April 22, 2021 - The US Embassy Croatia Travel Advisory is advising US travelers not to travel to Croatia as of April 21, 2021. 

The US Embassy issued a travel advisory for Croatia on April 21, 2021, urging US travelers that Croatia has moved to the #4 Advisory Level - Do Not Travel. 

All information from the US Embassy below: 

"Do not travel to Croatia due to COVID-19.

Read the Department of State’s COVID-19 page before you plan any international travel.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued a Level 4 Travel Health Notice for the Croatia due to COVID-19, indicating a very high level of COVID-19 in the country. There are restrictions in place affecting U.S. citizen entry into Croatia. Visit the Embassy's COVID-19 page for more information on COVID-19 in Croatia.

Read the country information page.

If you decide to travel to Croatia:

• See the U.S. Embassy's web page regarding COVID-19.
• Visit the https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/index.html">CDC’s webpage on Travel and COVID-19.
• Enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) to receive Alerts and make it easier to locate you in an emergency.
• Follow the Department of State on https://www.facebook.com/travelgov">Facebook and https://www.twitter.com/travelgov">Twitter.
• Review the Crime and Safety Report for Croatia.
• Prepare a contingency plan for emergency situations. Review the Traveler’s Checklist.

Last Update: Reissued with updates to COVID-19 information."

For the latest travel updates and COVID-19 news from Croatia HERE.

For more on travel in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page. For more about COVID-19 in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page. 

April the 22nd, 2021 - The ongoing coronavirus pandemic has changed the whole world as we know it. Working from home has proven more than possible in several sectors in which it was previously unimaginable, and the leisure and tourism industry, which has taken among the hardest blows, will have to change considerably. Croatian accommodation providers will need to adapt as guest habits change and recovery begins.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Marija Crnjak writes, summer resorts are a growing focus of investors of late, as this segment of tourism is expected to be the first to recover after the coronavirus crisis finally draws to a close, and despite the fact that issues continue to persist seemingly unrelentingly, optimism still reigns in the sector.

That being said, investors and decision-makers must keep in mind that the pandemic has changed guest behaviour and accelerated hotel business transformation trends, primarily through the development of mixed-use resorts and residential properties, as was explained by Philip Bacon, the director of planning, development, valuation at Horwath HTL, in an interview for Hospitality Insights magazine. As Croatian tourism and Croatian accommodation providers rely heavily on summer resorts, alterations and adaptations are in the works.

This crisis is lasting longer than expected. What keeps your hopes high?

I believe there are differences between where we were a year ago and where we are today, and that tourism will continue to show resilience and introduce innovations that will save the day. It's important to keep in mind that this virus will not simply disappear, we're all going to simply have to learn to live with it. The good thing is that this isn't a demand crisis but a supply crisis, and with more than a year of working from home, we've never stopped working with our clients, helping them plan for the future and aiding them to adapt to changes in consumer behaviour brought by the pandemic.

This bizarre situation has served to accelerate some trends which were already taking place before 2020: a focus on healthcare and wellness, combining work, travel and private life anywhere in the world, the power of technology to connect people more effectively and efficiently, and the importance of truly sustainable values, especially those related to the production and consumption of energy and food. There's also the realisation that in tourism you cannot simply sit back and take anything for granted, where there are still only two types of hotels, the ones that needs to be changed and the ones that you have to demolish.

Numerous hotel companies that have developed business or city tourism are now turning to resorts. What advice would you give them?

We mustn't forget that bringing urban hotels to the beach was a good idea about 40 or 50 years ago, but that the world has changed significantly since then and guests are no longer attracted to the 20-square-metre air-conditioned room spread over several floors with narrow hallways. The way of life and the demands of guests have changed, and it is time to give people what they want, not what you already have, which is why the transformation of summer resorts across Europe has already begun. Today’s guests, especially when it comes to families and small groups, want a much more independent, residential style of accommodation, combined with excellent service when and where it's needed. As a result, more and more hotel operators are looking for a real estate concept, and this pandemic has only heightened the value of that approach.

Furthermore, it's time for a rethink in terms of the concept of health and wellness and we need to use it to create more reasons for people to come to a certain facility - the breadth and depth of the health and wellness segment is so extensive that today there's no reason not to put it at the centre of creating a measurable competitive advantage.

Which regions will be the first to return to the game when it comes to holiday tourism?

Currently, the possibility of safe travel without too many practical problems will determine the rate of re-growth for individual destinations in the short term. We're already seeing plans to create passenger corridors between countries based on a set of rules. This can create some short-term shifts in travel patterns, and of course, short trips close to home will be more popular, which could lead to rural destinations around the world being recognised as being just as attractive as beach resorts.

