March 18, 2021 - Croatian Tourism Minister Nikolina Brnjac welcomes the European Commission's digital green certificate proposal. 

HRTurizam reports that the European Commission adopted a legislative proposal to establish a common framework for digital green certificates and an additional proposal to ensure that digital green certificates are issued to third-country nationals residing in the Member States or Schengen countries and visitors entitled to travel to other Member States.

Digital green certificates are digital evidence proving that the traveler has been vaccinated against COVID-19, has recovered from it, or has a negative test result. Apart from possible uses in health care, the certificate also serves for the safe free movement of citizens of one European Union country in another.

Of course, the digital green certificate has no meaning if EU countries do not accept it. That is why the European Commission has announced that it will work closely with the European Union members. Namely, cooperation is needed to find technical solutions for the use of certificates as soon as possible. The authenticity of certificates can be verified safely throughout the EU and finally enable the mutual recognition of certificates or endorsements throughout the European Union. Member States are still responsible for deciding which public health restrictions for travelers can be lifted and will apply the same to travelers holding a digital green certificate.

Digital green certificates will meet data protection, security, and privacy requirements. For the certificates to come to life by the summer, EU member states must speed up preparations and their introduction. The European Commission will help develop a legal solution for a common framework for vaccination, testing, and recovery certificates to facilitate free movement within the EU. Member States are expected to establish technical solutions at the national level rapidly. In this way, certificates could be issued and verified securely anywhere in the European Union.

Digital green certificates should be established based on interoperability guidelines, which define common data sets and unique identifiers for vaccination certificates. A common data set for test results is already agreed upon by Member States.

Certificates will be issued in digital or paper form. Both versions will have a QR code containing the necessary basic information and a digital signature to ensure that the certificate is authentic. Certificates shall be made available free of charge in the official language or languages of the issuing Member State and English.

All persons, vaccinated and unvaccinated, should use digital green certificates when traveling within the EU. To prevent discrimination against non-vaccinated persons, the Commission proposes not only issuing an interoperable vaccination certificate but also a COVID-19 test certificate and a certificate for those who have recovered from COVID-19.

If Member States accept proof of vaccination to lift certain public health restrictions such as testing or quarantine, they would be required to accept vaccination certificates issued under the digital green certificate system under the same conditions. This obligation would be limited to vaccines authorized in the EU, but Member States may accept other vaccines.

The digital green certificate will be valid in all EU Member States and can be used by Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland. The digital green certificate should be issued to EU citizens and their family members, regardless of nationality. It should also be issued to third-country nationals residing in the EU and visitors entitled to travel to other Member States.

The digital green certificate system is a temporary measure. It will be suspended after the World Health Organization declares an end to the extraordinary public health threat caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

For the proposal to be ready before the summer, it needs to be adopted quickly by the European Parliament and the Council. At the same time, Member States must apply the reliability framework and technical standards agreed within the eHealth network to ensure the timely introduction of digital green certificates, interoperability, and full compliance with personal data protection. The goal is to complete the technical work and proposal in the coming months.

The certificates will be available free of charge and are expected to be implemented by the summer, i.e., from 1 June.

The Minister of Tourism and Sports, Nikolina Brnjac, stated that Croatia welcomes any document that will facilitate tourist movements through uniform and predictable rules.

"The EC today adopted an important proposal for a common framework for the recognition of certificates, which should facilitate free movement during the pandemic. As a tourist country, Croatia welcomes any document that will facilitate tourist movements through uniform and predictable rules. In the forthcoming discussions in the Council, which must agree on the final version of the document, we will advocate that the announced certificate in no form constitutes a restrictive factor for free movement and that it is not discriminatory. In parallel with the preparations for adopting this document at the EU level, the Government of the Republic of Croatia regularly coordinates positions regarding border crossing conditions, taking into account the epidemiological situation in the Republic of Croatia well as in the major markets. Facilitation is also being intensively discussed with the EU Member States as well as third countries," Brnjac said and emphasized that to ensure predictability for business entities in tourism, the Government will make a detailed decision on the conditions for entry of tourists into the Republic of Croatia, which will be in force at least until the establishment of a common European model.

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March 17, 2021 - Is it stay safe or safe stay in Croatia? We are delighted to have Croatian tourism expert Zoran Pejovic back with some thoughts on tourism messages being sent out to key markets.

“This campaign has an educational character because we want to introduce our guests to protocol, and epidemiological measures implemented at all levels of tourism to provide them a safe and comfortable stay in our country” – reads the statement put forward by the Croatian National Tourist Board.

