We recently reported on the absolutely horrible story of some French tourists having paid over 6,000 euros for a stay in a villa on the island of Hvar, only to turn up to find no villas, merely a dirt road and a few trucks. 

This isn't the first time this has happened after tourists were duped into paying for their accommodation on online booking platforms for accommodation, but 6,000 euros is a huge amount of money to vanish into thin air, and being left stranded on an island in a foreign country with ''nobody wanting to help'', as the tourists claimed on Twitter themselves, is hardly a wonderful summer break on the Adriatic.

As the only saying goes: For every bad comes something good, and as Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 22nd of August, 2019, the group of duped French tourists have been offered a free stay in a villa on the nearby island of Brač, the owner of which had his photos stolen to make the fake Booking.com advertisement on Hvar, which of course turned out to be nonexistent.

The owner of the Brač villa claims that despite the fact that it isn't his fault at all, and that he isn't obliged to have to do anything at all, he feels that the incident is a horrendous bit of publicity for Croatia, and wanted to make things right for the group of tourists from France.

Namely, since both the group of French tourists and Mr. Vuić, the owner of the Booking.com ''Hvar villa'' which is actually not even on that island at all, were fooled, the owner of Villa Marteline decided to offer the French group two free nights at the villa they saw on the photos on Booking.com before being duped out of 6,000 euros, writes Jutarnji list.

''This is a really awful bit of publicity in my opinion, and I'm not the one who is guilty, nor am I obliged to do anything. But, I'm an honest renter who pays for absolutely everything that is required by law. As both of us are deceived, let them at least see that it's not everything is so bad here with us in Croatia,'' Vuić said when he called in the editorial office of Jutarnji list and asked them to contact the group French tourists who, as expected, accepted the offer readily.

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An awful story has found itself on the social networking platform Twitter after a tourist spoke of their horror after having paid over 6,000 euros to rent a villa on the gorgeous island of Hvar, only to arrive there and be greeted with nothing else but a dirt road and some trucks.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 20th of August, 2019, ''Here, we arrived at the villa on August the 18th and it turned out to be all a hoax. We have nowhere to stay. We also called the booking agent, he told us it wasn't his problem that we would have to sleep outside now,'' tourist Julie wrote on Twitter.

As 24sata reports, she claims that, together with a group of friends with whom she rented a villa on the island of Hvar for 6,420 euros, someone had cheated her out of it all. The villa didn't even exist. When they arrived at the destination on Hvar where the ten villas were allegedly supposed to be, they were greeted by a dirt road, several trucks, and some excavators.

From an entire villa that they paid a large amount of money for, Julie and this extremely unfortunate group of tourists didn't even get as much as the letter V.

''Nobody wanted to help us. We learned from some of the neighbours near the construction site that there had been more cases like this. We called the customer service, they offered us a refund within ten days or to book another accommodation, but at our expense,'' Julie wrote.

This awful situation is unfortunately not entirely uncommon and has happened several times in Croatia as well as in other countries across the globe. 

Read Julie's original Tweets and watch the video she uploaded of what she was greeted with instead of a beautiful Hvar villa here.

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A lot has been written (and argued) about 2019's very shaky tourist season, but whether we need to move on from the number of overnight stays to the quality of guest or not, one thing is certain - Croatia has some important lessons to learn in order to keep up with its competition and improve in numerous areas.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 19th of August, 2019, Croatian Tourism Minister Gari Cappelli was a guest of N1 recently. He announced a new strategy for Croatian tourism, which he will present during Croatia's presidency of the European Union, which begins on the 1st of January, 2020.

"Let's not compare ourselves to the Turks and the like, Croatia is not them and it will never be," the minister said, adding that it could no longer be expected that Croatian tourism would grow during the main tourist season by two, five or fifteen percent more.

"We've reached a maximum of twenty million tourists and we need to the develop the pre-season and post-season,'' stated Cappelli, echoing the belief of many who conclude this to be Croatia's best route in terms of tourism.

He pointed out that he is constantly saying that Croatia simply cannot expect big increases for a very good reason.

"With this infrastructure, this is our maximum, raising the quality, looking at the markets in terms of what we do, and not being delusional and thinking that we can make a fortune in a couple of months, that's what a lot of people have been doing this season," the minister said.

He says they changed the Law on Categorisation to try to convince small private renters that they have to raise their quality.

''Four, five star, properties with swimming pools, raising the level of quality is considered to be the key to success,'' he added.

He made sure to state that despite a bit of a rough season when compared to the last few glorious ones, Croatian tourism has not failed. "To date, there are four percent more tourists in Croatia, so much for [Davor] Bernardić's stories about decline."

He concluded that all the guests that have been in Croatia this season were good and that they were all of high quality regardless of their individual purchasing power.

Make sure to follow our dedicated lifestyle page for much more.

August 19, 2019 - Slobodna Dalmacija met with tourism workers in Split to discuss the 2019 summer season and how they would help to improve it in the future.

“Split is full of tourists and has about the same number as last year. Whether it's a little more or less, no one wants to reveal accurate information. However, what is of interest to us, who work in tourism and live off of it, is to bring in less of the 'cheaper' tourists because it would reduce the crowds (which in the peak season are created in the city port), but, with a condition for those tourists who come to us to have higher spending power,” says Đani Ponoš, owner of the rent-a-car and tourist agency "Flarent" with two outlets in the city center - in the port and the nearby Tourist Palace.

What can local and state governments do in this regard?

“In order to get more higher-spending tourists, investors should be able to obtain permits to build better hotels and four-and five-star hotels more easily, so that we don't have one hundred thousand apartments in Split which are driving down the price of accommodation, bringing in cheaper guests.”