Places that offer a sense of space and place a real emphasis on health and wellness will be what many people are looking for now, and I believe this could become a long-term habit of guests. We'll also see a growing interest in travel involving adventurous experiences with little impact on the environment, especially to more remote regions of the world. This comes down in part to a change in generational attitudes that had already begun a few years ago, and what is interesting is the convergence of the older generation and the younger generation in terms of values ​​and behaviour. I think we’ll see more of that, as well as less strict segmentation based on age groups. What brings people together is their shared values.

How has the pandemic affected the real estate segment in the rental market?

Most of the development projects that have preoccupied me over the last year have been either combined-purpose projects (hotel and branded residences) or have focused on service apartments, either in urban centres or in resorts. Even before the pandemic struck, we knew we could work from home, and the digital nomad wasn't something simply thought up and invented last year. When travelling away from their primary place of residence, many will look for a place where they can easily set up their home offices and work.

Some guests want to stay longer than the holidays, and this will affect the operation of such resorts. We're also seeing a growing interest in residential private membership clubs, both in urban areas and in resorts. The desire to meet the people you're sharing a holiday with is stronger than ever.

Branded residences have long been a great opportunity for tourism and that's why they're still finding ready and willing buyers all over the world. That's why more and more hotel chains are entering the market of branded housing and the market of short-term and long-term rent. There are more and more projects that aren't putting much focus on the traditional hotel room, but instead are offering more flexible forms of accommodation in a residential style that can be used in multiple segments and at different times of the year.

For more on Croatian accommodation in 2021, from high end hotels to hostels and everything in between, make sure to bookmark our dedicated section.

April the 21st, 2021 - Terme Tuhelj in continental Croatia has always been extremely popular with domestic tourists, and with the pandemic still continuing to reign strong, it is precisely domestic tourists which kept the facility's head above water over the past, dire year.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Marija Crnjak writes, just like everything related to tourism, doing business in 2020 was extremely challenging for Terme Tuhelj, which in the last few years has invested a lot in raising its overall quality and creating added value for the entire destination of Hrvatsko Zagorje.

Despite the less than favourable circumstances, they managed to generate slightly more than 60 percent of their revenue when compared to the record year of 2019, which was revealed by Terme Tuhelj's director.

What are Terme Tuhelj's plans for this year?

Due to the very uncertain situation, planning for 2021 remains a great challenge for Terme Tuhelj. But since the hotels, swimming pools and other services we offer are mostly in operation all the time, we've already gained some experience of how the market reacts in this type of situation.

Due to all of the above and based on many years of experience, historic data and past trends on the one hand and the events of last year's crisis year and good business in the first months of this year on the other, we've estimated and plan approximately 15 percent lower income realisation when compared to revenues in 2019.

Have you maintained financial stability?

With the great help of our parent company last year, due to the positive results in the first three months of 2021 and the use of support and subsidies by the state, we managed to preserve our financial stability and if there's no total lockdown or some drastic measures, the company isn't endangered.

What was the composition of the guests who came to Terme Tuhelj last year, and can the spas survive solely on the custom of Croatian guests?

The structure of guests in 2020 didn't reflect the usual situation in a normal business year. Namely, after the reopening after the spring 2020 lockdown, the epidemiological situation in our main emitting markets changed greatly during the year. Despite reservations and inquiries from certain markets, guests were forced to cancel or shorten their trips due to the measures of their own countries.

In the autumn, in the end, everything resulted in a total lockdown and the arrival of foreign guests was prevented. Therefore, we recorded a decline in the number of overnight stays from foreign markets by as much as 66 percent, while the decline seen from the Croatian market wasn't so great thanks to individual guests who partly replaced a holiday abroad by visiting spas precisely because of the closed borders.

At the end of the year, Croatian overnight stays accounted for slightly less than 66 percent of the total structure of all overnight stays realised, while in the year before the coronavirus pandemic, they amounted to only 47 percent.

What kind of results did the hotel have?

Hotel Well realised slightly less than 72,000 overnight stays, which is a decrease of 45 percent when compared to the record year of 2019. When we look at business in 2020 from the perspective of sales channels, we're able to see that the number of overnight stays of MICE activities decreased significantly.

In this segment, the number of overnight stays decreased by as much as 82 percent when compared to 2019, which is completely understandable since the measures that didn't allow the gathering of a larger number of people in one place were in force all that time. There was also a big drop in organised foreign groups staying here, and in 2020 we had a 89 percent drop in overnight stays in that regard. Namely, only 2380 overnight stays were realised, while in 2019 there were 22,353 overnight stays achieved.