Let us read that again. Once more please. So, we are planning to educate prospective guests on the protocols and epidemiological measures that we will be implementing during the coming season after thirteen or fourteen months in which those guests have heard nothing else but information about protocols and epidemiological measures.

The campaign put forward by the Ministry of Tourism and promoted by National Tourist Board is called “Safe Stay in Croatia” or “Stay Safe in Croatia”, I am not entirely sure which. It has been couple of weeks now since this project was unveiled, and I would assume those educational activities are well underway, as the authors themselves gave a timeframe of two months, March, and April, to carry out this campaign in the markets of Germany, Austria, Italy, Poland, Great Britain, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, France, and the Netherlands.

Google search for the news on the subject of “staying safe in Croatia” delivers several pages of results, almost entirely in Croatian. It is akin somewhat to the entire page advertisement of the Digital Nomads program in Jutarnji List, Croatia’s largest daily newspapers, which has about zero reach outside of Croatia.

Is this our unique selling point for the season of 2021? That we are distinctly good in implementing protocols and epidemiological measures, or uniquely good in that sense? Do we have the data to support? Have we done much better in the way we handled coronavirus pandemics than for example Greece, our direct competitor, another EU country looking to kick start its economy this summer by attracting millions of European travelers? How about Portugal? Surely, people will look at the protocols and measures implemented in Portugal, Greece, and Croatia and after witnessing our educational campaign will decide to spend their money on our beautiful coastline this summer?

Is there anyone out there who really believes, as the world prepares to vaccinate most of its population by the third quarter of 2021, that the travelers, stuck in their homes for year and half will be deciding on their holidays based on the level of epidemiological measures in the destination? Is there any research that supports this claim? If yes, I would love to see it. Do we even know what those protocols and measures are, when they are subject to bi-weekly changes? Will the protocols and measures in place now, advertised across the channels be relevant come July or August? How likely is it that vaccinated people will start choosing their destination by epidemiological measure in place?

The UK has vaccinated over 44% of its adult population and will have all adults vaccinated by June. Across the ocean, approximately 74% of Americans who want to travel in 2021 are either likely to get the vaccine or have already been vaccinated. These are big and important markets for us, if not in terms of number of tourists, but very much in terms of average spend per day per person. All people are looking for is the clarity of information, ease of border crossing and a few positive vibes. There is plenty of research to support that. And millions of bookings that have been pouring in from the UK to Spain over the past couple of weeks, country that has been seen by many as a failure to address the pandemics.

This is starting to sound like a rant, but it really is not. I am sincerely flabbergasted that someone believes that the job of the Ministry of Tourism and the National Tourist Board is to pour money into advertising activities focused on the protocols and epidemiological measures in place, including production of videos, that will be delivered via online channels and social networks with the hashtag #SafeStayInCroatia and via the most read online portals in above mentioned markets. An interesting but separate topic is the exclusion of Scandinavian markets from these activities, but perhaps that is for the better, as our measures might come clashing with Swedish protocols for the past year or so and act as a deterrent from booking.

This made sense in the summer of 2020, and even than only to a point, and I was one of those who propagated the idea of safety of the destination as one of the more important characteristics, but this was in a time when we knew infinitely less about the virus, when there was no vaccine in sight and the population of people that had the virus was still exceedingly small. A year ago, I wrote an article on the importance of maintaining communication and visibility, but urged everyone to drop the corporate language and make it honest, authentic and relatable; to tell a heartfelt story, to tell a dream or to celebrate healthy living. This applies today as well, and applies to everyone, from small hotels and travel agents to the destination management companies and national tourist boards.

I understand the need to insert the prevention emotions in the messaging, to design it in a way to relate to protection, safety, and security. However, even at that level the message must be crafted more to invoke the feeling of ease, ease of understanding and ease of use and must be consistent across all the platforms. Alternatively, if we wanted to play on the emotions of safety there is a story to be told of the low density of our islands and inlands, of the vast outdoors, and of the sea and sun as healing agents. The only message that errs on the side of clarity that I have seen came from the Mayor of Dubrovnik, Mato Franković who said that Croatia should welcome vaccinated UK tourists without restrictions. However, prevention emotions cannot be all we message to the world. We need to add a layer of promotion emotions, to invoke the emotions of joy and happiness, satisfaction, accomplishment and elation, celebration. We need to tell people that they are Welcome to Celebrate Life This Summer in Croatia! Simple as that!

To read more from Zoran Pejovic on tourism matters, check out his TCN author page.

March the 17th, 2021 - The Central Istria Tourist Board has outdone itself with its fascinating promotional video, winning two prestigious international awards and attracting a lot of attention to this truly beautiful part of the country.

