The Croatian National Tourist Board (HTZ) has opened a representative office in Shanghai that will cover the large and for Croatia's tourism strategically important market of China. Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković officially inaugurated the office, in the presence of HTZ director Kristjan Staničić, president of the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK) Luka Burilović, and Croatian Ambassador in China Nebojša Koharović, reports Večernji List on November 5, 2018.

"For Croatia, this will be the best tourist year ever, with almost 20 million arrivals and over 106 million overnight stays, and a billion euro of tourism investment. The next year will be the year of culture and tourism between Croatia and China. This is a great opportunity for us to further position our country on the Chinese market,” Plenković said.

In his speech, Staničić pointed out that the HTZ office was opened at the premises of the HGK office in Shanghai, which will reduce costs and increase institutional co-operation. “We are exceptionally proud to open the office in Shanghai in the year which has been declared the year of tourism between the European Union and China. This is the right moment for us to launch even stronger promotional activities in this large and important market. We want to present Croatia as an attractive all-year tourist destination. This year alone we have recorded the growth in the number of Chinese tourists by 40 percent, and there is room for even better results,” said Staničić, adding that the new office would implement all the key activities aimed at attracting even more Chinese visitors, introducing direct flights between China and Croatia, and developing tailor-made tourism products for Chinese tourists.

“I am delighted by the fact that, in addition to tourists, great interest for Croatia has also been demonstrated by investors who have already started with major investments in the tourist sector. This positive trend should also be stimulated and I do not doubt that we will succeed in our joint efforts,” Burilović said.

Franka Gulin, director of the newly-established office in Shanghai, also spoke about the office’s plans. “China is the world's largest market in every respect, and this fact is also the biggest challenge for us. However, I am confident in the excellent results that we will achieve in the future since the Croatian tourist offer contains everything that Chinese tourists prefer, such as rich cultural and historical heritage, untouched nature and high-quality gastronomy offer,” Gulin said.

During the first ten months of the year, 216,000 arrivals and 315,000 overnight stays were recorded from the Chinese market, representing a 43 percent increase in arrivals and a 42 percent increase in overnight stays compared to the same period last year. Chinese tourists made the most overnights in Zagreb, Dubrovnik, Split and Zadar.

When travelling to Europe, Chinese tourists they tend to visit several destinations. Because of this, the Croatian National Tourist Board and the Slovenian tourist organization carry out joint promotional activities on the Chinese market, as part of the project “Experience Croatia, Feel Slovenia”.

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The new official uniforms for representatives of the Croatian National Tourist Board (HTZ) at various tourist fairs will be shown for the first time on Saturday. They will be presented by a group of well-known prominent women, including Minister of Foreign Affairs Marija Pejčinović Burić, Member of the European Parliament Dubravka Šuica, the director of the Zagreb City Tourist Board Martina Bienenfeld, lawyer Jadranka Sloković, neurosurgeon Nikolina Sesar, actress Doris Pinčić, writer Milana Vlaović, blogger Ella Dvornik and many others, reports Večernji List on November 2, 2018.

The uniforms will be presented on Saturday evening during the charity fashion show “Create with Heart”. Part of the proceeds will benefit the “Dar” Association from Osijek, which helps children with autism, as well as the Croatian Early Childhood Intervention Association from Zagreb.

The new official uniforms of the Croatian National Tourist Board have been designed by the ELFS team. It is believed that dresses will be dominated by the colour blue and will abound with recognizable motives from all Croatian regions. If there were no major last-minute changes, the dresses will feature the roof of St Mark’s church in Zagreb, the Pula Arena, the Croatian Apoxyomenos statue and so on. The uniforms will again be marked by distinctive red and white squares, as stated previously by HTZ general manager Kristjan Staničić.

The first actual use of the new HTZ uniforms at a tourism fair will take place only two days after the show in Mimara, at the London tourism fair which starts on 5 November. The current uniforms also had their premiere in London in 2015, but then there was no official presentation. On the contrary, there was much more stress and even tensions in relations between the Ministry of Tourism and the Main Office of the Croatian National Tourist Board.

That year, a major effort was underway to promote Croatia on the British market. An artificial island was launched on the river Thames, and the ceremony was attended by then Prime Minister Zoran Milanović and even some British celebrities. Tourism Minister Darko Lorencin thought that the presentation should also include new uniforms, and he got angry with the then HTZ leadership because they did not think of it themselves. The uniforms were designed and made almost overnight. Still, they were ready in time for the London fair and they served the HTZ staff well until now.

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Translated from Večernji List (reported by Radmila Kovačević).

A lot of work for HTZ officials.

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