Overall, the drop in overnight stays from organised groups is high, standing at 83 percent. On the positive side, the decline for individual guests is still much smaller and amounted to 22 percent, which shows that we managed to mitigate the consequences of the coronavirus crisis with a flexible approach and quick reactions.

In which markets are you advertising now?

Due to the current difficult epidemiological situation in our main emitting markets, we haven't yet launched advertising campaigns in foreign markets, except for a minimal presence and communication on social media. The majority of our promotion is still done here at home on the domestic market, but we believe that this will soon change and that we will slowly start with the promotion on the neighbouring Slovenian market, and before the season, in other markets of the European Union as well.

What insights from the pandemic year will you apply in 2021?

From this situation, we've learned that it's necessary to closely monitor the development of the market situation, the changing demands and the requirements of guests, as well as changes in various measures and recommendations by all of the relevant institutions and the need to accept these changes as the only fact over which we have no influence.

However, we have full influence on our actions and therefore we should focus all our energy on adapting to the situation instead of commenting on it. We're going to continue to adapt all of our sales and promotional activities to the situation and direct them to such a way of working and doing business in order to achieve the best results. This has been a well-established practice in the last crisis-dominated year and only with maximum flexibility on the side of promotional and sales activities can we maximise the results in this uncertain year of 2021 as well.

You even had crowds this winter that were written about, do you have any information if there were any infected people at your pools?

Crowds during the winter holidays are a subjective term talked about by some visitors under the influence of fear of infection or dissatisfaction with certain measures, but I'd like to note that in Terme Tuhelj we strictly adhere to all of the anti-epidemic measures and recommendations of the CNIPH and accordingly always respect the fact that there are only a certain number of visitors permitted in individual facilities, including in the swimming pools and saunas.

Due to compliance with these measures and a larger number of guests staying at the hotel, at certain times we're forced to close the entrances to the pools, although this causes dissatisfaction among our daily visitors. However, the health of our guests and our employees will always come first and we aren't going to deviate from that. Owing to this, we can state that we haven't had any cases of infection recorded among any of our employees or guests.

Is it a good time to invest?

As I mentioned, in the first place business needs to be stabilised first and we need to return revenues to pre-crisis levels. It's clear to us that the global pandemic has not only caused problems in our company, but has affected the world's economy, and it was the tourism sector that felt the biggest drop in traffic.

Despite that, we aren't going to give up on our development plans, which we proved last year when we successfully completed the investment in Glamping Village Terme Tuhelj in the middle of the public health crisis, but we will certainly move the deadlines for our strategic investments in the future.

For more, make sure to follow our business section.

April 18, 2021 - A new FlixBus campaign, "Explore Croatia with FlixBus," launched earlier this week, encouraging travelers to explore the beauties of Croatia but also to promote Croatia as a tourist destination.

HRTurizam reports that FlixBus launched the new campaign in cooperation with Croatian private landlords, hostels, restaurants, and cultural institutions. 

The campaign aims to encourage domestic travelers to explore the beauties of Croatian cities and towns, emphasizing numerous local tourist attractions. Through FlixBus social networks that bring together a large community of travel enthusiasts, not only in Croatia but also in Europe, the campaign aims to promote Croatia as a desirable tourist destination.

"The past year has been a challenge for everyone, and despite the great desire to travel, we have had to adjust our life habits to the many restrictions imposed. At the moment, it is a bit more difficult for us to decide on some long-distance trips, but at the same time, we have the opportunity to get better acquainted with what is closer and easily accessible to us. For this reason, we have decided, in cooperation with numerous Croatian partners, to launch a campaign that celebrates the beauties of cities and towns throughout Croatia," said Petra Trojko, communications manager for FlixBus CEE S region. 

In cooperation with local partners, 10 destinations throughout Croatia will be presented across 10 weeks. Every week, two lucky travelers will be able to win a weekend trip with accommodation and other facilities in the destination.

The campaign began on April 15 with the message 'Everywhere is beautiful, but traveling in Croatia is the most beautiful.'

The campaign starts in Split, and the perfect weekend for two can be spent in Zagreb, Varaždin, Zadar, Rijeka, Knin, Imotski, Plitvice Lakes, Karlovac, and Osijek.

Namely, every week one destination will be presented, which will become a weekend destination for two happy passengers with provided transport, accommodation and interesting facilities of local partners. Thus, all those who join the campaign will have the opportunity to find out which city lies on seven rivers surrounded by nine mountains, which has the most beautiful sunset, how the Egyptian Sphinxes arrived in Dalmatia, and more.