As Barbara Ban/Novac writes, the promotional film of the Central Istria Tourist Board has won two awards at prestigious international tourist film festivals. Great recognition came to the film from the 21st Golden City Gate 2021 International Tourism Film Festival - Tourism Multimedia Award, where it won second place in the Regions category. The film festival is part of the prestigious ITB Berlin tourism fair, the largest in the world, which was held online due to the pandemic. The second award for the same film came not long after from Russia, where the film won the commercial film category at the TRAVEL FILM International Film Festival.

The film was produced by the Labin-based company Level 52 back during the middle of last year. The authors moved away from their usual postcard-style videos, using the popular storytelling element instead. The destination is presented through the revival of legends, magical creatures, as well as by showcasing the actual residents of Central Istria and local products. Different stories are connected through the Central Istria Tourist Board´s promotional film with a unique narration and original music. Showing the known, but also the hidden, and highlighting multiple often overlooked destinations in this part of Istria makes this film stand out among the rest.

Authors Sanel Isanovic and Goran Nacinovic pointed out that this is a really important recognition for their hard work and that such awards encourage further work. Client trust and creative freedom allowed them to do something different, which was ultimately very well received.

The director of the Central Istria Tourist Board, Sanja Kantaruti, emphasised that this recognition is an enormous success, which they are extremely proud of, and that such promotion at international festivals is an immeasurable advertisement for Central Istria as a tourist destination. She emphasised that the plan is to continue this form of audiovisual promotion and numerous other projects aimed at promotion for tourism.

This bold and unconventional approach from the author's team, said the director of the Istria County Tourist Board, Denis Ivosevic, proved to be a winning tourist story.

Istria County is ready to look forward to the new season ahead of us, and these awards will certainly contribute to another successful season in Central Istria. So far, the film has been screened in the selection of the Amargos Tourism Film Festival and the Travel FilmFest International Festival. However, the award from Berlin is undoubtedly the most significant recognition that the film could receive, given that it is the world's leading fair, it is also worth noting that Germany is the main emitting tourist market for Istria.

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March the 16th, 2021 - Croatian mass tourism, which was a burning topic over the last few years and which now seems to be little more than a distant memory as the coronavirus pandemic rages on, won´t return this summer. Some destinations, however, will more than likely prosper more than they did last summer.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, as the warmer weather finally approaches, one of the concerns of the Croatian authorities and the tourism sector is how to stop the spread of the coronavirus and vaccinate as many Croatian residents as possible by the beginning of the tourist season. A lot will depend on the epidemiologists, with whom the setting up of tourist testing points has been agreed, and the development of the situation with the "vaccination certificate" at the level of the European Union (EU) will continue being monitored.

Economic analyst Damir Novotny says that the change in the structure of demand will definitely continue, ie what is available in terms of destinations which can be reached by car will continue to experience tourism, which means that Croatia can expect guests from Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic and Hungary, as well as Poles who like to travel from the north all the way to the Croatian Adriatic, according to local portal Glas Slavonije.

“There will be mostly people arriving by car, there won´t be much air transport going on, there won´t really be any groups of tourists but individual trips. This then reduces total tourist spending by 30, 40, maybe even 50 percent. It depends on how much capacity will be ready for those individual guests who have different requirements and it is very likely that the camps will be very well filled, hotels will probably do well, and for other types of accommodation... it is difficult to say,” predicted Novotny.

He believes that vaccination alone will not play a big role in tourism, as the effects of vaccination can be expected possibly next year only. His assessment is that nothing particularly spectacular, but by no means tragic, is likely to happen in tourism, and that it will be somewhere around last year's level. This means that the Croatian mass tourism we loved to complain about not so long ago will not be reborn this summer season either.

According to economic expert Luka Brkic, he also believes that the focus will be on Croatian destinations that can be reached by car, and that guests from Slovenia, Austria and Germany can be counted on.

"Great Britain is a very important market for Croatian tourism, and they mostly come here by air, but that is questionable, even though they have a high level of vaccination. Because after each opening up, things just close down again quickly," explained Brkic for Glas Slavonije.

Croatian mass tourism had a tremendously negative effect on destinations like Dubrovnik, which must now find other ways to bring in the cash after lying on its laurels for far too long.

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March 14, 2021 - As a new tourist season approaches, the Kingdom of Accidental Tourism goes into overdrive. A look at efforts to promote Croatian tourism globally, as well as... well, yes.

