February the 24th, 2021 - Croatia has long been tied to the post as a ''sunshine and sea'' destination, taking its place next to the likes of Spain, Greece and other similar countries. With so many other things to boast of and an all but undiscovered continental and Eastern part of the country, does Croatia have a chance to finally break free of that very limiting categorisation? Katarina Milicevic believes so.

As Marija Crnjak/Poslovni Dnevnik writes, Croatia was experiencing tourist stagnation even before the ongoing coronavirus pandemic struck back in early 2020, because it got stuck rolling around in the cage of the tired old ''sunshine and sea'' cage, and the pandemic gave the country the opportunity to finally start to accelerate the process of creating new quality, certified products and content that will be the basis for future tourism.

''Croatian investors and destinations should persevere in their development, despite the decline in enthusiasm that the pandemic may have brought with it,'' said Katarina Milicevic, a partner at Horwath HTL.

Is this crisis an opportunity to work more on ensuring quality?

"We've seen throughout this crisis how important tourism is to Croatia, and we shouldn't be discouraged by the fact that it holds a high share in Croatia's GDP. Many countries which rely on tourism, although they have also developed other activities very successfully too, have also opted for the development of tourism, had a clear goal and didn't regret it. Such countries act as great examples today. Tourism will recover, people will continue to travel, and we have the opportunity to work on quality now,'' added Katarina Milicevic, who sees the recovery of tourism globally in the medium term, but doesn' want to predict details.

New beginnings for Croatian tourism in 2021

When it comes to the 2021 tourist season, Croatia is being promoted like the other 30 leading tourist destinations across the world, in accordance with the possibilities and events that could be permitted within the circumstances, Katarina Milicevic believes.

The Croatian National Tourist Board (HTZ) announced yesterday that their campaign on social media "Croatia Full of New Beginnings" across 15 foreign markets achieved excellent promotional results in just one month, achieving over 30 million impressions, while the total number of user interactions with ads climbed to higher than two million.

The campaign was conducted on the wildly popular social media platforms of Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest and TikTok across European markets. Those markets are those of Austria, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, the Netherlands, France, Slovenia, Sweden, Norway, Belgium and Switzerland.

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February 21, 2021 - Last year may have been a disaster for global tourism, but it was a spectacular one for Croatian tourism promo to the USA market, albeit quite by chance.

Sometimes (actually quite often when it comes to Croatian tourism) things happen completely by chance. 

Sometimes some good comes from a terrible situation, the proverbial every cloud has a silver lining. 

And through the disastrous tourism year of 2020, I noted a recurring theme of hope for Croatian tourism - the most high-profile penetration of Croatian tourism promo into the important USA market.

When ABC News contacted TCN in July wanting to explore filming a feature on Americans travelling to Croatia during the pandemic, I was initially a little hesitant. Promoting travel in July, 2020, particularly from the USA as COVID-19 raged, was bound to upset a few people. My position on corona throughout has been that my opinion doesn't matter, and the more transparent the facts are, the more people can make better decisions. 

And while ABC News might have people some people hopping on a plane to Dubrovnik, the bigger impact was likely to be the longer term. A message of welcome to Americans that there is a gorgeous country in Europe waiting to welcome you as soon as they are willing and able to travel. 

I decided to get involved and connected ABC News with the best Dubrovnik fixer I know. Kreso Macan once again went above and beyond the call of duty. Ably assisted by Mayor Mato Frankovic and Dubrovnik Tourist Board director Ana Hrnic, the ABC News crew had an unforgettable few days.  

And Americans saw and wondered. An estimated 12.5 million viewers tuned in to the feature on Good Morning America, one of six stories featured by ABC News as a result of their visit.  

Mayor Frankovic posted on social media to thank ABC for its 'priceless' promotion. The Croatian tourism promo was one thing, but the bigger psychological impact was the message of a welcoming country with pristine beaches and historic towns waiting with open arms. At a time when the world was closed to American travellers, here was a beautiful ray of European sun. 

Croatia. Bucket List 2021.  

News spread in the Washington Post, not only of Croatia's open approach to Americans, but a new lifestyle tourism opening up in Croatia. Following an open letter from Split-based Dutch entrepreneur Jan de Jong to Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, the Croatian PM granted the Dutchman's request just 44 days later - a digital nomad visa for Croatia. 

