October 26, 2020 - The latest news for flights to Croatia as Jet2 cancels flights to Zadar and Pula in the 2021 summer flight schedule. 

Croatian Aviation reports that Jet2, a low-cost leisure airline that offers a number of scheduled and charter flights from the UK to tourist destinations in Europe, has announced certain operational changes for the 2021 summer flight schedule. Lines to Croatian airports have also been canceled.

In this year's summer flight schedule, the well-known British company flew to Pula, Split, and Dubrovnik, significantly less than last year, which was to be expected given the global pandemic. After Great Britain put Croatia on the quarantine list at the end of August, they canceled all flights to Croatian airports this year.

Last autumn, Jet2 announced another destination in Croatia, which was supposed to be Zadar Airport. Due to reduced demand caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the company decided to introduce lines to Zadar in the summer of 2021.

Because of the continuing uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the company decided against introducing lines to Zadar in the summer of 2021. Jet2 planned to introduce two lines to Zadar; from Manchester and London.

Passengers who have already bought tickets for the summer of 2021 in Zadar will be contacted by the company to offer them an alternative, which includes booking a flight to Split Airport, which will operate next summer.

Apart from Zadar, the company will not operate on the London Stansted - Pula line next summer. It is a long-term line regularly operating for many years, but due to the reduced demand anticipated for next summer, Jet2 will not have this line on offer next summer.

"In the summer flight schedule in 2021, we plan to operate to Split, Pula, and Dubrovnik. We are completely committed to the organization of tourist arrangements, and we are looking forward to taking a large number of tourists on vacation to beautiful Croatia," Jet2 announced earlier.

Another major carrier that brings many tourists from Great Britain to Croatia, British TUI, is still working on the summer flight schedule for next year. Recall, this company flew to Pula and Dubrovnik in the summer of 2019 every week with wide-body aircraft type B787-8 and B787-9 (Dreamliner). Because of the global pandemic this summer, they did not operate in Croatia.

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October 24, 2020 - As of Saturday, the city of Zagreb and four more Croatian counties are on Germany's red list. Namely, Karlovac, Osijek-Baranja, Varazdin, and Bjelovar-Bilogora counties. 

T.portal reports that other Croatian counties were on the list already. Thus, almost the entire territory of Croatia, with the exception of Istria, Primorje-Gorski Kotar, Zadar, and Sibenik-Knin counties, is a risk area.

Returnees from these areas are subject to 14 days of self-isolation after arriving in Germany and reporting to local health services. A negative coronavirus test excludes mandatory self-isolation.

Based on the recommendation of the Central Epidemiological Institute Robert Koch, the German government placed the whole of Poland and Switzerland, as well as almost all of Austria, with the exception of Carinthia, on the list of risk areas.

According to the latest list, almost all of Italy is a high-risk area, while the Canary Islands have been removed from the list.

At the same time, Denmark closed its border with Germany due to the increase in the number of new infections in Germany.

Merkel called on citizens to reduce contacts

In her regular Saturday video message, German Chancellor Angela Merkel reiterated her call on citizens to reduce the number of personal contacts as much as possible and to adhere to hygienic measures and rules for wearing protective masks.

Police in Berlin today is intensively checking compliance with measures such as wearing masks in pedestrian zones and a ban on pouring and selling alcohol after 11 pm.

In recent days, Germany has seen a sharp rise in the number of new infections, which exceeded 11,000 on Thursday and Friday.

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October 23, 2020 - The latest news for flights to Croatia as LOT operates to Zagreb in November and cancels its Dubrovnik service.

Croatian Aviation reports that Polish national airline LOT has announced its flight schedule for November this year. Compared to last year, the company will operate only to Zagreb, and the line to Dubrovnik has been canceled for this year's winter flight schedule.

This summer, LOT Polish Airlines operated on numerous routes from Warsaw and other Polish cities to destinations in Croatia (Zagreb, Rijeka, Zadar, Split, Dubrovnik). Despite the corona crisis, more than 13 new lines have been introduced. Croatia was extremely accessible to Polish tourists by air bridges in this crisis summer season, which is confirmed by the number of arrivals of Polish tourists in the Republic of Croatia this year.

LOT returned to Croatia on July 1, and this summer, it operated on a larger number of routes compared to the summer flight schedule of the previous year.