I am not a big fan of tagging on social media, although I completely understand the usefulness and power of the function. I rarely tag people myself unless I know for sure that what I am making them aware of will be on point and relevant. If there was somehow a function to only allow tags that the user would find useful, I would be the biggest fan of the tagging function. 

I get tagged a LOT these days. 

One of the people who very rarely tags me but completely understands the power of using the function sparingly is entrepreneur Nenad Bakic, who has been very vocal in his anti-lockdown stance regarding the pandemic, backed up by endless charts and his mathematical and analytical brain. I am staying out of the whole corona debate, as my opinion does not matter and I have nothing of authority to add, but Nenad tagged me recently for the first time in a while the other day. 

Zagreb, Croatia
A country which did not terrorize its people, some of the least stringent measures in EU. Currently among the lowest case and death counts in EU. Digital nomads, come! pic.twitter.com/5SNCHehHCp

— Nenad Bakic (@nbakic) March 6, 2021

More than 146,000 views through Nenad's impressive global network. Thirty seconds of filming, a little social media sharing, and a global audience can see the reality of daily life in Croatia today. For those looking for a safe and beautiful place to remote work in a less restrictive country regarding lockdowns, some very useful food for thought. 

Nenad's comment when he tagged me was that this was some kind of alternative tourist board. It got me thinking - again - about just how much private individuals do to promote this country for free, because they love it and want to increase tourism revenues. And there are many thousands of people in Croatia with much smaller audiences who are also playing their part be posting photos, videos and information, as well as sharing. Collectively, it must lead to an impressive calculation of euro generated in terms of tourism spend. 

But when it comes to taking credit for all this interest generated in Croatian tourism, that credit is taken only by one entity - the Kingdom of Accidental Tourism.  

Just a few days before Nenad tagged me, I nearly spat out my beer all over the keyboard when I came across this article on TCN: Croatian Tourism Brand Recognisability Increases 50%, Says CTB Director Kristjan Staničić. The implication, at least as I read it, is a self-justification of what a great job the Kings are doing. 

The data in the survey are not related to this year and are only for specific markets, but it got me thinking about who is doing a lot of the work pro bono to increase the brand awareness. In addition of the thousands of people in Croatia and the diaspora, here are a few examples of what the private sector has done at their own cost (both in terms of time and money) with no meaningful contribution from the Kings (apart from granting permission to use videos in the case of this Rimac Automobili amazing video about Living and Working in Croatia.

It is one of the best videos promoting the Croatian lifestyle I have ever seen. Done out of love by the Rimac team (as well as a way to attract new talent), with already an impressive 250,000 organic views. 

When ABC News contacted TCN via the Total Croatia Travel INFO Viber community last summer, I knew that this was a big opportunity for a great promotion to the US market, but I didn't have the capacity to deal with it. But I knew a man who could. 

Kreso Macan took the ABC News crew all over Dubrovnik, opening doors where none previously existed. The result? No less than 6 reports on ABC News, including 12.5 million viewers on Good Morning America for this piece above. 

The Kingdom's contribution in all this? Not even a press release. 

And it is not just Croatian private individuals who are achieving incredible things for the visibility of Croatian tourism. As I wrote previously in Dutchman Promotes Croatia Globally: Meanwhile, in the Kingdom of Accidental Tourism... Jan de Jong's initiative to introduce the digital nomad visa not only succeeded in (by Croatian standards) record time, but has also brought about a complete shift in the national tourist board's strategy, with a full campaign under the slogan, Croatia, Your New Office, now underway. 

About that campaign... 

Back to people tagging me again. 

(Some might argue this these 11 guys had something to do with the raising of visibility of Croatia's brand internationally)

Before I continue, although I am become known in some quarters for constructively critical articles such as these (which are certainly more lucrative to write - I make 5 times more ad revenue on these articles than regular ones), I would really prefer not to write them, and I would be a lot happier if the people who are paid to promote Croatian tourism effectively would do just that. And if my articles had no effect, then there may be little point writing them (apart from the money), but as we have seen... 

So, a polite request - just do your jobs properly and I will happily focus on other things.

I firmly believe that the digital nomad opportunity is a great one for Croatia. With the right creative mindset of the likes of people such as Bakic, Macan, Rimac and de Jong, what could be achieved? In the article about de Jong's efforts above, I pondered what could be achieved if he was given jut 2% of the (from memory) 400 million kuna national tourist board budget. 

What could the likes of Macan, Bakic and do Jong do with that budget to improve Brand Croatia (I will leave Rimac out of this one, he has cars to make and posh Porsche partners to drive around - congratulations, btw!). 

And how is that money being spent at the moment?