An excellent example of cooperation and synergy between FlixBus and other partners in the destination, from the accommodation, museums, restaurants, and tourist boards, working together to promote the destination.

To learn more about taking the bus in Croatia, follow our Total Croatia page.

For more on travel in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

April 18, 2021 - The Croatian National Tourist Board is an irrelevant institution. A simple way to fix Croatia's broken tourist system. 

With the exception of my time as a humanitarian aid worker running an emergency food distribution programme in post-genocidal Rwanda in 1994, I can honestly say that I have never enjoyed a job as much as I have in the last few days with TCN/TC. The huge public support for me in response to the two lawsuits from the Croatian National Tourist Board has been humbling, and completely unexpected. Thank you. The gift of priceless PR far in excess of the damages sought in the ridiculous lawsuits far outweighs the 100,000 kuna in damages that the tourist board is seeking. So big thank you to the Croatian National Tourist Board as well. Not even Macan could have generated such PR.

I have learned a LOT about Croatia and the media in the last few days, and I feel a little bit emboldened by all the publicity to put forward a few thoughts and suggestions. Now that I have everyone's attention and my 15 minutes of fame, there are two topics I would like to address - how to fix Croatia's broken tourist system in this article, followed by the new anti-SLAPP legislation initiative from Centar MP, Marijana Puljak, who kindly raised my case in the Croatian Parliament. My article will directly address Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, who famously once promised not to sue me.

We are shocked by the bizarre news about the lawsuits of the Croatian National Tourist Board against Paul Bradbury, journalist and owner of the Total Croatia News portal. It is a classic way of intimidating and stifling freedom of speech, in order to silence criticism of the dysfunctional system of the Croatian Tourist Board, which spends a lot of taxpayers' money. We demand the immediate withdrawal of the lawsuits and the removal of director Kristjan Staničić.

The CNTB should see a partner in Paul Bradbury. He is a man who has undoubtedly indebted Croatian tourism with his actions, and instead they are trying to intimidate and destroy him. This is just another proof of the justification of our request for the introduction of voluntary membership in the CNTB. If taxpayers were given the opportunity to choose who to finance, many would certainly prefer to invest money in tourism promotion in the knowledge and work of experts like Bradbury, rather than in any of the 300 or so directors of tourist boards.

The Center Party will always vehemently oppose any form of intimidation and attacks on journalists, activists and citizens. Any attempt to restrict freedom of speech, and we witness them in Croatia almost every day, we consider unacceptable, so we will send to the procedure legal changes that would prevent such lawsuits from occurring at all.

Freedom of speech is the cornerstone of any democratic society and the first line of defense of all other freedoms. In addition to believing that an open public debate on any topic has no alternative, history teaches us that persecuting and silencing dissidents throughout it makes society intellectually but also economically poorer. Only an open exchange of ideas, but also criticism, is the guarantor of intellectual and economic progress.

Now that I have a bigger audience than usual for a little while, perhaps it is time to widen the discussion beyond the lawsuit and look instead at how dysfunctional the organisation of Croatian tourism is. And, as always when I criticise, I offer a very simple solution to fix the problem.

There are three main bodies related to Croatian tourism (four, if you include the Institute of Tourism, about whom I know very little) - the Croatian National Tourism Board, the Ministry of Tourism, and the tourism department of the Croatian Chamber of Economy. I have really no idea what the tourism section of the Chamber of Economy actually does, but you can learn more about the wonderful ways of another massively pointless institution in my 2017 article Welcome to Uhljebistan: the Croatian Chamber of Economy, Beyond Useless. 

It is no big secret that there is friction between the ministry and the tourist board. The fact that the media reported that Minister of Tourism Nikolina Brnjac is demanding an explanation about my lawsuits from CNTB director Kristjan Stanicic speaks volumes for the relationship between the two institutions. One would have thought that could have been conducted by a phone call without the media. 

So even before we start thinking about tourism, we have a lack of unity. 

As I understand things, the tourist board system works something like this. There is a national tourist board which has 70-80 employees. There are 20 regional tourist boards, and there are 319 regional tourist boards, pretty much one for every town, whether there is tourism there or not. Lots of nice jobs, with safe salaries from the State. Nice little gifts for supporting the party. Allegedly.

This being Croatia, the 319 local tourist boards don't report to the national tourist board, but they are controlled by the local mayor of the town who is also the President of the local tourist board. The mayor, along with the local tourist council, choose the tourist board director. This often has nothing to do with ability, but to secure votes for future elections. Some mayors like to see their girlfriends as tourist board directors, as happened recently on a Dalmatian island (let me throw in the word allegedly there, just for fun).