In the winter flight schedule, which will take effect soon, LOT will keep only one active line to Croatia. Namely, the company plans to operate on the line between Warsaw - Zagreb. Four flights a week have been announced every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. E170 aircraft with a capacity of 70 passengers will operate on the route.

Flights on Wednesdays and Fridays will operate in the morning, while flights on Mondays and Saturdays are announced in the afternoon and evening, respectively.

Although LOT also operated on the Warsaw - Dubrovnik line last winter, this will not happen this winter. Due to the impact of the global pandemic and weak demand, the company has temporarily discontinued this line and plans to operate on it from the spring of next year. 

As confirmed to Croatian Aviation from this airline, LOT plans to operate next summer on all routes on which it operated this summer (only the Warsaw - Rijeka route is in question). Still, the decision on the realization of these flights will depend primarily on travel restrictions and demand itself.

Until the spring of next year, LOT will operate regularly only to Zagreb, to a much lesser extent compared to last year's winter flight schedule.

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October 22, 2020 - The latest official COVID-19 in Croatia weekly report has been released by the Koronavirus government website, covering October 12 to October 8.

* in the last 24 hours

There are currently 26 testing places in the Republic of Croatia that perform RT-PCR analysis and collect samples. All processed samples enter national Croatian Health Insurance Institute platform, which is accessible to all county public health institutes. County public health institutes submit data about positive cases, sources of infection and hotspots as part of their daily reports to the Croatian Institute of Public Health. The Croatian Institute of Public Health collects information about hotspots, hospital treatment of COVID-19 positive persons, COVID-19 positive patients on respirators and the deceased. You can find more about the test centers on the link.

Epidemiological indicators on 19th of October 2020

• Cumulative 7-day rate for the Republic of Croatia: 130,9/100 000
• Cumulative 14-day rate for the Republic of Croatia: 200,0/100 000
• Counties with a cumulative 7-day rate greater than 50/100 000 inhabitants: Grad Zagreb, BBŽ, BPŽ DNŽ, KŽ, KKŽ, KZŽ, LSŽ, MŽ, OBŽ, PSŽ, PGŽ, SMŽ, SDŽ, ŠKŽ, VŽ, VPŽ, VSŽ, Zagrebačka
• Counties with a cumulative 14-day rate greater than 100/100 000 inhabitants: Grad Zagreb, BBŽ, DNŽ, KŽ, KZŽ, LSŽ, MŽ, OBŽ, PSŽ, SMŽ, SDŽ, VŽ, VPŽ, VSŽ, Zagrebačka
• Total number of tests in the last week: 39 660
• Share of positive tests in the total number of tests in the last week: 13,5%
• Total number of tests and share of positive tests in total number of tests: 400 636; 6,5%
• The number of new cases in intensive care per 100,000 inhabitants in the last 7 days: 0,68/100 000
• Number of deaths in the last week: 47
• Total death rate per 1 000 000 population: 91,5/1 000 000

Epidemiological situation in Croatia

Geographical distribution of new COVID-19 cases by counties
In a two-week period from 13th October to 19th of October all counties recorded new cases of COVID-19 disease. The highest number of new cases are recorded in the City of Zagreb, followed by the Splitsko - dalmatinska and Osječko-baranjska County. The lowest number of new cases were recorded in Istarska and Koprivničko-križevačka County. The Krapinsko-zagorska County also has the highest 14-day rate, followed by Ličko-senjska and Međimurska County. 

Figure 1. 14-day rate by counties in Croatia on October 19, 2020.

Figure 1. 14-day rate by counties in Croatia on October 19, 2020.

Epidemic by weeks, from 28th – 34th week of the epidemic
Table 1 shows the epidemiological indicators by epidemic week. The data shows that one of the most important epidemiological indicators - the rate of confirmed cases and the share of positive ones show a positive trend in the period from 28th to 31st week, while in the 32nd and 34th week they grow again with a very large jump at 33rd  and 34th week compared to the week before. The confirmed case rate has been steadily declining since week 31 when it stood at 31,2 to grow again at 32nd and 34th week. The number of new cases increased by 84.8% compared to the week before. The total number of tests, after a slight decline in 32nd and 33rd week, it rose again in 34th week and a total of 38,485 tests were performed. The proportion of positive individuals in total testing also declined by 31st week, and increased at 32nd and 34th week. 