I was tagged yesterday on a LinkedIn post by the Marketing Director of Red Bull in Croatia, who I have never met, but I bet he has a cool job. The Red Bull marketing director asked what his followers thought of the new campaign for digital nomads - whose target audience is foreign remote workers who may live in Croatia for 12 months, as long as their work is not with Croatian companies or suppliers. The comments flooding in at the logic of a full-page advertorial in Croatian in Jutrarnji List included a lot of facepalming, and I think the general consensus was this latest piece of marketing genius might not find the target niche of non-Croatian-speaking international remote workers, who are mostly not currently in Croatia.  

What's next in the Kingdom's marketing campaign? Croatian wine festivals in Riyadh? Cvarci cooking workshops in Jerusalem?

This (and this is just the latest of many) is a great opportunity for Croatia, and some people have worked very hard to make it a reality. Can we not at least have someone vaguely competent put in charge of making this a success, or are we going to throw away yet another golden opportunity, as we did with Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations, Game of Thrones, and of course, the World Cup.

I guess we should not worry too much. The World Cup is coming around again next year, so we can all sit back in the Kingdom of Accidental Tourism and cheers on the Vatreni. Then, as happened in 2018 when Croatia was the most talked about country in the planet, congratulate ourselves on what a great job we did increasing the visibility of Brand Croatia. 

For anyone in the Kingdom who is actually interested in pushing this digital nomad opportunity forward and wants to learn more, this interview with the first official digital nomad on Hvar, as well as this excellent feature on the amazing experience of swapping San Francisco for an idyllic Dalmatian island winter in Jelsa on Hvar (yes, you read that right - Californians promoting winter tourism on Hvar) gives some really good insights. Another great promotion. Another private sector initiative. Another promotion delivered with a zero kuna spend. 

To learn more about digital nomads in Croatia, follow the dedicated TCN section. 

March 11, 2021 - Will Croatia summer 2021 be the most challenging tourist season yet? Croatian travel experts weigh in on how the season will work this year. 

Index.hr reports that Croatia is facing one of the most challenging tourist seasons ever. This became especially clear after the head of the Croatian Institute of Public Health, Krunoslav Capak, said that there would be other travel conditions for people who were not vaccinated, such as quarantine or testing, which exists now.

The number of vaccinated tourists will be minimal because there is a shortage of vaccines in Croatia's key markets. Simultaneously, the oldest citizens have priority, and they generally do not travel as much as the younger population.

Martina Nimac Kalcina, president of the Family Tourism Association, told Index that Croatia is acting poorly if it does not have a timely plan for all travelers who will have to be tested when entering and leaving Croatia.

"By mid-April at the latest, which is two months before the start of the real season, everything should be organized. So, how will the entry into Croatia look? How and where will tourists be tested? Owners of family accommodation should have all this information in April to inform their guests in time. Every effort must be made to transfer this information abroad in a quality manner through promotion and to the owners of accommodation facilities. If all this is poorly organized, then we will have a bad season because some countries, which are our competitors, will organize it very well," Nimac Kalcina told Index.

The ease of entering and leaving the country, testing, and its price will play a crucial role in which destination the guest will choose for their holiday. 

"We have been saying for months that we have to prepare very well. This means unifying test prices, that guests who are ready to be tested know the prices, that they know where they can be tested, that testing is easily available to them. We have long been asking for as many testing points as possible to be organized at airports, stations, ports, and other locations, such as hotels or other city-owned facilities where guests leaving the destination would be tested. We continue to insist that the prices of tests be as low as possible because guests will certainly compare the price of testing with other countries that are competitive with us. And the third thing is that if they have to pay them, these prices will be unified because they are very different and in Croatia range from 150 to 700 kuna," Martina Nimac Kalcina continued for Index.

In the end, she said that this season would be better than 2020 if Croatia prepares well.

Boris Žgomba, head of the Association of Travel Agencies, told Index that he wanted to believe that Capak had expressed himself clumsily.

"It would not occur to anyone smart to quarantine a guest when entering the country. I don't think the worst season awaits us, but we must prepare well. We need a faster flow of people who have been vaccinated and recovered from Covid in the last 3 to 6 months. I think it will be set at 6 months because these people are not contagious. They will have Covid-passes, not Covid-passports, as some say. They will be called Covid-passes and will be ready in early June, at a time when we should have started to have more serious tourism and crowds at the borders," Žgomba told Index.

What about those who do not have passes?