At the time of the announcement, there were only 4 other countries offering such a visa, with only Estonia in Europe. Legislation passed in Parliament, and the new law came into effect on January 1, 2021. The first digital nomad to be approved with the new permit, an American in Istria, gave her first interview to TCN - Meet Melissa Paul, Owner of Croatia's First Digital Nomad Visa.  

Here was a country which not only welcomed Americans, but also was opening up for remote worker longterm options. 

A country with lifestyle. 

 A country popular with American celebrities, reported Forbes. 

And definitely a rising star in the luxury world of superyachts, reported Bloomberg.

All this during a team when no money was spent on tourism promotion, and a time when a captive audience desperate to travel was being fed glorious Croatian tourism promo material, mostly quite by chance.   

  As tourism was collapsing elsewhere, Croatia was seemingly pushing ahead with its luxury tourism, according to Forbes, one of many international publications to report on the opening of Maslina Resort on Hvar.  

 5-star island luxury hotel openings on Hvar or Lopud - take your pick as Robb Report.reported on the outstanding luxury heritage conversion that is Lopud 1483.  

Forbes was not the only one to notice Maslina on Hvar - here is Luxe Review.  

And that message of 5-star luxury welcome for Americans made it once more to Forbes, this time from Dubrovnik.  

And the latest fabulous free Croatian tourism promo to the USA market, as CNN combined all of the above into a great piece focusing on the new digital nomad opportunity, including chats with Melissa Paul, as well as Mexican and Singaporean nomads currently in Croatia.

All this, in a year when people were dreaming of travel, rather than travelling. And the dreams about future travel have been growing as a result.  

And there were other pandemic benefits for Croatian tourism promo. With a more muted presidential inauguration on January 20, lesser stories assumed a greater prominence. This included a fantastic promotion of Croatian wine, a story which first appeared online in English on TCN on January 9.

The New York Times got in on the act, this time looking at the luxury real estate opportunities in Croatia. There seemed to be two clear messages emanating from all this promotion - luxury and lifestyle. 

Perfect for the American market.  

I spoke with Ina Rodin, Director of the Croatian National Tourist Board in New York, asking her for her thoughts:

The past year has been a challenging one for the travel and tourism industry. Croatia, no stranger to hardship, in addition to an unprecedented global pandemic experienced a series of devastating earthquakes. Despite these challenges, the country deftly navigated these crises. The government made bold decisions to keep borders open, a strong and strategic move which kept the country on the radar of US travelers, a move that US-based media such as Forbes, Afar, and ABC News to name a few, covered positively.

As a result, despite travel restrictions and reduced air accessibility, Croatia had a respectable number of visitors from the States. Furthermore, the recent introduction of the digital nomad visa program was timely and contributed to the country’s positive perception from people abroad. The effort to ease requirements to work and travel is a fail-safe plan for long-term tourism growth and should create more progressive and inspiring environment for both locals and visitors. We hope these new programs will provide a fresh perspective to our tourism strategy.

While most of the above promotion happened organically, one of the bigger challenges of the 2020 season lay with the Zagreb Tourism Board  - what to do with their globally popular December event, Advent in Zagreb? With fluctuating restrictions and travel shelved by many, any event would be markedly different to its predecessors, but it was also important to keep the story and the brand going. Which it succeeded in doing, being featured once more as one of the best Christmas markets in Europe by Conde Nast Traveler.

I asked Martina Bienenfeld, Director of the Zagreb Tourist Board, how it went:

Last year was the most challenging for everyone and especially for us in the travel industry. Zagreb Tourist Board transformed challenges into opportunities that resulted with new projects. By adapting to the situation, we created new virtual and hybrid contents. 

Having that in mind while preparing Advent Zagreb 2020, we created an interactive augmented reality exhibition called Virtual Christmas Windows which brought a whiff of holiday spirit using the animated motifs of Advent. The other novelty was a project and a campaign called The Light of Advent where we initiated festive decoration of windows of 10 public institutions in the Upper Town. We also invited our citizens to send us their Christmas photos and, as a result of the campaign, we had a reach of more than 230,000 people, 240,000 impressions and we received over 300 photos which can be seen in #ZagrebLoop video on www.adventzagreb.hr .