Table 1. Overview of the number of confirmed cases by weeks, from week 28 th to 34th

Table 2 shows a set of indicators related to the severity of the clinical picture and the characteristics of deaths. The table shows that in the period from 28th to 31st week, there has been an increase, and at 32nd and 33rd week a slight decrease in the number of cases on the respirator. At 34th week, there was a significant increase in the number of cases on the respirator, but the share of cases on the respirator in the total and the weekly number of cases did not increase. The share of hospitalized cases in the weekly number of cases ranges from a minimum of 35% to a maximum of 77.1%. The average age of who died does not oscillate significantly. The death rate in the latter stagnated from 29th to 33rd week and increased in 34th week.

Table 2. Overview of patients on respirator and deaths by weeks, from week 28 to 34

Table 3 shows the incidence of the 7-day rate in the two last weeks with a limit of 50/100 000 inhabitants, which in some countries is taken as one of the criteria in assessing the epidemiological situation. After the epidemiological situation calmed down in early October, due to the re-influx of new cases, rates rose again in most counties.

Clinical aspects - Hospitalizations and severity of clinical picture for the period from 13th October to 19th of October
Figure 2 shows the relationship between the daily number of confirmed cases and the daily number of hospitalized cases. Number of hospitalized cases per day ranged between a minimum of 54 and a maximum of 117, while the share of hospitalized cases in the total daily number of confirmed cases ranged from 7.7% to 18.1%.

Figure 2. Overview of the daily number of confirmed and hospitalized cases from 13th to 19th of October

Figure 3 shows the proportion of hospitalized in the total number of weekly cases. Of the total number of confirmed cases in a given weekly period, 10.3% were hospitalized, which is an decrease compared to last week's 11.9%. In the same period, 28 people were put on a respirator, which makes 0,5% of the total number of confirmed cases. On October 19, there were 35 people on the respirator, or 0.7% of the total number of active cases.

The graph in Figure 4 shows that the slope of the curve of confirmed cases is followed by the curve of cured cases, while the curve of active cases, in addition to some ascending, shows stagnation in certain periods related to the continuation of the first wave of the epidemic in Croatia. After changing the duration of isolation of patients, a sharp decline in the number of active cases is recorded and after which the number of active cases stagnated for two weeks, only to grow again in the last two weeks.

Figure 4. Movement of the total number of cases, recovered, deceased and active number of cases from 18th of June till 19th of October

Age-sex distribution of COVID-19 deaths
A total of 267 people died in this wave of epidemics. Most of the people who died had significant comorbidities or were of advanced age. The mean age of the deceased in this wave of epidemics is 77.1 years. One hundred and eight people died on a respirator. An overview of the situation is given in Table 4 and Figure 5.

Table 4. Died people by age and gender in the period from 29th of June till 19th of October

Figure 5. Age and sex distribution of deaths from COVID-19 in the period 29th of June to 19th of October 2020

Deaths for the period from 13th to 19th of October 
In the last week, 27 people died, of which 15 (55.6%) were on a respirator. The distribution by age and sex in the last weeks is shown in Table 5, and by counties in Table 6.

Table 5. Distribution by age and sex of persons who died in the last week

Table 6. New patients and deaths in the last week and total deaths

Epidemiological situation in Croatia

In the last week, new cases have been reported in all counties of continental and coastal Croatia. The highest 7-day rates on 19th October were recorded in continental Croatia, in Krapinsko-zagorska (324.7) and Međimurska County (216.5), followed by the City of Zagreb (197.6) and Virovitičko-podravska (170.1) and Karlovačka County (160.1). In coastal counties, the lowest rate was recorded for a longer period of time in Istarska County (22.5), while higher rates were recorded in other coastal counties. However, they are still significantly lower than in the mainland. Despite the large increase in the number of patients, there are no recorded outbreaks with a large grouping of patients, but it is mainly a large number of hotspots and smaller groupings that certainly have a significant impact on the general epidemiological situation in the country. Patients associated with family gatherings of various contents and circumstances (most often religious rites, birthdays, weddings), celebrations or banquets, choir singing, going out or training and competitions of various sports clubs are still recorded. From these activities of everyday life, infection is transmitted to the work environment, and in that way, there's no work environment which is spared the possibility of more infected people appearing in it. This is how virus outbreaks are recorded and monitored in health care institutions, most often hospitals, but also occasionally in social care institutions, are recorded and monitored. The same principle applies to educational institutions, among which the most infected are in high schools. A significant proportion of sufferers are contacts of previously ill cases.

