August 19, 2020 - After Austria and Italy put Croatia on the "red list", i.e., introduced mandatory COVID-19 testing for anyone returning from Croatia, Falkensteiner reacted proactively and introduced a free coronavirus test (PCR test) for guests inside its facilities two days ago. 

HRTurizam reports that this is a great move that especially benefits foreign tourists, who can now be tested in the safety of their accommodation. This avoids many questions, especially for families with children, such as: Where can I find a testing clinic? How do I get there? Is it safe? Is it crowded?, which is further emphasized in a crisis situation.

“In order to facilitate the return of our guests from those two countries, we decided to donate COVID-19 tests, and in cooperation with the Institute of Public Health, organized daily visits to the resort to take samples on the spot, so guests do not have to go to the Zadar Institute," Falkensteiner pointed out.

For those guests who do not want to be tested in the hotel, i.e., in Croatia, Falkensteiner has provided a discount of 50 EUR per person, so that guests can be tested in their countries, and thus covers the cost of testing. 

Measures in Falkensteiner hotels in four languages

Falkensteiner's reaction to the COVID crisis and the preparations before the hotel opened should also be highlighted. For the needs of the guests, through a video and website (in four languages: Croatian, German, English and Italian), they explained all the procedures, gave answers to key questions and epidemiological measures they took to make guests feel safe. All information can be found HERE.

Falkensteiner should be used as an example for all as an excellent case study of crisis communication, i.e., making crisis decisions in hotel management. If Falkensteiner only looked at the profit, because the cost of testing is certainly an unplanned cost, they might have earned a few thousand euros more this season. However, with this decision, they have definitely profited in the long run. This is not a cost, but an investment and, logically, a human reaction. 

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August 19, 2020 - After Austria rejected Croatia's request to introduce testing measures only for certain parts of Croatia, instead of placing the entire country on the epidemiological red list, Minister of Tourism and Sports Nikolina Brnjac said that she expected Austria to change its mind.

Index.hr reports that on Tuesday night as a guest on Croatian Television (HTV), the Minister commented on Austria's decision that returnees from holidays in Croatia must show a current negative coronavirus test or undergo testing within 48 hours, as well as Slovenia's thoughts on introducing quarantine for all returnees from Croatia this weekend.

She pointed out that nothing is left to chance and that they regularly exchange information and contact Slovenian colleagues, give them transparent data on numbers by counties, so that they can see that not all Croatian counties are in the same situation, i.e., that only two have an increase in the number of patients.

"We expect them to take into account the situation in the counties because these are relevant data and they are familiar with it," said Brnjac. "I think that such a decision could be expected from them," she added.

As for Austria, she says, the list is revised and changed about every two weeks.

"Given the new measures of the Headquarters, we expect that Austria could also change its opinion regarding Croatia," Brnjac said.

Asked whether Croatia would retaliate with the same measures, the Minister of Tourism said that she would not talk about reciprocity. She also said that she had information that there was not a single patient registered in Croatian hotels because everyone adhered to strict epidemiological measures.

She added that the number of sick tourists in Croatia is negligible.

The minister said it helped that Croatia is a car-destination. She also pointed out that Dubrovnik-Neretva County was recording better tourist results in August, adding that the airlines' good announcements for September and October were especially pleasing.

As for sports competitions, Brnjac said they would certainly be held, but the Headquarters has adopted certain measures - a third of spectators may be in the stands, while respecting all epidemiological measures, and the HNL has decided not to have spectators.

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August 19, 2020 -  The latest news from around Croatia’s airports for flights to Croatia with updates for Split, Dubrovnik, and Pula. 

Croatian Aviation reports that British low-cost carrier easyJet issued a statement on its website on Tuesday announcing the imminent closure of its three large bases in the UK, solely due to reduced demand caused by the global coronavirus pandemic.

There are two airports in London, Stansted and Southend, and the company's base in Newcastle. From all three mentioned airports, there are direct easyJet flights to Croatia, more precisely, to Pula, Split and Dubrovnik.

 “We had to take the very difficult decision to close three UK bases as a result of the unprecedented impact of the pandemic and related travel restrictions, compounded by quarantine measures in the UK which is impacting demand for travel. We would like to reassure customers due to fly from these airports that we are now contacting anyone whose flight is affected with clear advice on their options which include rerouting via alternative airports or receiving a full refund," easyJet CEO, Johan Lundgren, said. 