The other new feature was the Zagreb Manger, a virtual exhibition of photographs of Nativity Scenes in churches, taken from 2007 to 2019. Furthermore, during December we organized hybrid activities with live streaming of advent concerts on our online channels. The implementation of digital innovations helped us create unique virtual and interactive content throughout the whole year 2020. Pandemic showed us that now, more than ever, we need cooperative efforts, support and mutual trust of all the stakeholders in the tourism industry. Tourism brings people together and in spite difficulties that came upon us, I’m sure that we will build new memories together again 

2020 was a year to forget for tourism in general, but a year to remember for Croatian tourism promo to the USA. 

Let's hope 2021 can be the year when Croatian tourism and Croatian tourism promo shine in tandem. In order to remind our American readers, luxury tour operator Secret Dalmatia just released the first in a series of great videos promoting the magic of Croatia that awaits you when travel returns to normal. 

For more on travel in Croatia, follow the dedicated TCN section. 

February 19, 2021 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said at Thursday's Government's that vaccines must protect Croatian citizens until the tourist season. 

HRTurizam reports that if the epidemiological situation continues to develop in a good direction, measures could be further eased from March 1, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković pointed out at Thursday's 44th Government session.

Prime Minister Plenković said that the trend of declining COVID-19 cases continues for the tenth week in a row and that the weekly average is 75 confirmed cases per million inhabitants. He added that the dynamics of vaccination are intensifying. With new shipments, there will be over 700,000 doses in Croatia by the end of March, which will significantly increase the number of vaccinated citizens.

Whether this means that catering facilities or at least terraces will finally open remains to be seen.

The weekly average is 75 confirmed cases per million inhabitants, which puts Croatia in third place in the European Union, behind Finland and Denmark.

Plenković: We expect significantly more vaccine doses by June to ensure maximum protection of citizens until the tourist season

By the tourist season, we want to ensure the maximum possible protection of citizens with the vaccine, said Plenković and added that the Government's task is to ensure as many vaccine doses by the end of the first quarter and reminded that another 600,000 doses should arrive in Croatia by the end of March. He added that significantly more doses should come in April, May, and June to ensure maximum protection for citizens until the tourist season.

"Croatia, like other members of the European Union, relies on the European Medicines Agency for the safety and reliability of vaccines and medicines. Something that ultimately goes directly into the context of any of our fellow citizens' health conditions must be reliable. We need to have confidence in the vaccine or drug that is coming to our market. The key is that once the EMA approves a drug and all agencies confirm it at the national level, then the responsibility for that drug or for that vaccine lies with the pharmaceutical company. In the variant that we put this medicine on the market without these filters, then we also respond in that way, and that is why Hungary went through the verification procedure," Plenković said about the possibility of purchasing the Russian vaccine two days ago.

If the reliability of these vaccines is proven, additional quantities will be used to speed up the vaccination process, Plenković added, emphasizing that Croatia is not currently considering vaccine production but aims to protect citizens with the purchased vaccines.

By the way, Croatia ordered 2.7 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, 1.9 million doses of Pfizer, one million doses of Moderna, and one million doses of Johnson & Johnson. It is important to emphasize how all three vaccines are effective so that there are no fatalities, severe symptoms, hospitalization, and respirators.

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February the 17th, 2021 - Just what do foreign visitors to Croatian shores really want from the Croatian tourism offer? Different groups and nationalities put higher values on different things, and one travel company has taken the time to delve deeper into those differing desires.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Suzana Varosanec writes, foreign tourists who visit the Croatian Adriatic coast sometimes have really specific and unusual requirements when booking their accommodation, revealed the travel company Croatia Luxury Rent. American tourists are typically looking for restaurants and bars, Austrians are primarily interested in table tennis equipment, of all things, as part of the accommodation package, the Poles want to play darts and pinball when on holiday, while the French place importance on their place of stay being close to bakery to eat croissants and the like for breakfast.

When deciding on booking some accommodation and looking at the Croatian tourism offer, the biggest factors for visitors are of course the combination of price, location and the quality of the accommodation. It is precisely these details that hold the most influence over the general decision-making when it comes to booking accommodation along the Croatian coast. The research of this tourist company says that it is difficult to predict precisely what the key factors in choosing accommodation will be, but it's clear that it is mostly based on a recommendation or good evaluation of previous guests, the location, and the analysis of all available aspects leading to the final decision.

According to the company Croatia Luxury Rent, houses, especially those well equipped with additional facilities, have proven to be attractive accommodation capacities in addition to private apartments and camps in the Croatian tourism offer. There are amusing facts which come to light that indicate what nationality someone who books a stay might be, and emitting markets behave differently. Some have specific requirements that to some extent deviate from the established parameters when deciding on a reservation.