What do Croatian local tourist boards actually do?

When I moved to Croatia, local tourist boards had four main functions as far as I could see.

1. Register the guests - this is now done online via eVisitor, so this is no longer an important part of the job.

2. Help local renters with all the legislation and registration for renting. My experience is that some local tourist board directors don't actually understand the regulations, and they often cause more confusion. There is a simple way to fix this and make it much more efficient. Open an office somewhere that badly needs employment, such as Vukovar. Hire and train a team of 4-5 people to be a call and help centre for all renter issues. Conduct webinars, so that everyone can see the same message. It is called efficiency. This is the 21st century. 

3. Giving out tourist information. Now we have the Internet, and people can find all the info they need online, even more so with the launch of our new information website, www.total-croatia.com There is a case for having a summer worker there, more in bigger destinations. But a full-time director through the winter months with no sign of a tourist makes no sense. There is even precedent for this - Sucuraj Mayor Removes Director Position: Tourist Board Reform IS Possible.  

4. Events. This is sometimes used to secure election votes. I will support your project if we have the votes of you and your family, that kind of thing. As the tourist board director is hand-picked by the mayor, this is how the status quo is maintained. I would take the events decision-making out of the local tourist board to a more independent body working with the community. There would be the need for tourist board help to facilitate things, but that is generally a summer job. 

The world has changed, and technology is making things easier. eVisitor and the Vukovar call centre would remove the need for 319 directors for that part of the job, the Internet provides most of the information, and some independent events system would work much better. 

What to do about the Croatian National Tourism Board?

I could write a book about the Croatian National Tourist Board (and maybe one day I will), but how to fix this expensive and totally ineffective institution? I get so many emails from wonderful, ordinary Croatians working in tourism. I have yet to hear of them talking about a positive experience with CNTB. Many approach with great projects and get nowhere.

One example from my own experience will suffice. During the first lockdown, I realised we had a great opportunity to promote tourism that was unique. Everyone was desperate to travel, but they were all locked up in their homes. But the one thing that they did have was time.

What if, I reasoned, we created a Virtual Croatia website, then did a great page for each destination, embedding videos for all the sights and things to do? People had time to watch and desire to travel. Let's get them hooked for the future. 

I pitched the idea to CNTB that we do it together. They had the network and the promo power, I had the concept and would do the work. CNTB liked the project but could not participate due to budget freezes, which was disappointing but understandable.

I decided to test the concept on TCN. I posted on Facebook, offering a free article to any local tourist board who wanted the article. There was no money around, and I figured it would be good PR and would build some bridges for the future. And if the tourist boards sent the videos, then it would not be much work.

After I did a few, I contacted CNTB again (they were very complimentary about the articles - you can see them all here) and asked them to send my free offer to all the local tourist boards. They replied that they couldn't send, as we were a commercial business (I think that was the reason). They did, however, say that I was welcome to send myself, and they kindly sent me the latest database. And we all know how that one ended... 

Could they at least share them on Facebook to their 1.7 million fans, especially as I had done the whole thing for free? Again no. 

I was left scratching my head. They love an idea, but they can't finance, promote and inform other tourist boards about it. So what is the actual point of their existence?

The simple fix for Croatia's broken tourist system

Efforts to reform the system are pointless. It is too dysfunctional, and there is too much self-interest. The VERY simple solution might sound crazy, but think about it. 

I would pass an Act of Parliament to temporarily abolish the Ministry of Tourism, all tourist boards, and the tourism sector of the Chamber of Economy. A second act would then reinstate the Ministry of Tourism, but with a much more streamlined and focused look. I would have the Vukovar call centre, the Events coordination section, marketing and PR department, and a Council of Ideas, which consists of the right talent from the Croatian private sector. Fresh ideas with a global perspective. 

Some of the bigger destinations such as Zagreb, Split and Dubrovnik should have permanent offices, but the small town ones should have summer representation only. 

The savings would be huge, the end product much better, and the only people who would object are those who are sitting in their comfortable offices doing nothing. Rather than the current situation where money that Croatia does not have is being spent on pointless things. Such as lawsuits.  

April 12, 2021 - PAG OUTDOOR is turning Pag into one of the most active Croatian destinations. 

As hrturizam.hr reports, it all started with the synergy of the Tourist Boards of the island of Pag (Novalja Tourist Board, Pag Tourist Board, Kolan Tourist Board, Povljana Tourist Board, and Stara Novalja Tourist Board) which have been participating in the promotion of the island as one destination for many years. In parallel with the development of the Pag Outdoor program, last year's Pag Summer Outdoor Weekend program was implemented, and today the first and most comprehensive phase of building the bike and trails infrastructure of the island is coming to an end.