Age-sex distribution of patients in the last week
In the previous week, a total of 5352 people fell ill - a slightly higher proportion of females (52.5%) than males (47.5%). A similar distribution by sex is present in most age groups, except in age groups up to 1 year of age and from 1 to 7 years where a higher percentage of sick kids are boys. By age groups - approximately the same percentage of patients was recorded in the age groups of children (11.3%) and the elderly (12.4%).The most affected were children of high school age, a total of 310. Adults in the age range of 19 to 65 years made the largest share in the total number of patients last week, actually 4082 (76.3%). The distribution of patients by age did not change significantly compared to last week, except that the share of sick people aged 66 and over increased slightly, from 11.8% to 12.4%. The full view can be found in Figure 6 and Table 7.

Figure 6. Distribution of patients in the last week by age groups

Table 7. Age and sex distribution of patients in the period form from 13th to 19th  of October

Measures
Since the initial adjustment of the measures started at the end of April for the purpose of continuing economic and social activities, measures to maintain physical distance, maintain hand hygiene and disinfection, obligation to wear face masks or medical masks in certain enclosed spaces and for all health professionals, social care providers and employees in catering facilities, and restrictions on the numbers of people at private and public gatherings are continuously in force.
From the end of August, at the suggestion of local headquarters, targeting measures were adopted at the local level. Most of them referred to restrictions on the number of people at weddings, funerals and other private gatherings, measures to organize larger events, bans on visits to hospitals, homes for the elderly people and audiences at sports competitions.

The following decisions were made last week:

• Decision on amendments to the Decision ABOUT the introduction of necessary epidemiological measures for the area of ​​Krapina-Zagorje County (October 19, 2020)
• Decision amending the Decision about the introduction of necessary epidemiological measures for the Primorje-Gorski Kotar County (October 19, 2020)
• Decision amending the Decision about the introduction of necessary epidemiological measures for the area of ​​Sisak-Moslavina County (October 19, 2020)
• Decision about the introduction of necessary epidemiological measures for the area of ​​the City of Zagreb (October 16, 2020)
• Decision on amendments to the Decision about necessary measures for the organization of gatherings attended by more than fifty participants during the declared epidemic of the disease COVID-19 (October 15, 2020)
• Decision about exceptional suspension of the necessary measure of mandatory use of face masks or medical masks for guests in catering facilities in the territory of the County of Istria (October 15, 2020)
• Decision about the introduction of necessary epidemiological measures for the area of ​​Varaždin County (October 15, 2020)
• Decision on Amendments to the Decision about Introduction of Necessary Epidemiological Measures for the Area of ​​Šibenik-Knin County (October 14, 2020)
• Decision amending the Decision about the introduction of necessary epidemiological measures for the area of ​​Međimurje County (October 14, 2020)
• Decision amending the Decision about the introduction of necessary epidemiological measures for the area of ​​Lika-Senj County (October 14, 2020)
• Decision amending the Decision about the temporary ban on crossing the border crossings of the Republic of Croatia (October 14, 2020)
• Decision about temporary regulation of work and working hours in catering (October 13, 2020) 

Last week, new versions of the recommendations of the Croatian Institute of Public Health were published regarding catering, wedding celebrations, professional performances of cultural programs and events, wearing masks and in other circumstances beyond those provided by the decision of the Civil Protection Headquarters.