For example, the Germans, who are among the most frequent visitors to the Croatian coast, most often ask what kind of coffee machine is in the villa and whether the property is completely fenced off, since they usually bring their pets with them. Austrians check more often than expected if table tennis is available in the villa. In situations where it isn't included in the offer of the villa, they require that the owners be asked to make it available to them.

Slovenians, Hungarians and Czechs are regularly interested in the distance from the nearest beach that is suitable for children. Polish tourists often come in large groups with children so they tend to ask what kind of entertainment the villa offers. Some of the more interesting desires are a pinball machine, dart boards or how much fun for hide and seek for their kids a house can provide. Slovaks often ask if there are enough sunbeds by the pool.

The British, on the other hand, choose villas with rich entertainment content, which includes a quality sound system with a bluetooth connection, a close proximity to liquor stores and a barbecue. The Dutch regularly inquire about the level of cleanliness in the villa and the hygienic conditions, such as how often the sheets and towels are changed on a weekly basis. When choosing a holiday villa, Swedes make sure that the villa offers a sauna or Turkish bath and gym, while Belgians, if the villa doesn't have a tennis court, ask for information on the location of the nearest such sports fields. Italians often choose villas that are located directly by the sea and largely insist on an open-air summer kitchen. The Russians ask for dinners to be organised in the villa, the service of a private chef, and they are interested in half-day and one-day trips around nearby islands.

Americans have proven to be the least demanding group and seek only the recommendation of good restaurants and bars. Serbs love to spend time on the Adriatic, so the beaches, but also the rich offer of nightclubs are of great importance when choosing the perfect holiday villa. For the French, the option of heating the pool up is important, and an important role in choosing a holiday villa within the wider Croatian tourism offer is played by the jacuzzi, as well as the proximity of shops and bakeries.

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February 9, 2021 – In a survey conducted by HomeToGo, the largest Austrian search platform for holiday homes, Croatia has once again proved to be a desirable destination. The results showed Croatia the most sought-after summer destination for Austrians in 2021.

After a well-known Austrian travel organizer Gruber Reisen recently published their research results, declaring Croatia the most sought-after destination for the Austrian market, the survey from another Austrian travel platform HomeToGo showed the same estimates.

Namely, HomeToGo, the largest search platform for holiday homes on the Austrian market, conducted a survey on Austrians' habits, travel preferences, and favorite holiday destinations in 2021. The research results were published on the Austrian portal Oe24.at, and Croatia was in the first place of the most sought-after summer destinations, reported Branimir Tončinić, Croatian National Tourist Board director in Austria.

The survey is based on a total of 200,000 searches. As in the previous year, the survey shows that Croatia is the leading and most sought-after destination with 41 percent of searches. Austria follows Croatia with 19.5 percent and Italy with 19 percent of searches, and then France, Greece, Spain, Germany, Sweden, Norway, and the United Kingdom. Of the Croatian destinations, the most sought after are the Istrian peninsula and the island of Krk.

The obtained data clearly show the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on travel behavior. Looking at the top three most popular destinations – Croatia, Austria, and Italy – it can be concluded that this year, Austrians prefer sunny sea destinations in the immediate vicinity. Their choices are primarily motivated by the precarious situation with the coronavirus pandemic that prevents long-term planning and long trips.

Tončinić stated earlier that consumers pay special attention to the destination's safety and that the possibility to change their booking for free or other cancellation options at minimal cost is very important for them when booking a trip.

The survey results also show that 70 percent of Austrians plan to travel in the next 12 months. When it comes to accommodation, 63 percent of them prefer booking accommodation in holiday homes. Regarding the mode of travel, 71 percent of Austrians will travel by their own car.

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February 8, 2021 - Mayor Mato Franković has announced a plan to save the tourist season in Dubrovnik this summer.

Jutarnji List reports that given the efforts made by the United Kingdom and the United States to vaccinate their populations, it should come as no surprise that European tourism-dependent countries were among the first to dive into precisely those markets, believing they could logically be among the first to send travelers.

This also includes Greece, a destination that is already dependent on the British market, which in recent days has begun to announce that it is ready to lift the quarantine for all tourists who can prove that they are immune to coronavirus when entering the country. According to current Greek announcements, they are ready to lift the quarantine for British tourists in early May, and the Greek government is convinced that the vaccination of the British market will save them in the 2021 season.