The closure of these bases will happen very soon, as early as September 1, with the announcement that traffic from these airports will resume in the summer flight schedule in 2021. easyJet will operate on the following lines to Croatia until the end of August, and some of them have already been canceled.

• London Stansted - Dubrovnik
• London Stansted - Split
• London Southend - Dubrovnik
• London Southend - Pula
• Newcastle - Split

easyJet will operate from London (Gatwick Airport) to Dubrovnik, Split and Pula in September, so passengers planning a trip from Stansted or Southend Airport will be able to change their departure airport from London free of charge.

Passengers who have purchased a ticket on the line Newcastle - Split for September, will have to use the line from Manchester to arrive at Split Airport. That line will also run throughout September.

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August 19, 2020 - German daily newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung explains to its readers that a large part of the Croatian coast has a small number of newly infected people and that Zagreb and Dalmatia are recording their growth.

"The decision is based on real trends, not the current picture," the German Foreign Ministry said in a statement regarding the introduction of measures against the spread of the coronavirus for people coming from Croatia, Jutarnji List reports.

The statement was quoted by the renowned Munich-based Süddeutsche Zeitung (SZ), which concluded: "So German tourists do not have to face mandatory tests at the moment."

In this regard, the newspaper reminds that "those at risk are those in which more than 50 newly infected people per 100,000 are counted for seven days in a row", while the rest of the country is not problematic: "Large parts of favorite coastal areas are recording extremely low numbers."

In the article entitled "When the party-tiger roars", SZ also reminds of the cases of German tourists, mostly young people, who obviously brought the coronavirus from their Croatian vacation back home.

"Croatia, with its countless islets in the Adriatic Sea, actually seems ideal for avoiding the masses and escaping the virus. Apartments are more widespread than large hotels. It is known more as a paradise for campers and sailors than as a destination for parties," the German newspaper points out. It is also stated that the average age of those infected in Croatia is 34 years.

It also reminds of the fact that Croatia had a minimal number of infected people before the borders opened, and that in order to facilitate the entry of tourists into the country, it organized registration online, and quotes Croatian doctor of infectious disease, Alemka Markotic, who points out that the situation is under control and that Croatian healthcare is well prepared.

However, the highest-circulation German newspaper Bild considers the situation in Croatia worrying because, in its online edition, it asks: how much longer will we be able to spend our holidays in Croatia?

The article primarily provides information for potential German tourists about the situation and regulations in Croatia, but like SZ, it states that an increasing number of new infections have been registered in the Split and Zagreb regions and that infections are most widespread at parties and nightclubs.

However, it points out that the Split area, with an average of 46.45 new cases a day in the last seven days, has almost reached the limit of 50 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants.

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August 18, 2020 - Austria has rejected Croatia's request to introduce the new travel measure only for certain parts of the country, instead of for the entire country, reported the Austrian news agency APA. A look at the latest news regarding COVID-19 in Croatia. 

"This option was considered, but after talks with experts from the Ministry of Health, the Office of the Federal Chancellor and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it was decided to issue measures for the whole of Croatia," a spokeswoman for the Austrian Foreign Ministry said for APA, as reported by Index.hr.

The reason for such a decision, as she added, is the fact that Austrians are mobile and they mostly go to Croatia by car, making it hard for them to stay in only one place.

The warning against travel to Croatia has been in force from Monday at midnight. Returnees from holidays in Croatia must show a current negative coronavirus test or undergo testing within 48 hours of being back in Austria.

According to information from the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, around 3,000 Austrian citizens were officially on holiday in Croatia at the end of last week. But at the same time, the authorities believe that this figure is many times higher.

In an interview with APA, Croatian Ambassador to Vienna Daniel Gluncic advocated that Austrian authorities issue only a partial warning regarding travel to Croatia.

Croatian Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic also pointed out that the situation in the regions where most Austrian tourists travel is favorable, APA reported.

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ZAGREB, Aug 18, 2020 - The US Virtuoso association of travel agencies that organise luxury travel has conducted a survey which shows that Croatia is ranked among the 20 most desirable destinations in 2021, the Croatian National Tourist Board's (HTZ) USA branch director, Ina Rodin, has said.