• Recommendations for the use of face masks, medical and protective masks - ver. 3. It is recommended to wear face masks in all circumstances where the necessary physical distance between people cannot be maintained during their stay outdoors.
• Recommendations for the prevention of COVID-19 infection during professional art performances, cultural programs and events - ver. 5. The recommendations provide wearing face masks during the stay indoors for the duration of professional artistic performances.
• Recommendations for the prevention of infection in catering facilities with and without terraces and in catering facilities in accommodation facilities. Recommendations includes nightclubs and bars, as well as family farms that offer catering services. The changes relate to limiting the number of people who may be present in the facility at the same time. They introduce the term of COVID guard, the obligation of wearing masks for guests while sitting at a table and abolition of standing places and the dance floors. Working hours are recommended until 24:00. It is also recommended to buy tickets online. For visitors to nightclubs and bars is reccomended to measure the temperature at the entrance and to record participants.
• Recommendations for the prevention of COVID-19 infection during wedding ceremonies and celebrations. Recommendations include changes related to limiting the number of people who may be present at the facility at the same time. They introduce the concept of COVID guard, the obligation of wearing masks for guests while sitting at the table, the largest number of people who are allowed to sit at one table and the possibility of dancing is left only to newlyweds and parents or guardians that is, or actually to close family members and only for a solemn dance at the beginning of the wedding celebration. They have been abolished.
• Recommendations for performing food catering activities during the COVID-19 epidemic. The recommendations include changes to limit the number of people allowed to be present at the facility at the same time. They introduce the term COVID guard, the obligation to wear masks for guests until they are sitting at a table.
• Instructions and recommendations for gatherings ver. 2. The instructions are in line with the decisions of the Headquarters, they apply to all gatherings in which more than 50 people participate.

Recommendations and measures on global and EU level

Europe
On 24 th of August 2020, ECDC released an updated version of the risk assessment: https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/sites/default/files/documents/covid-19-risk-assessment-increased-transmission-12th-update-september-2020.pdf
 
ECDC has additional documents and information available: https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en, https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/covid-19-pandemic
The number of cases and the 7-day cumulative incidence of COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide can be found on the ECDC dashboard: https://qap.ecdc.europa.eu/public/extensions/COVID-19/COVID-19.html

Austria
Bundesministerium für Soziales, Gesundheit, Pflege und Konsumentenschutz – https://www.sozialministerium.at/Informationen-zum-Coronavirus/Neuartiges-Coronavirus-(2019-nCov).html
 
Netherlands
Government of the Netherlands - https://www.government.nl/topics/coronavirus-covid-19
National Institute for Public Health and the Environment - https://www.rivm.nl/en/novel-coronavirus-covid-19

Germany
Rober Koch Institut - https://www.rki.de/DE/Home/homepage_node.html
 
Slovenia
(gov.si) – https://www.gov.si/en/topics/coronavirus-disease-covid-19/
National Institute for Public Health – Slovenia - https://www.nijz.si/en

United Kingdom
gov.uk – https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus
NHS - https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/

 
World
WHO provides comprehensive information and documents.
WHO COVID-19-Dashboard: https://covid19.who.int/, https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019
Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) Weekly Epidemiological Update and Weekly Operational Update i Weekly Surveillance Report: https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/situation-reports, https://www.euro.who.int/en/health-topics/health-emergencies/coronavirus-covid-19/weekly-surveillance-report

Sources of information
https://www.hzjz.hr/
https://zdravlje.gov.hr/

Information about the global epidemiological situation
More about COVID-19 in other countries can be found and learned on the ECDC website: https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/geographical-distribution-2019-ncov-cases. The WHO Regional Office for Europe, the European Commission and the European Observatory on Health Systems and Health Policy have at their disposal the COVID-19 Health System Response Monitor (HSRM). There is information available about European countries and ways to respond to this epidemic. The focus is on health systems and public initiatives: https://www.covid19healthsystem.org/mainpage.aspx

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October 22, 2020 - The latest news for flights to Croatia as Windrose announces an additional weekly flight to Zagreb.

Croatian Aviation reports that less than a month after the launch of the Kyiv-Zagreb route, Windrose Airlines decided to increase the number of weekly flights on the route to Zagreb. In addition to flights on Wednesdays and Sundays, the company will operate on this route from December on Fridays!

Windrose Airlines launched the Kyiv - Zagreb route on October 4 this year, a little less than a month ago. Due to excellent occupancy and high demand, the company will add another flight per week on this route in December.

As confirmed to Croatian Aviation by this airline, which also operates to other airports in Croatia (Pula, Split, and Dubrovnik) in the summer flight schedule, the occupancy of aircraft to and from Zagreb is excellent, which consequently led to the decision to increase the number of weekly flights to this line.

In the first three weeks of operation, almost 600 passengers traveled on this line, which gives an average Load Factor (passenger cabin occupancy) of a high 82%.