The success of the Pag Outdoor project was accompanied by the support of the Ministry of Tourism and Sports, which provided 150,000 kunas for the implementation of the entire project. The arrangement of all trails on the island of Pag is currently underway. Thus, the Tourist Board of the City of Pag continues to break through, trace, clean, and soon mark new trails in its area that will be included in the Pag Outdoor project.

"Two new, fantastic trails funded by the Tourist Board of the City of Pag are Alan Crljenko, Pag mountaineer and nature lover, a man who knows every corner of our beautiful island and we continued our excellent cooperation that began two years ago when the hiking trail from Lokva to Glacier to St. Quirina. In the meantime, the island's tourist boards have launched a joint Pag Outdoor project, and this trail has fit in perfectly with our planned activities. All three trails will have the common name The Other Side of the Moon…, and we do not need to explain the name in particular," said Vesna Karavanić, director of the Pag Tourist Board.

"After two years and the completion of the first hiking trail, the time has come to build two new trails near the town of Pag on Ledenik, one of the most beautiful and attractive parts of the island of Pag. One will go in a circle around Punta Mikula, and the other to the bay of Veli Zaton. I am happy that the trails will be traced, breached, cleaned, and marked by mid-June. In this way, this gem of Pag's nature will soon be available to all who want to enjoy it, but at the same time, it should remain as nature created it. Therefore, I appeal to the awareness of all future visitors, as well as the authorities, that this fascinating part of the island is preserved in its original, natural form," said Alan Crljenko.

Martin Čotar, a celebrated Croatian cyclist and certainly, the first person for the development of cycling tourism in Croatia, agreed with his statement, emphasizing that it is very important to preserve everything so that it is not destroyed and the natural beauty remains as it is now.

Outdoor islands of Pag are connected by four standard activities (bike, trail, climbing, kayaking), but since it positions them in an absolutely unique environment of Pag nature, they become one of the development moments where tourism of this island of interesting shape will develop in several directions.

The time will extend the calendar season to at least eight months, and at the same time enrich the tourist offer with these attractive facilities and definitely become a motive for coming to the island of Pag. Most importantly, everything is done according to standards, not pro forma.

Because "Moon Island" will, through this project, become one of the most desirable active or outdoor Croatian destinations with a complete outdoor story.

Follow the latest travel updates and COVID-19 news from Croatia HERE.

For more on travel in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

April 12, 2021 - Croatia has been named the most popular destination for Germans this year, according to the research of the world's largest search engine for renting holiday homes - HomeToGo.

Namely, Croatia took first place on the German market in the list of top 100 most popular tourist destinations in 2021, said the head of the Croatian Tourist Board in Munich Nera Miličić on Morski.hr.

"This year, more than ever, we are looking forward to seeing Croatia at the top of the list of the most popular destinations in Germany. Research from the HomeToGo platform shows how we are recognized as a destination with a top offer of holiday homes, especially those secluded and in nature, currently in high demand. Turning to nature is certainly a trend that will remain after the pandemic," said Nera Miličić.

Croatia is at the top of several lists of the mentioned research and took an excellent second place on the list of most wanted countries for a summer vacation in 2021 and on the list of most wanted countries for the whole of 2021. Germany holds first place on these lists, while countries such as Italy, Spain, France, Austria are behind Croatia. As part of the research, a list of the top 100 destinations for Pentecost was made, in which Croatia took a very good fourth place, just behind the leading Germany and the regions on the shores of the Baltic and North Seas.

The research is based on 16 million search terms in the HomeToGo search engine, and interestingly, the application of flexible travel date filters has increased by 600 percent compared to last year. Also, the survey results show that 63 percent of respondents prefer staying in a vacation home, and 71 percent of respondents want to travel by car. As a motive for travel, 63 percent of respondents singled out the beach, and 60 percent of them national parks and nature.

"The research results are optimistic when we talk about trends from the German market, otherwise the most important tourist market for Croatian tourism. However, compliance with all prescribed measures and a good epidemiological situation in the country will be a basic prerequisite for the realization of tourist traffic, both from the German market and from other markets," concluded the director of the Croatian Tourist Board Kristjan Staničić.

Follow the latest travel updates and COVID-19 news from Croatia HERE.

For more on travel in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

April the 12th, 2021 - The 2021 summer season is being called into question more and more as spring is now firmly upon us and preparations need to begin. With the ongoing coronavirus pandemic still throwing spanners in the works, it's going to be a difficult season to call. The Dubrovnik Tourist Board director, Ana Hrnic, has spoken openly about her concerns and the situation in Croatia's southernmost city, which relies heavily on air transport.