However, other Mediterranean destinations will likely try to grab their share of British and American travelers, including Dubrovnik, which is desperate to save the summer of 2021 after an unsuccessful 2020.

Moreover, Dubrovnik Mayor Mato Franković says that the Israeli market is also important for Dubrovnik, as they also have a high vaccination rate and were among the last to cancel flights to Dubrovnik.

More hope is placed in the British and Americans, and Dubrovnik has already received confirmation that EasyJet, British Airways, and Jet2Com will fly to the city this season. The Philadelphia - Dubrovnik line, which unfortunately only operated season, will certainly not be renewed yet this year.

"We have agreed on everything with the British market, although at the moment, it is a matter of waiting until the trips are formally and legally renewed, and we also have an agreement with the British TUI, which will bring passengers to Dubrovnik with their own planes. We are planning strong marketing in the UK market, but we are waiting for the right moment because it is too early to do so while we are in lockdown. For now, we are counting on the end of June, or the beginning of July and market research shows great interest from passengers," said Franković, adding that the first deals with the American market have already been contracted.

Namely, the Swiss cruiser company Viking Cruises will organize air bridges to Dubrovnik to bring American tourists to the city. They will board cruisers and sail to Split, Šibenik, Zadar, and back to Dubrovnik.

According to Franković, the company has developed strict health protocols that it has already presented to the National Headquarters and the Croatian Institute of Public Health, which include PCR testing of passengers before boarding the plane, new testing before boarding a cruise ship in Dubrovnik, and then daily testing during the trip.

Passengers would stay in Dubrovnik for a part of the trip. Still, these will be so-called 'bubble groups' that will not be able to freely see the city or mix with Dubrovnik residents and local tourists but will have separate visits to museums and other cultural and other institutions.

"We had already planned to start with these groups from February, but due to the situation with the virus, we have postponed everything until March, so we will see what the situation will be like then," Franković explained. He noted that the arrival of Viking Cruises would be a big step forward, given that a ban on cruising has been in force in Croatia for six months now.

Apart from Dubrovnik, American and British tourists are also important for Split. Still, in principle, Croatia will try to use the status of a car destination this year as well, which means relying on Germans, Slovenes, Austrians, Italians, Poles, Czechs, and others.

The Ministry of Tourism is closely monitoring the epidemiological situation in Croatia's strongest markets, and it seems good so far. However, Jutarnji has learned that the organization of the summer season will require waiting for the EU to take a border crossing stance.

"We reckon that this will be standardized at the Union level so that we do not have the situation this season as the Dutch did last year when they decided to put Croatia on the orange list in mid-July. We now see that the Danes are announcing Covid passports, but we are moving in the direction of regulating this at the whole community level so that there is no rebound. Of course, that means that the Greeks will have to abide by these rules," says Jutarnji's source.

In the meantime, the Croatian Headquarters is announcing easing measures at the local level, which would enable the relaxation to be gradual and thus minimally endanger the tourist season.

The cautious opening could be launched before the beginning of summer, and only in counties with a good epidemiological situation. Still, a significant influx of tourists and a full opening is not counted before the beginning of June.

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January the 25th, 2021 - Croatian luxury tourism hasn't been discussed much recently owing to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Tourism in general has taken a back seat, damaging economies across the world, but the ILTM World Tour, which places a focus precisely on luxury tourism, has seen growing interest for Croatia.

As Morski writes, Stories - a group of unique luxury hotels, participated in the most important luxury tourism fair in the world called the ILTM World Tour back in November and December last year and presented eighteen hotels from their collection.

The fair is traditionally held in Cannes, France every year, and this year, for the first time due to the coronavirus epidemic, it was held virtually, and the online platform was available to participants until the end of 2020.

The Stories Group held a total of 137 meetings with agents from around the world, and Americans, Australians and some of those much closer to home in the rest of Europe, such as Britons, are among the most interested in Croatia and Croatian luxury tourism.

''Meetings with agents were extremely successful, and the level of interest in Croatia is significant. When compared to 2019, five percent more agents this year expressed their interest in Croatia, or 62 percent of all agents who participated in the fair. Although the increased interest gives us hope for a more successful 2021, the basic precondition for the realisation and launch of tourism is a good epidemiological picture and accessibility, ie transport and air connections,'' said the president of the Group of Unique Luxury Hotels of the Croatian Chamber of Commerce, Nenad Nizic.