Windrose Airlines planned to operate ERJ145 aircraft on the route, which has a capacity of only 48 seats in the fleet of this carrier, but all Sunday flights operate on aircraft of higher capacity, ATR75 (72 seats).

During the pandemic, especially when the numbers of infected are rising again across Europe and the world, Windrose Airlines has excellent results on this newly established route between the capitals of Croatia and Ukraine. 

Unlike flights on Wednesdays and Sundays, the additional flight on Fridays will operate in the morning:

Kiev 07:40 - 08:50 Zagreb 09:35 - Kiev 12:30

On the additional rotation on Friday, ERJ145 aircraft was announced.

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October 20, 2020 - The latest news for flights to Croatia as Air France operates five times a week to Zagreb in November from Paris. A look at the winter schedule. 

Croatian Aviation reports that in the announcement of the winter flight schedule, on October 2, Air France announced daily flights on the Paris - Zagreb route. The company has reduced the number of weekly flights on this route for November.

Air France returned to Zagreb on July 1 and has since operated regularly between Paris and Zagreb, changing the number of weekly flights on this route from month to month, depending on demand and travel restrictions between the two countries.

In the first week of October, the company announced daily flights on this route in the winter months ahead, but in the last week of October, from October 26 to 31, the company will operate between Paris and Zagreb three times a week (Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays), as announced earlier.

From November 1, Air France offers five flights a week on this route, every day except Tuesdays and Sundays, which provides passengers from Zagreb with a large number of connections via Paris to further destinations in Europe and the world.

Terminals 2E, 2F and 2AC are currently in operation at Charles de Gaulle Airport, from which all domestic and international traffic takes place. The airport will put the other terminals back into operation as needed, following an increase in aircraft and passenger operations.

In November, E190 aircraft with a capacity of 100 passengers in the fleet of this carrier will operate on the Paris - Zagreb route. Five flights a week is currently a satisfactory weekly frequency that allows passengers from Zagreb with one stop in Paris to continue their journey to more than a hundred destinations across Europe and the world.

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

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October 19, 2020 - The latest news for flights to Croatia as Aeroflot will not return to Zagreb this winter, suspending operations on the Moscow Zagreb route. 

Croatian Aviation reports that Russia's national airline will not return to Zagreb airport this winter. Aeroflot suspended operations on the Moscow-Zagreb route during the pandemic and did not operate on it in the summer flight schedule this year.

Under normal circumstances, Aeroflot operated on the Moscow-Zagreb route daily, in both summer and winter schedules. After the outbreak of the pandemic, the company stopped traffic on this line and the possibility of re-establishing flight operations in the winter flight schedule was left as an option, but after the number of infected people in Croatia (as well as in other countries across Europe) increased again, the company closed sales on the Moscow-Zagreb line for the entire winter flight schedule 2020/2021.

Zagreb is no exception in this case, as Aeroflot has drastically reduced the number of its destinations in Europe and the world.

This summer, Aeroflot, along with Zagreb, did not operate to the other two destinations in Croatia, Split and Dubrovnik, although flights to Split were announced from August this year. However, in early May, Aeroflot landed at Zagreb Airport with a B777-300ER aircraft without passengers, transporting humanitarian aid from China via Moscow to Zagreb.

The first regular flight between Zagreb and Moscow is currently announced for March 28, 2021, when the summer flight schedule also begins. The capitals of Russia and Croatia will be without a direct air connection for more than a year.

However, not all hope is lost for Zagreb. Croatian Aviation recently announced that Dutch airline KLM is offering daily flights between Amsterdam and Zagreb until the end of November this year.

The company plans to operate daily on this line in November, with E190 aircraft, with a capacity of 100 passengers. The daily direct connection between Zagreb and Amsterdam is extremely important, primarily because it is possible to continue the journey through Amsterdam to a number of European and world destinations.

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

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October 20, 2020 - The Total Croatia Travel Info Viber chatbot and community helped thousands of tourists this summer. Meet the two women behind the scenes who made it tick. 

My biggest learning experience this year was about online communities. When Kresimir Macan suggested on the drive back from a trip to the realities of crossing the Croatian-Slovenian border during a pandemic in May that we start a Viber community, I assented without knowing exactly where this idea would lead. Two days later, I had to suffer the humiliation of asking one of his interns to download Viber to my desktop as I did not know how to. 