"Yes, the third category are those guests who have not been vaccinated or recovered from Covid. They will certainly take antigen or PCR tests; they will have to do it, or maybe not even need to; it all depends on the epidemiological situation. It is in our interest, as in Croatia, to speed up the flow of people. Some countries have already launched this, and we are working on it. Slovenia allows entry to those vaccinated without testing and people who have had Covid in the last 3 months. Poland and Greece are already doing that. I must also mention how the information published on IATA's (International Air Transport Association) official website says that from March 8, passengers who have a positive test (PCR or antigen) older than 14 days and not older than 3 months can enter Croatia. Meaning those who recovered from Covid-19. The question arises as to why it is a secret. If so, why hasn't it already been reported to the public or, if it's not true, why hasn't it been denied," Žgomba told Index.

What are his forecasts for this season?

"I think that everything will be regulated and that we will have tourist figures at the level of 60 percent from 2019, so we will be a little better than 2020, but not nearly as close as 2019. I don't think there should be any fear for those who test positive when they arrive at the destination; we have already learned to live with this virus and the fact that you can't plan anything. Still, based on some indicators, it could be read that my forecast would be realistic and that we should have about 60 percent of the tourist figures from 2019," Žgomba said at the end.

The head of the Croatian Travel Agencies Association (UHPA), Tomislav Fain, told Index that there should be no problems if rapid tests are allowed and if Croatia is well prepared so that each region, county, and city provides a sufficient number of rapid testing points that will be cheap.

"Reading the prime minister's statements, we all depend on the European Commission and its protocols. If rapid tests are recognized, then we will have no problems, and the intention is to recognize rapid tests as relevant. If that is the case, then it will be good because they are fast and affordable. This would solve the biggest problem. I was in Greece in October, and their minister said he would push the idea of ​​recognizing rapid tests that would cost a couple of euros. If Greece succeeds in that, then, as I said, Croatia must prepare well so that guests can quickly and conveniently take the test and get the result," Fain said.

He states that Greece organized such testing at airports last season and that it was easier for them to control it because most of their guests arrive by air, while Croatia is more of a car destination.

Paško Klisović, president of the Association of Accommodation Providers on Boats - Charter, told Index that they have already held two meetings this week regarding the upcoming season.

"One of the conclusions of the Tourist Business Council at the Croatian Chamber of Commerce - including all representatives of the association, from hoteliers, agencies, charters, family accommodation, marinas, i.e., all employees in tourism - is that testing must take place at tourist checkpoints and that the cost of tests must be minimized. I proposed that the price of the tests is subsidized from the income of the sojourn tax," Klisović said.

He also states that charter tourism is unfavorable because they are hoping for the first guests in a month.

"As far as I can see, everyone else in tourism is hoping for guests only in June, while we have announcements for Easter. I hope that some things will be organized and agreed upon as soon as possible. We have already had a meeting in Šibenik-Knin County with the local Institute of Public Health on tourist testing points. I have to say they are willing to do it, but we were told there was a shortage of people to do the testing, so we went on to involve private clinics that could jump in. We hope that everything will be organized on time," Klisović concluded. 

Do you think Croatia summer 2021 be the most challenging tourist season yet?

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March the 10th, 2021 - Croatian tourism representatives from the Croatian National Tourist Board (HTZ) are on the hunt for tour operators as the Berlin ITB takes place online amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the popular and highly respected tourism fair, ITB Berlin, which will be held online as a result of the pandemic will bring together world experts from the industry and try to find answers to the "new normal" along with the representatives of hotel companies, travel agencies and others as another unfortunately very uncertain tourist season approaches.

The fair, which will go on until March the 12th, will be attended by a Croatian delegation led by the director of the Croatian National Tourist Board, Kristjan Stanicic, and the director of the CNTB Representation in Germany Romeo Draghicchi. Croatian tourism representatives are seeking answers to pressing questions as the virus continues to throw spanners in the works of leisure travel.

They announced yesterday that they plan to meet with representatives of the most important agencies in the German capital, including tour operators and other partners in the German market.

"Among the agreed meetings is the one with the representatives of the second largest European and German tour operator, DER Touristik, which in 2019 had traffic to Croatia of about 60,000 passengers, and there will also be talks held with the representatives of FTI, the third largest European and German tour operator, which in 2019 had traffic to Croatia of about 70,000 passengers,¨ the Croatian tourism representatives explained from HTZ.

The focus of the presentation of the Croatian tourist offer at the ITB fair will be eleven different Croatian tourist products: active holidays, camping, nautical tourism, cultural tourism, eno-gastronomy, health and wellness, business tourism and more, and the project and accompanying promotional campaign will be highlighted with the now already fairly well known ¨Safe stay in Croatia¨ campaign, as the epidemiological situation across the globe will continue to dominate bookings throughout 2021.