"Visitors using the Virtuoso Wanderlist, a new platform for online trip planning, have created a wish list of counties they would like to travel to next year and based on their final choice, Croatia is among the top 20 destinations in the world," Rodin underlined.

Among the top 20 destinations are also South Africa, Italy, Australia, France, Japan, Great Britain, Greece, Argentina, Kenya, Botswana, Spain, Iceland, Portugal, Mexico, New Zealand, Ireland, Tanzania, Thailand and California.

Describing the news from the USA as excellent for Croatia, HTZ Director Kristjan Stanicic said that Croatia has reinforced its reputation on the US market and hopes that next year the situation caused by the coronavirus pandemic will have calmed down and that more tourists from distant destinations will come to Croatia. The US generates the most tourism turnover of all distant markets.

Rodin also said that local media in the US are constantly reporting about Croatia's beauty, including Lonely Planet which recently reported about the ten most beautiful beaches in Croatia - Zlatni Rat, Prapratno, Paradise Beach, Stiniva, Zrce, Dubovica, Kamenjak, Sahara, Punta Rata and Lubenice.

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August 18, 2020 - Health Minister of Slovenia, Tomaz Gantar, said on Monday that he would propose that the government introduce quarantine for Slovenes returning from Croatia by the end of the week, stressing that this was the "unique opinion" of medical experts.

T.portal reports that if the government makes such a decision on Wednesday or Thursday, then tourists from Slovenia who want to avoid quarantine would be given "another two or three days at most" to return home, Gantar said on television.

The minister does not believe that this could change in the event of a drop in the influx of coronavirus through Slovenian tourists spending their summers in Croatia, or if a decrease in the number of daily infected occurrs, because Croatia "already has an exponential growth" of the coronavirus infection recently.

He also pointed out that it is not possible to introduce a "selective" approach, according to age and quarantine, only for those aged 15 to 35 who are most often infected or to those who come from epidemiologically less risky counties, for example from Istria.

Gantar explained that the first would be irrational because most families with children travel to Croatia, while regarding the second option, he said that Slovenia has always applied a single criterion by country, not region, to compile a list of risky destinations.

However, he failed to say that a month ago Slovenia put the whole of the Czech Republic on the "red" list, and after a letter from Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis to Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa, it kept the warning for only one mining region where infections jumped.

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August 18, 2020 - Italian newspaper Il Giornale published an article stating that Croatia has found itself under the magnifying glass of Europe after the increase in the number of new coronavirus infections, although Croatian figures are significantly below the number of new cases in Italy.

T.portal reports that the Italian newspaper claims the most probable cause of the deteriorating health situation in Italy is the return of those who decided to spend a few relaxing days on the Adriatic.

"But what are the real numbers in Croatia? First of all, we must emphasize that the number of new daily infections is significantly below the values recorded in Italy. On Sunday, Croatia had 151 new infections, while in Italy, there were 479, or more than double. This gives rise to debate: Are Croats really a time bomb, or has someone exaggerated? The real answer could be the latter. And for a straightforward reason. Infections in Europe have risen almost everywhere. Croatia did not have to fight with significantly higher numbers, as is the case with Spain or France. But it still ended in the middle of a storm," writes Il Giornale.

On August 15, as reported by the Adnkronos agency, Croatia recorded 162 new cases of infection and two deaths. Admittedly, the current numbers are worse than in February, during the first wave. But on the other hand, it is a reduction in numbers given that there were 208 infections on August 14 and 180 on Thursday. The peak of the first wave, discovered on April 1, stopped at a maximum of 96 newly infected in one day.

Minister of Health Vili Beros was very clear in explaining the situation to RTL: "We consciously accepted the risk and decided to continue our life with tourism. Without tourism, one of the key sectors for Croatia, things would be worse for us."

President Zoran Milanovic is of the same opinion. In order not to lose control of the situation, a decision was made that bars, restaurants and nightclubs must close at midnight.

The number of confirmed cases since the beginning of the epidemic has exceeded the threshold of 6,500 people, while the number of deaths is a total of 166. There are 1,062 active cases, while for comparison, in Italy, there are 14,404. This shows that it makes no sense to consider Croatia a dangerous destination. 820,000 foreign guests are indeed in Croatia, and the movement of these tourists may spread the infection from one country to another. But figures show that the risk is not higher than in other locations.