As Novac writes, once upon a (pre-pandemic) time, th Easter period used to mark the beginning of the tourist pre-season across Croatia. This year, only twelve hotels have been opened down in Dubrovnik, Croatia's tourism Mecca. The Easter holidays attracted about 1,000 tourists, and they were mostly those of us who live in Croatia.

''This year, the announcement of the beginning of the tourist season, despite the situation we're currently in, brings with it certain types of restrictions because neither the catering and hospitality facilities nor their terraces are able to work, Ana Hrnic, the director of the Dubrovnik Tourist Board, told HRT.

It isn't just Ana Hrnic with worries on her mind. Until April the 12th, the City of Dubrovnik and the Tourist Board were offering their tourists numerous benefits.

''The Cultural and Historical Museum, the Maritime Museum, the Ethnographic Museum, our two archeological exhibitions in Revelin... we invited all Croatian citizens to come down to Dubrovnik and come and visit those museums for free,'' said Julijana Antic Brautovic, the director of Dubrovnik Museums.

Among the few foreign guests on Stradun were three Turkish sailors.

''I came to buy a yacht. We're in the ACI marina. It's nice, we like Dubrovnik, I've been visiting the historic centre with some friends,'' said a tourist from Istanbul.

Indoor restaurants are the biggest problem

''It's difficult, we can't eat anything anywhere. We have to buy food and then go back and eat on board, it’s very inconvenient,'' noted the Turkish tourist.

''We sail to the islands, they're wonderful, they have excellent conditions for nautical tourism, but in a pandemic it is difficult to imagine anything. It's similar in Turkey, so we must all be responsible,'' said the same tourist from Istanbul.

Dubrovnik's catering and hospitality industry workers are also waiting for the outcome of the situation with a sense of uncertainty.

"Twenty-six of my colleagues couldn't take this anymore. They've permanently closed their premises, one part of them has moved out of the city, some others among them are also planning to leave,'' said Ante Vlasic, the  president of the Dubrovnik Restaurant Association.

International air traffic to Dubrovnik has now thankfully been re-established - for now twice a week from Madrid and Munich, which is an enormous downgrade in comparison to what this wildly popular Dalmatian city is used to. Easyjet flights from Geneva also began running from April the 10th this year.

For more on Dubrovnik, visit Dubrovnik in a Page. For more on travel to and within Croatia, follow our travel section.

April the 1st, 2021 - With the coronavirus pandemic still raging on across the globe, tourism continues to be among the most negatively affected economic branches. Croatia, relying very heavily on tourism for its overall revenue, has been dealt a significant blow. However, as Easter approaches, motorhomes on Croatian highways bearing German license plates offer a dash of hope.

As Barbara Ban/Novac writes, in normal, non-pandemic years, the period just before Easter here in Croatia tends to be welcomed by a significant opening up of tourist facilities. This year, despite expectations being low, the same thing has occurred but with carefully adjusted the safety standards to national and international recommendations as a result of the global public health crisis we find ourselves in.

Of particular note is the excellent reception in Croatia's emitting countries with the Safe stay in Croatia programme, which shows that Croatia is preparing extremely well for the tourist season in which safety will be the most important factor for any level of success. Although it would be wrong to get too ahead of ourselves, the fact that foreign plates are being seen on Croatian highways is encouraging.

"Guests will also be staying in our camps. We have announcements from locals who have mobile homes, they have slowly started to visit during the weekends, during holidays, etc. For example, this week a well known camp in Istria opened up its outdoor heated pools. Since Istria, at least for Germany, is still green, motorhomes with German plates are visible on Croatian highways. We even have several smaller family camps that are already full of Germans visitors,'' said Adriano Palman, the director of the Croatian Camping Association.

On the eve of Easter, Valamar plans to open the doors of many of its tourist facilities, including higher end hotels and camps. During the Easter holidays themselves, Maistra will also do the same. Pula's Arena Hospitality Group, in addition to the 365-day Grand Kazela Campsite Arena, opened Park Plaza Belvedere Medulin Hotel way back in January, and the Medulin Campsite Arena opened back on March the 27th. Projections also seem good for this company's facilities on the islands and even in Marija Bistrica in the continental part of the country.

From today, so from April the 1st, Plava Laguna will open the doors of the following hotels: Parentium and Park in Porec, Melia Coral for Plava Laguna in Umag and Hotel Bonavia in Rijeka, which is set to remain operational all the time during 2021.