The ILTM World Tour 2020 brought together exhibitors with agents specialising in luxury tourism from different markets; Asia and the Pacific, European countries and North, Central and South America, and virtually brought together more than 2,600 experts in the luxury tourism segment, including 1,200 exhibitors, 1,300 agents and more than 100 representatives of VIP media, and a total of more than 38 thousand one -on-one meetings.

The ILTM fair is strategically important for the Stories Group because it is a fair where representatives of some of most luxurious hotels in the world and the best agents come together and meet, and Stories Hotels are being presented for the fourth year in a row with the support of the Croatian Chamber of Commerce to place Croatia and Croatian luxury tourism firmly on the wider luxury tourism map.

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January the 21st, 2021 - Osijek, one of Croatia's eastern cities, doesn't often find itself on the typical tourist map. Continental Croatia is still very much being discovered, with even Zagreb being relatively new on there when compared to the Adriatic coast and its wild popularity. Eastern Croatia is even more neglected, in almost every sense. Is all that about to change for beautiful Osijek?

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Marija Crnjak writes, the City of Osijek is investing a massive 18 million kuna into the renovation and refurbishment of a neglected historic space into a regional reception info-tourist centre in central Osijek. The facilities it is set to boast will promote the tourist attractions of Osijek, Osijek-Baranja County and the wider region of eastern Croatia in general.

The project is co-financed from European Union funds in the amount of 85 percent, and includes the reconstruction of an old Austro-Hungarian stable covering 40 thousand square metres, the construction of more roads and car parks, as well as a lot of landscaping.

“The group of contractors involved, the companies Kale and Binder, were all introduced into the works two weeks ago, and the deadline for completion of works is June 2022.

Through this project, we anticipate the creation of new jobs in beautiful Osijek, an increase in the number of visits to the city's tourist attractions and a number of new programmes for the development of cultural and natural heritage in regional destinations,'' said the Deputy Mayor of Osijek, Zana Gamos.

According to Kornelija Mlinarevic, head of the Administrative Department for European Union Programmes, a stop for buses and cars will be arranged next to the centre itself, and since it is located near the state road and two EuroVelo routes, part of the offer will be adapted to cyclists.

"After the realisation of this project for beautiful Osijek, this will be a place where there will be a special shopping area for authentic local and regional products, ATMs and exchange offices, as well as space for travel agencies and guides, toilets and other facilities," concluded Mlinarevic.

In addition, she explained, the City of Osijek plans to move GPP’s depot from its current space to the east of the city, which will open up space to build a prefabricated garage which will be able to accommodate as many as 345 cars.

This would move the curreny car park away from the city's fortress and enable its further development as a cultural and tourist centre of beautiful Osijek.

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January 21, 2021 - Croatia is the 5th most-awarded destination in the Booking.com 2021 Traveler Review Awards.

HRTurizam reports that Booking.com has announced that it will be handing out 1,147,344 Traveler Review Awards for 2021, giving recognition to partners from 220 countries based on millions of guest reviews.

In a year in which the travel sector has faced many unusual challenges, these awards recognize partners who offer accommodation and transport in 220 countries and territories.

In Croatia, 52,992 received Traveler Review Awards, which places the country among the top 5 most awarded countries in the world behind Italy (151,801), Spain (81,341), France (77,687), and Germany (63,829). Although the ranking cannot be viewed only through the number of awards, because the number of Booking partners in other countries is much higher, it is certainly clear that Croatia belongs to the top of international tourism, at least according to Booking.com.

"As less and less travel was done, each trip meant more to travelers than usual, and it became even more important to emphasize the outstanding service and hospitality shown by the Traveler Review Award winners in this extraordinary year," said Arjan Dijk, SVP and Marketing Director in booking.com and added: “In our mission to make it easier for everyone to explore the world, our partners play a critical role in providing amazing user experiences to travelers, and I know that with their perseverance, partnership and passion we can rebuild the travel sector and help even more travelers to rediscover our beautiful world over time."

Booking.com also revealed the key features of an excellent stay and the most hospitable places in Croatia.

Booking.com's Traveler Review Awards 2021 reveal data on passenger preferences in the past year and reveal that Croatian travelers value staff, cleanliness, and location the most when evaluating award-winning facilities on the platform because these three factors have the highest ratings among the categories rated by travelers after the stay.