Infections of returnees from holidays or from abroad can be a cause for concern. Several young people who returned home from Croatia transmitted the coronavirus to relatives and friends, creating real hotspots. This was also the reason for the alarm and the decision of the Italian government to introduce measures for the return of tourists from Spain, Greece and Croatia.

"But what is indisputable is that we need to emphasize the attitude of some of the tourists, both in Croatia and in other countries. Several young Italian men said that only a few wear masks in clubs in Croatia. Some of them, as in the case of young people with whom Tg1 spoke on Pag, show that they significantly reduce the real danger of coronavirus. In any case, it would be good to silence the alarm towards Croatia," they concluded.

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August 18, 2020 - A look at how Austria, one of the tourist champions of Europe, has tried saving their season by hurting Croatian tourism. 

Saving the tourist season threatened by the coronavirus pandemic is not only a priority for Croatia this year, but also for other European countries whose tourism revenues have a significant share in GDP.  

Index.hr reports that one of them is undoubtedly Austria, a country without a sea, which is one of the tourist champions of Europe in terms of earnings and in which tourism revenues make up about 15 percent of the GDP. Furthermore, 13 percent of employed Austrians work in the tourism sector, so saving the tourist season is also a matter of saving jobs.

Back in May, Kurz declared Austria the safest country for tourists

Authorities in Vienna have not hidden at all since the first corona lockdown lifted and said they would do everything they could to save the Austrian tourist season.

Thus, Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz promised at a press conference in Vienna in late May that a holiday in Austria, despite the coronavirus, would be as safe as in any other country in the world. He explained that he would invest in testing and test as many people as possible who are in contact with travelers.

"I am glad that we will provide both domestic and foreign guests with a safe and beautiful holiday," Kurz said in May.

Austrian campaign: "Like Croatia, only without sea urchins"

Austria not only wanted to attract foreign tourists this summer but also keep Austrians in the country, as tourism minister Elisabeth Köstinger has repeatedly stressed. She invited Austrians to spend their summers in their homeland, and the Austrian delay in opening the borders when the time came was significant. There was even an advertising campaign inviting Austrians to spend their holidays in Austria, with posters that read, for example, "Like Croatia, only without sea urchins. Spend your summer vacation at home."

The ruling party's campaign spilled over to the Austrian media, so the Austrian tabloid Heute published the news of the fecal spill into the Croatian sea at the beginning of June, calling it "Disgusting". The goal was obviously to disgust Austrians with the idea of vacationing in Croatia, but there was only one problem - the news was a year old, and Heute presented it as current.

Already in early June, Slovenia publicly protested against Austrian behavior, and its Minister of the Interior, Aleš Hojs, stated that he had the impression that Austria wanted to keep its citizens vacationing inside the country.

Quick decision to put Croatia on the list of high-risk countries

After everything that has happened in the meantime, it can be said that this impression is not deceiving at all.

After an increase in coronavirus infections was recorded in Croatia, Austria hastily decided to prevent its citizens from traveling on holidays in the Adriatic.

How that decision was made is also significant. In the morning, Health Minister Rudolf Anschober from the Greens refused to say at a press conference whether stricter measures would be taken against Croatia, proposing that the decision be made in agreement with neighboring countries. Schallenberg, close to Kurz, sent a press release about putting Croatia on the list of unsafe destinations. The decision within the Austrian government has done nothing to establish health security, but it has created traffic jams as panicked Austrian tourists have started returning en masse from the Adriatic to Austria.

There is no doubt that the epidemiological situation in Croatia worsened last week, but did it really worsen enough to require drastic Austrian measures?

The goal is to deter Austrians from coming to Croatia

From today, returnees from Croatia will also have to present a negative coronavirus test, which forced many Austrians to return home on Sunday and avoid the testing they have to pay out of pocket. In contrast, others were deterred from the very idea of vacationing in Croatia.

"There is a huge influx of viruses from Croatia," Kurz said on Saturday, adding that the increase is not surprising given that the holidays are underway.

"The current numbers are worrying," says Kurz. "We must do everything we can to stop the virus without introducing new comprehensive bans."

While Austria puts Croatia on the red list, Israel has lifted the obligatory quarantine for travelers from Croatia

Nearly 230 new infections were recorded in Austria on Saturday, compared to a record 282 the day before. If other EU members were guided by Austrian logic, it could easily end up on the list of countries to which travel is not recommended.