Within minutes, we were live as the TCTI Viber community was born (you need to download the app). The instant translation function meant that I was answering travel enquiries in Hungarian within the hour. By the end of the day, our infographic had been translated into 12 languages, thanks to the efforts of the new community, which was already 1,000 strong by the end of the day. 

After answering the same questions hundreds and hundreds of times, the idea of a Viber chatbot was born, and it has been incredibly efficient and easy to use. The official Andrija chatbot (in Croatian only) was rolled out with great fanfare and has about 100,000 users. By contrast, the TCTI Viber chatbot, which is in the tourist language of English, has amassed almost 30,000 subscribers so far. 

And while Macan and I were associated with the project in the media, it would not have happened without the great work and initiatives of two remarkable women, Jelena Šipušić Jurčić and Aleksandra Đermanović. Both were interview by Women in Adria about the Viber chatbot and community recently, and please find a full translation of the interview below. 

These Women are Part of the Core Team Behind the Viber Community Which Helped Save the Tourist Season

For business to function well, the most important thing to match is – the characters. And with our members, Jelena Šipušić Jurčić and Aleksandra Đermanović, they certainly coincided. And not only that, they complement each other perfectly! Both are sparky and cheerful, each in their own way - Jelena can’t stop talking about some new app she just imagined, and Alexandra only needs a few sentences to start coming up with new ideas and directions.

Their collaboration began when Jelena needed new ideas for her brands developed by her company, and Aleksandra was looking for a quality development partner. One conversation led to another, joint brainstorming was more and more productive, and then they got the opportunity to work together on a completely new project – Total Croatia Travel Info community (TCTI community) on Viber!

How did you meet?

Jelena: We were connected by Women in Adria, we „clicked“ and started working together. Aleksandra and her ingenious team do all the creative work for 4APP and our brands, and during one real women's coffee, the idea of performing together on Viber-related projects was born.

Aleksandra: As an agency, Mediacor is in charge of Viber's business development in the Croatian market. In this regard, we are constantly looking for quality partners who would be suitable for cooperation with Viber. When having a coffee together, we realized that Jelena’s team has the ideal experience and expertise that can help brands during their presence on Viber as a communication channel.

How did you come up with the idea of the Total Croatia Travel Info community?

Jelena: The idea for a chatbot that will help educate tourists who are interested in coming to Croatia was born on that coffee. Given that Paul Bradbury and Krešimir Macan with their team of people, at that time, diligently answered questions from tourists within the TCTI community 24/7, it was logical to get involved in the story and help them in any way we know. I offered them a chatbot, and Alexandra my creative services.

Aleksandra: A special sticker package was designed for the TCTI community, in English, which promoted Croatia as a destination and was available on a global level within the Viber platform – in all countries of the world where Viber is present.

What are the possibilities of using chatbots?

Alexandra: Chatbot is most effective when it helps users solve problems that happen often. In the case of the TCTI community, these are practical issues of tourists who have started to follow a certain pattern over time. To reduce the pressure on community managers, a bot was created that gave users the answers they needed in a very short time, and they were concerned about the technical details of coming to Croatia during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Jelena: 4APP primarily deals with the development and implementation of business systems, which proved to be an excellent background since we can integrate Viber chatbots with many systems and, of course, provide consulting services on business processes. The applications of this type of chatbot are practically unlimited… When you mention a chatbot, people usually first associate it with a boring web bot that attacks users with questions as soon as they visit a particular website.

This is not the case with Viber – bots are there to help users, answer questions, or point you to the right place to get answers. It is possible to connect them to CRM systems, ERP systems, internal portals, websites, retrieve information from open data portals... And all to give answers in one place, mobile, via Viber.

Based on this experience, what are your recommendations for our tourism?

Alexandra: Follow markets and trends, innovate, and scale.

Jelena: Modernization is always a good direction when it comes to attracting tourists. Provide them with as much information as possible in the simplest possible way and get them interested in trying something new in Croatia that they may not have planned.

Where else can this model be applied?

Jelena: This solution is extremely easy to use for the end-user, and that is the most important thing. The applicability of the model is, therefore, in all segments where the goal is to quickly and efficiently inform users. This is perhaps most pronounced in tourism, but why shouldn't the Croatian real estate scene inform its potential buyers about the opportunities that are opening up? This is just an example, but the possibilities are numerous.