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March the 9th, 2021 - Slavonia tourism isn´t something that is booming, living in the shadow of its coastal cousin of Dalmatia and indeed other parts of continental Croatia such as Zagreb, but an increase has been seen...

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Marija Crnjak writes, proving to be the only choice for coronavirus travel for Croatian guests, destinations in continental Croatia during the pandemic were given a unique opportunity to be promoted live on the local market. They were also provided with the chance to finally impose themselves as an equal player in national tourism policy and promotion.

This year, and especially in 2022, which could be much more upbeat for tourism, they plan to capitalise on Slavonia tourism, which has been promoted for years as a joint cluster on the foreign market, and since last year they have been together here on the domestic market. Their goal is guests who are looking for much more than sun and sea when on holiday.

This was revealed by Rujana Busic Srpak, director of the Vukovar-Srijem County Tourist Board and the coordinator of the Slavonia tourist cluster, into which five counties in eastern Croatia joined last year through an informal association.

"Our goal is to more strongly recognise ¨green Croatia¨ on both domestic and foreign markets, areas that do not have the sea to boast of but have so much else to offer, providing real value for money to travellers who are looking for such an offer, and their number has increased due to these new circumstances.

This year we´re still addressing the domestic market, made up of people who were more or less unable to travel abroad, and it what we have to offer and what it is worth returning to has finally been given the spotlight. As soon as the pandemic subsides, we will invest more in the promotion of Slavonia tourism across foreign markets that have great potential, but we will need more help from the Croatian Tourist Board (HTZ) and travel organisers, because our advertising budgets are very limited,¨ explained Busic Srpak.

She also pointed out that 2020 brought completely new trends in travel to Slavonia, with the biggest growth in the otherwise dead season - in the first few months of the year, and in the summer when only her county achieved 68 percent of the traffic they saw back in pre-pandemic, record 2019. Papuk Nature Park recently announced that the winter saw 300 percent more guests arrive than came last winter, which prompted them to invest in a new toboggan run.

"When it comes to domestic guests, in addition to showing them what we offer, a good part of our task is to break the prejudice that everything east of Zagreb or far away has tied to it, or the social case, which is that the area is underdeveloped. Foreign markets are looking for a different promotion than the just the Croatian Adriatic, partly because a good part of our guests come by the Danube. As such, river cruisers are on an upward trend, and we traditionally attract guests from Germany, Austria, Italy, Slovenia, but also the USA and even Australia.

In the French market, Slavonia tourism promotions were realised in cooperation with the Croatian National Tourist Board representation there, and a more intensive presentation for the British market was planned in 2020. However, it seems that things will hang on a bit and wait for the overall launch of foreign promotional activities,¨ said Busic Srpak.

A good part of the year is already behind us, and things are still being decided on a weekly basis, there is a lot of uncertainty and that is why the view of the Slavonia cluster is focused more on 2022. Thematic packages are currently being designed for agencies that will sell it.

The informal association of five county tourist boards from Slavonia was accompanied by a strategic plan until 2025, on the basis of which projects and joint packages are nominated - Slavonia wants to use the strength of the Croatian brand, but also its own strengths. Slavonia tourism has infrastructure, about 2100 tourist beds that need to be filled first, then we can think about building new ones, this sort of thing is partly funded by the EU.

"The support system in Croatian tourism should be focused on underdeveloped areas that need support in order to strengthen their market position(s) and thus strengthen the destination itself. The development of underdeveloped areas should be our goal, but according to the criteria of quality and importance for the overall development of the destination,¨ concluded Busic Srpak.

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March 9, 2021 - Dubrovnik Mayor Mato Franović announced on Monday that Croatia should welcome vaccinated UK tourists without restrictions and all Britons who overcame COVID-19 or have a negative PCR test from May 1, 2021. 

HRTurizam writes that the UK is currently the focus of all tourist destinations.

It is also among the top three countries globally in terms of vaccinating citizens, with only Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) vaccinating more citizens. By Sunday, at least 21 million Britons were given their first dose. About 400,000 citizens are vaccinated every week, which is why all tourist countries are turning directly to the British market, from Greece, the Canary Islands, Turkey, Cyprus, Spain, and many other countries, because it is in British tourists that should travel en masse first due to high vaccination coverage.

The mayor of Dubrovnik, Mato Franković, is keeping this in mind. After a recent initiative to enable tourists at Croatian airports to be tested for COVID, he launched a new initiative aimed precisely at tourists from Great Britain.