At about the same time as Kurz speculated about a "huge influx of viruses from Croatia," Israel lifted mandatory quarantine upon arrival at Tel Aviv airport for its citizens returning from 20 "green" countries, including Croatia, as well as for citizens of those countries, which was published on the website of the Israeli government.

The list of those countries, which Israeli authorities consider low-risk countries in terms of coronavirus spread, includes 15 European countries - Croatia, Austria, Italy, Germany, Hungary and Slovenia, as well as five other countries, including Canada and New Zealand. The list excludes, for example, France and the United States.

At the beginning of the pandemic, Israel imposed mandatory 14-day self-isolation for every person entering Israeli territory and pursued a very strict epidemiological policy, but now considers both Croatia and Austria safe countries, while Austria treats Croatia as the corona's worst.

The lukewarm reaction of Foreign Minister Grlic Radman

Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Grlic Radman predictably took a conciliatory tone towards Austria. On Friday, he stated that Austria would consider changing the decision by which it warned its citizens not to travel to Croatia due to the possibility of coronavirus infection, and that he had already heard about it twice with his Austrian counterpart Schallenberg.

"We report daily on the situation in Croatia, so on a daily basis, it is submitted to the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control. When it comes to the number of infected, it is generally more prominent in the east than in the Adriatic regions, so we reported the Austrian side," the minister told reporters in Baska Voda.

"The Austrians will now consider reversing their decision," Grlic Radman announced on Friday, but the announced decision came into force on Sunday at midnight, and so far, there are no signals from Vienna about a possible change of attitude.

Die Presse: The end of summer holidays in Croatia

Austrian newspaper Die Presse clearly stated on Friday evening what the Austrian authorities' decision meant when they declared Croatia a country where one should not travel and introduced mandatory tests for those returning from Croatia. "End of summer vacation in Croatia", reads the title of the article, which summarizes the consequences of the Austrian authorities' decision.

Austrian selfishness within the European Union is actually nothing new, but one of the frequent features of Austrian European politics, especially since the key figure in it is the popular and young Chancellor Sebastian Kurz. Austria was also recently among the fiercest opponents of European Union aid to the member states most affected by the pandemic, resulting in a marathon summit in Brussels at which the proposed grant amounts were significantly reduced or converted into loans.

Remember how Austria spread the coronavirus all over Europe?

After all, even at the very beginning of the pandemic, it turned out that in Austria, many think first of their own benefit and then of the common good. Recall, the popular Austrian ski resort Ischgl became one of the largest foci of the coronavirus, which spread from Ischgl throughout Europe, from Scandinavia to Croatia.

"Tourists from all over Europe became infected with the virus in bars in an Austrian ski resort in the Paznaun valley in Tyrol, but despite growing evidence of what was happening, everything remained open until recently," the German newspaper Der Spiegel wrote in mid-March.

The Vienna-based Der Standard described the behavior of the Tyrolean authorities and the tourism industry at the beginning of the pandemic as "Greed and ruin in Tyrol", stating that the cable cars and ski lifts in the Paznaun Valley remained working even in quarantined parts. The goal was to extract the last euros from the tourists present, although it was known that the infection was spreading.

Meanwhile, the whole affair was being investigated by the police, and Ischgl reopened to tourists at the end of April, this time, as Chancellor Kurz said, as a place where tourists can be as safe as anywhere else in the world.

The increase in the number of infected in Croatia is an occasion for Austria to realize its plans

In any case, since the end of May, it has been clear that Austria has not looked favorably on their tourists spending holidays in Croatia, as it is the closest and most desirable destination. Months later, they have shown that some dubious moves are being made to achieve this goal.

The increase in the number of infected people in Croatia last week was a good reason for Austria to put Croatia on the red list, but when you look at the whole story, it is hard to believe that this is the only reason.

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August 17, 2020 - The official Croatian Government Koronavirus.hr website has published a list of COVID-19 testing centers with prices. 

Total Croatia News keeps an updated list of testing facilities, where foreigners can get tested in Croatia. Now, the koronavirus.hr website also put together a list of all of the COVID-19 testing centers that offer testing capacities. Prices can change, and their list will be updated accordingly. 

* It is possible to test at your own expense and with a referral; the price is expressed for testing at your own expense
** Type of testing

This resource will be updated here.

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