These preferences are also in line with global trends, which show that staff with the highest-rated category are among the winners of the 2021 Traveler Review Award, followed by cleanliness and location. As users pay more attention to health and hygiene, the award winners had an average of 17% higher rating than the average rating for cleanliness in non-award winning facilities, which means that this is the main distinguishing factor for a better welcome. Another proof of the importance of the approach to tourists, which is crucial.

According to the reviews of travelers, the most hospitable places in Croatia are in Lika-Senj and Karlovac counties. At the top of the list, with the highest percentage of winners among the facilities that met the criteria, is Selište Drezničko, Karlovac County, followed by Grabovac, Karlovac County; Jezerce, Lika-Senj County; Korenica, Lika-Senj County; Slunj; Karlovac County, Smoljanac, Lika-Senj County; Otočac, Lika-Senj County; Skradin, Šibenik-Knin County and Karlovac, Karlovac County.

While hotels remain the second most awarded type of accommodation in the world for 2021, for the fourth year in a row, four of the five most awarded types of accommodation in the world are unique accommodation facilities: apartments (484,243), hotels (175,748), cottages (123,145), private accommodation (94,003), and bed and breakfasts (78,903).

The most awarded accommodation types in Croatia for 2021 include apartments, holiday homes, villas, and hotels. Bed and breakfasts, farm accommodation, country houses, lodgings, and private accommodation have made up most of the most hospitable accommodation types in the world, showing how interesting it is for travelers to stay in unique accommodation facilities. Interestingly, alternative accommodation facilities account for 30% of all new bookings in the third quarter of 2020 at the level of the entire platform.

A recent survey by Booking.com shows that almost half of Croatian passengers (51%) went by car in 2020 (which is above the world average of 24%) and that 29% of them traveled more within the country in 2020 compared to 2019, which is almost equal to the global average of 32%.

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January 21, 2021 - The European Association of Travel Agencies and Tour Operators (ECTAA) will promote Croatia in 2021 as a "Preferred Destination". 

HRTurizam reports that the Croatian National Tourist Board and the European Association of Travel Agencies and Tour Operators (ECTAA) have signed an agreement by which Croatia will have the status of "Preferred Destination" in 2021, i.e., the "Selected Destinations" of the umbrella European Association of Travel Agencies and Tour Operators.

This agreement commits the two sides to active cooperation to return and strengthen tourism in Croatia in 2021. Thus, over the next 12 months, ECTAA will become a key international partner in promoting Croatian tourism and travel by strengthening the relationship of European travel agencies and tour operators with destination management organizations and other partners in Croatia.

"I am glad that ECTAA and Croatia are partners again. Croatia was ECTAA's favorite destination almost ten years ago, resulting in better and stronger ties between Croatian agents and our members. In the current difficult circumstances, we are convinced that this cooperation will facilitate new trips to Croatia," said ECTAA President Pawel Niewiadomski. Recall, ECTAA brings together national associations of travel agencies and tour operators from 30 European countries, including 27 countries from the European Union, representing about 70 thousand travel agencies and tour operators in Europe, which provide consulting services, transport, accommodation, and other tourism services and activities. 

According to the CNTB, by the end of the year, numerous activities are planned to position Croatia as a safe and attractive destination, especially for digital nomads. A new safety label for all tourism service providers will soon be implemented in Croatia, which will work together with the existing health and safety protocols. A special webinar on the possibilities offered on the Croatian market will be organized. Its semi-annual ECTAA meeting will be held in Croatia this spring, so the national delegates of this association will get to know first-hand the security measures and Croatia's tourist offer.

"We are proud that Croatia, after almost ten years, has been re-elected as the preferred destination of this important European association. This is a great program and an opportunity to present Croatia as a safe and attractive destination in front of as many as 70,000 travel agencies and tour operators across Europe. At a time when the tourism sector and travelers around the world eagerly await the return of travel, we will emphasize the safety and proximity of Croatia as a tourist destination, the richness of Croatian tourism, beautiful nature, unique heritage, and diverse gastronomy," said director of the Croatian Tourist Board Kristjan Stanicic.

Recall that the president of the Association of Travel Agencies of the Croatian Chamber of Commerce, Boris Žgomba from Uniline, was re-elected last year as a member of the Executive Board of ECTAA.

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