Aleksandra: This is extremely applicable for tourism as a whole and this approach can be applied by individual renters (in a sense of gathering their regular guests in the community, regularly sending them information, and having a more personal relationship with them) to the Ministry of Tourism or tourist boards who want to reach existing and potential guests.

Your view on women’s networking and why is it needed?

Aleksandra: The most important thing is to have a good fit – to complement each other, not to enter each other's territory, and go towards a common goal. Practical – elements and bases of every meaningful relationship.

Jelena: Networking is necessary for every business to be successful, there is no difference for men or women. Maybe we just need to motivate the female part a little more because we often get overwhelmed with tasks and forget about the social side of work. The more people we know, the more we talk to each other, the more ideas we have. So more socializing, please.

You can learn more about chatbot possibilities with Jelena on the official 4APP website.

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October. 17, 2020 - German TV praises Istria, as the region has managed to maintain its status as a corona-safe destination in Europe.

Index.hr reports that German RTL praised Istria, calling it a green oasis in a mostly red Europe, and tried to find the secret of the success of this Croatian region in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

RTL stated that about 210,000 people live in the Istrian peninsula and that by far the largest part of Istria belongs to Croatia, and a smaller part to Slovenia and Italy. They said that Istria, if you look at the corona map of Europe, is a green oasis as far as COVID-19 is concerned, because from the beginning of the pandemic until October 15, it had a total of 793 recorded infections, and in May and June it sometimes did not have a single new case. 

RTL added that in the early phase of the epidemic, Istria requested a special position and took different measures than other parts of Croatia.

"Given the fact that we are very close to Italy and that a large number of people from Istria go to work in Italy every day, we have been monitoring the situation in Italy since the beginning of February and preparing in time for the possible spread of the infection. We have already taken appropriate measures. Eight days before the National Crisis Headquarters introduced the measures, we restricted free movement in Istria," RTL quoted Denis Ivosevic, director of the Istria County Tourist Board.

One of the explanations for the successful fight against the coronavirus is the serious adherence to measures during the summer months. When the number of COVID-19 infections in Croatia increased in the summer, Istria reacted immediately, said RTL. Istria introduced the mandatory wearing of masks in all stores, with mandatory hand disinfection. Fifteen customers were allowed within 100 square meters in trade. It was similar in the markets, where masks were also mandatory. Measures were also applied on the beach: the deckchairs were spaced apart and disinfected regularly.

Seasonal workers coming to Croatia from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Serbia and North Macedonia had to immediately go into 14-day quarantine, and Istria canceled all events and developed new concepts during the summer season.

"We have invested a lot in making the holiday in Istria safe for everyone," said Ivošević.

RTL concluded that tourists and Istrians appear to have acted responsibly and adhered to measures to preserve their small green oasis in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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October 16, 2020 - The latest news for flights to Croatia as KLM operates to Zagreb daily in November.

Croatian Aviation reports that Dutch airline KLM is offering daily flights between Amsterdam and Zagreb until the end of November this year.

KLM has so far canceled several flights on the Amsterdam - Zagreb route in October, and only one departure has been canceled by the end of this month (Wednesday, October 28). 

The company plans to operate daily on this line in November, with E190 aircraft, with a capacity of 100 passengers. The daily direct connection between Zagreb and Amsterdam is extremely important, primarily because it is possible to continue the journey through Amsterdam to a number of European and world destinations.

After the cancellation of the Zagreb - Dublin Croatia Airlines route, the daily KLM flight to Zagreb is good news for passengers from Dublin, considering that it is possible to have a very good connection to Zagreb via Amsterdam.

Croatia Airlines will also operate on this route every day, so Zagreb will be connected to the capital of the Netherlands twice a day, so the number of seats offered on this route on a weekly basis is more than satisfactory.

It remains to be seen whether KLM will cancel certain departures in November, and it will certainly depend on the scale of the global pandemic and the status of reservations. KLM has so far been regular on the route to Zagreb and a very small percentage of announced flights have been canceled.

The second KLM line in Croatia, between Amsterdam and Split, operates seasonally and will end this year at the end of October. The last flight this year on the Amsterdam - Split route has been announced for Saturday, October 24, when this year's summer flight schedule ends.

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