout Croatia and the system is functioning," Croatia Interior Minister Davor Božinović said earlier in the press conference. He also said he had heard from Health Minister Vili Beroš, who is in Brussels at a meeting of health ministers and concluded that the "integrated political response to the crisis highlighted the additional need for solidarity and cooperation."

"This includes raising awareness within Europe," the minister added.

Božinović also said that it is a priority for the European Commission is focus on EU member states, where measures must be proportionate to the situation on the ground, and that all countries have established cross-sectoral cooperation such as that existing in Croatia.

Alemka Markotić | N1

Markotić: New Varaždin Patient Has Mild Symptoms

Professor Alemka Markotić, Director of the Doctor Fran Mihaljević Clinic for Infectious Diseases, said that all of today's samples were negative and there are currently nine more awaiting test results. Speaking about the new patient in Varaždin, she indicated that the patient had mild symptoms and stated that there were no other changes.

*Follow this article for live updates and this page for updates from Total Croatia News on the coronavirus in Croatia. An archive of updates can be found here. Contact numbers for epidemiologists, travel advisories and measures for preventing the spread of the coronavirus can be found here.