Namely, Franković sent a proposal to the competent ministries to agree with the United Kingdom for British guests.

All Britons who received two doses of vaccine overcame COVID-19 or have a negative PCR test would be allowed to come to Croatia on vacation without restrictions. May 1.

"The UK market is the most important tourist market in the city of Dubrovnik, and since the UK left the European Union, its guests are considered guests from third countries, and the quarantine obligation is in force upon arrival at the destination. Given that such a measure could seriously jeopardize the season, this proposal was made, following the examples of Cyprus and Portugal that have concluded such agreements," said Franković, adding that leading British media report almost daily on which European Union countries the British are allowed to enter without having to quarantine upon arrival.

The consequences of Dubrovnik's inclusion on the UK red list are most clearly shown by the numbers of arrivals, according to which Dubrovnik ended 2020 with 20% of the total number of overnight stays compared to the number of overnight stays in 2019, concluded Franković.

Both initiatives are focused on air guests because the city of Dubrovnik is extremely dependent on air traffic. Still, they also show the mayor's proactivity and determination to define some things much faster. There is not much time until summer, and everyone is currently targeting the UK market with marketing messages. 

The European Union will present a "digital green pass" on March 17, i.e., to present the framework of the Member States' decision regarding Covid passports and all other open issues regarding opening to tourism. It is also important to point out that according to Minister Brnjac, Croatia is considering a model that would allow tourists to be tested by rapid antigen tests, as well as PCR testing at several points, which will be decided in cooperation with regional tourist boards and the Croatian Institute of Public Health.

On the topic of introducing digital green passports that would enable easier travel, and at the same time provide air destinations with a faster tourist recovery, Dubrovnik Mayor Mato Franković held a meeting with the Director-General of the European Region of Airports Council International Olivier Jankovec and the president of the Air Transport Association at the Croatian Chamber of Commerce, Tonči Peović.

Olivier Jankovec informed Mayor Franković that 100 European airports had introduced COVID testing so far. Still, he believes that the full implementation of the system requires urgent harmonization of recognizing rapid antigen tests between the EU member states, allowing easier travel.

On the other hand, Mayor Franković presented the initiatives and protocols proposed by the City of Dubrovnik, which relate to travel from all countries, regardless of whether they are part of the EU or not. The proposal introduces the rules according to the zones 'green', 'orange' and 'red,' and following them; guests would have certain conditions for coming to Croatia. Thus, the goal is not to stop travel but to make it possible for everyone under certain conditions.

Do you believe that Croatia should welcome vaccinated UK tourists without restrictions from May 1 this year?

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March the 7th, 2021 - The number of Croatian private rental owners has seen a decrease as a result of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and the stringent leisure travel restrictions that have come with it. Their Association is seeking measures to ease things for those in this business.

As Novac/Jozo Vrdoljak writes, in Split-Dalmatia County, the number of Croatian private rental owners decreased by as much as 11 percent, and in the City of Split itself, by almost 15 percent. This information was presented at the online session of the Family Tourism Association Section of the Croatian Chamber of Commerce - Split County Chamber.

Gordana Pitesa stated that a safe epidemiological environment is a prerequisite for the arrival of guests from abroad, and as such she recommended the Safe Stay in Croatia label to all stakeholders in tourism, which can be absolutely crucial for guests when choosing a place to stay.

At the moment, there are only a small number of reservations, said Pitsa, recommending that Croatian private rental owners place more emphasis on making sales and being more present on social media.

"A lot of work has been done by the national family tourism board, some of our proposals have been met and the importance of the board is that on the one hand it allows us to communicate with ministries and relevant institutions, and on the other gives Croatian private rental owners the opportunity to propose more measures and things in regard to doing business easier and better for them,¨ said the president of the Family Tourism Association of the Croatian Chamber of Commerce, Martina Nimac Kalcina.

Nimac Kalcina reminded Croatian private rental owners of the proposals of measures to facilitate the business of private landlords that were sent to the relevant ministry at the end of February, such as the exemption from paying the first installment of the annual flat income tax private landlords must pay which due on March the 31st this year, the exemption from paying tourist tax and other such membership fees for the year 2021 for all those who deregister their accommodation capacities, provided that they did not have registered guests, accessing loans and more.

The session also discussed the need to organise additional coronavirus testing points for visitors, the need to speed up testing, the setting of a far more appropriate price for PCR tests for guests and the better facilitiation of the procedure, which they will continue to insist on because such things will govern tourists´ decision making when it comes to where to go and where to stay. The possibility of putting the categorisation process on hold, for example, for one year, was also discussed.

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