After April the 20th, it will open all of its camps in both Porec and Umag in Istria, and in May it will open yet more. More specifically, from April the 23rd, all Blue Lagoon camps that operate under the Istracamping brand in Porec and Umag will open up as normal, as well as Garden Suites Park Blue Lagoon, Apartments Park Blue Lagoon, Villas Park Blue Lagoon, Apartments Bellevue Blue Lagoon, Villas Bellevue Blue Lagoon , Hotel Molindrio Plava Laguna, Apartments Galijot Plava Laguna, Hotel Istra Plava Laguna, Hotel Plavi Plava Laguna, Apartments Astra Plava Laguna in Porec and Hotel Sol Umag for Plava Laguna, Garden Suites and Rooms Sol Umag for Plava Laguna, Hotel Sol Garden Istra for Plava Laguna, Residence Sol Garden Istria for Plava Laguna, Melia Istrian Villas for Plava Laguna, Apartments Sol Amfora for Plava Laguna and Apartments Sol Stella for Plava Laguna in Umag.

From April the 1st, Camp Aminess Sirena - Novigrad, Aminess Atea Camping Resort and Aminess Gaia Green Villas will open in Njivice on the island of Krk. The opening of the Aminess Maravea Camping Resort in Novigrad on April the 23rd this year is also planned.

The Boutique Hostel Forum, a design hostel in the very centre of Zadar, which has been named the best Croatian hostel four times and which operates in accordance with the national safety label - Safe Stay in Croatia, has been open since March the 15th.

With German license plates already visible now and then on Croatian highways, just what this pre-season is set to bring remains to be seen, and although it will be absolutely nothing like pre-pandemic, record 2019, an improvement when compared the a horrendous 2020 might be expected.

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March the 29th, 2021 - Easter might be rapidly approaching, but this means very little for the country as the coronavirus pandemic and all of the various travel restrictions rage on. Croatian coastal tourism usually begins waking up with the arrival of Easter, but this year will be different as a result of the current unfavourable global situation.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, here in Croatia, the Easter holidays usually mark the beginning of a more intense arrival of guests, particularly along the Adriatic coast. However, due to the continuing pandemic, this year, for the second time in a row, this won't be the case. Hotels up and down the coast have a few reservations to boast of, but nothing in comparison to what they're used at this time of year, and most tourist workers are preparing anxiously for yet another uncertain and unstable tourist season.

Scenes from April 2019 for tourist workers now seem like a strange and very distant dreamlike memory, despite the fact that this year there are more tourists in the Zadar area than there were last year, when we were in a complete "lockdown". Most of these people are, however, Croatian tourists from other parts of the country. Due to the unfortunate epidemiological situation, the expectations for Easter in terms of Croatian coastal tourism are also quite poor.

"We're also afraid that what we have reserved at the minute will just end up being cancelled. Entries to Croatia have been simplified with these rapid coronavirus tests, but unfortunately for people returning home to neighbouring countries, things continue to be complicated,'' said Tomislav Fain, president of the Association of Croatian Travel Agencies.

Owing to the problems surrounding travel and lockdowns still reigning strong in many European countries, particularly in the UK, the expectations are that only Croatian residents travelling around the country are to be expected. Frane Skoblar from Turisthotel believes that Croatian hostels throughout this pandemic crisis have drawn the short straw due to their connection to air traffic, which has been unreliable and costly.

The short straw was also drawn by private accommodation owners/renters who have almost no reservations to speak of. On the other hand, hotels and large resorts claim that they're more or less satisfied with reservations for the upcoming Easter holidays.

"We're mainly focused on the Croatian market, and some guests from Austria and Slovenia are also coming," said Goran Sremec from Falkensteiner Hotel & Spa Iadera.

Guests feel safe in the camps as well. Misela Lastric (Falkensteiner Hotels & Residences Borik) says that they expect increased interest from local guests and that the bookings are looking very good for now, adding that they're currently at more than half capacity.

The ongoing pandemic has completely changed the tourist picture all over the world, with Croatian coastal tourism taking a very, very heavy blow.

"There will certainly be no Slovenes coming here at this moment in time. On the days of Corpus Christi, which come after that, the Germans traditionally come, and you know yourselves what sort of situation they've found themselves in,'' said Mario Paleka, director of the Tourist Board of the City of Zadar.

All tourist workers expect the first large number of tourists to arrive only in June, reports HRT, and that still depends entirely on the epidemiological situation not only in Croatia but in the country's emitting markets, as well as the rate of vaccination.

For current coronavirus information specific to Croatia, including border and travel rules, as well as testing centres across the country, bookmark this page.