The plans are to have hotels on the East and West Coast.

“The East Coast cannot be solved so quickly, and the Hotel Marjan needs to be remodeled on the West Coast where ships can be moored, as Željko Kerum put it. It would attract really good guests, which would definitely change the image of the city,” Ponoš thinks.

But how much will the best guests be willing to cough up if, in the heat of the season, they have to wait in hours of traffic just to get there?

Ponoš thinks a tunnel is a solution.

“Crowds can be solved with one more exit or entrance to the ferry port. One with a tunnel with an entrance near the station and an exit near the second Police Station in Bačvice, or an entrance and exit through the existing tunnel for Kopilica. Because this metro serves no purpose anyway.”

Ponoš believes the metro tunnel is the solution for another road access.

“A big problem in the season is where to park and the lack of space for car rental agencies to hand over vehicles. Just look at where some taxi drivers disembark passengers, at the pedestrian crossings at the entrance to the ferry port. But for years, there has been a discussion of solving parking problems by building underground garages in the center of Split. But it’s all talk,” Ponoš said. 

Ponoš also believes that the local government can't do anything to solve the problems of the season by next summer.

“Nothing can be resolved quickly. Tourism has been building for years. While everyone in Split is busy in August, the number of guests in the pre-season and post-season through congress and health tourism should increase. We cannot only offer the sun and the sea, so that in winter in Split all hotels are empty, while in Zagorje they are full non-stop,” she adds. 

Roko Kačunić, owner of Terminal F at the Tourist Palace, notes that in Split we have about 13 kilometers of beaches, from Žnjan to Marjan, but that we need to sell the destination better.

“This is what hotels will do for us,” emphasizes Kačunić, adding that in the next two years, "Ambassador" and "Marjan" will open, which will bring better guests. He says it was because of the Marjan Hotel that his family owned three catering establishments on the West Riva. But as it took ages for Marjan to undergo renovation, they eventually sold.

But now, the unfinished hotel has been bought by the Adris Group.

“It's a huge plus for our city. Because this Rovinj company knows how to make a destination. They will make serious money there and do a great job. It will be crazy,” Kačunić adds.

The Split Port Authority plans to move the truck traffic that supplies the islands to a new port in Stinice. Furthermore, customs will be shifted to the breakwater, thus freeing up Gat. Sv. Duje. This is important as it will provide new meters of operational shoreline for mooring ships in domestic traffic. But at the same time, the number of mini-cruisers is increasing, as there are ten more each year.

“I have to commend the Split Port Authority for everything they do and for the effort they have made to give us better places to moor. After regular service, we have priority in Split over foreign yachts. I am now the fifth ship moored parallel to the shore, with two more behind me. For the sake of greater security and comfort of the guests, it would be easier if, at the most, four or five of us were connected,” says Antonio Vuković, commander and co-owner of the Mlini ship.

He adds that small boat companies are developing too fast concerning the infrastructure on the Adriatic and that the crowds in the port of Split can be reduced if the boarding and offloading of guests took place on other days, not just on weekends. However, it is a little harder to execute because of the plans of the agencies, the airlines and the wishes of the guests.

At the taxi stand below the green market, Čedo Pocrnić, a former graphics editor at Slobodna Dalmacija who has worked as a taxi driver in recent years, gave his two sense.

“Local and state governments need to regulate the legal framework that makes it now possible for huge price differences in taxis. The whole evil begins at the airport where the Kaštela and Trogir carriers rob the tourists who land there, and when they arrive in Split, they are afraid to get into a taxi. This is evident on the ground because we have fewer trips,” says Pocrnić, adding:

"Some of my colleagues behave like the rest of society, with the example of those at the top. We are moral in this view because the state has allowed us to charge foreigners as much as 80 kuna per kilometer. It is robbery and it is normal for guests to be upset and scared to ask for the price,” he says and notes that during the hustle and bustle, it is not possible for a taxi to leave the port, though it still costs the passenger in the end.

“While stuck in traffic, the taximeter still runs,” Čedo concludes.

Pocrnić’s colleague, Šime, ho had been a Promet bus driver for 27 years, says that the rulebook by which Minister Butković sent taxi drivers from all over Croatia to Split and Dubrovnik should be changed, because it hijacked passengers from Split concessionaires.

“As if there weren't enough Uber drivers and other app-based companies. So, in the sun, we fry for two, three hours waiting for passengers,” says Šime, and adds that the commotion in the city was so crazy that, as a result, his passengers often jumped out of the taxi fearing they would be late to board.

Excerpts translated from Slobodna Dalmacija

To read more about travel in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page. 

August 18, 2019 - There are more tourist departures than arrivals at the Split Airport and Ferry Port this weekend, showing the first signs that this year's tourist season is nearing its end in Dalmatia.

"On Saturday and Sunday, about 70,000 passengers and 12,500 vehicles will travel through the Split ferry port, of which about 60 percent are tourists returning from the islands, and 40 percent are those who are leaving for the islands," said Jelena Ivulić, head of Jadrolinija in Split, for Splitski Dnevnik.

According to Ivulić, three extra ferry lines for Supetar (Brač) - Split were introduced on Saturday due to the increased return of passengers from the island to the mainland.

The departures at Split Airport are already more noticeable than the arrivals. 

"On Saturday, 115 aircraft will land and take off with about 30,000 passengers, of which about 16,000 are departing and 14,000 are arriving,” said Mate Melvan, head of the Split Airport Reception and Dispatch Service.

According to him, in the first two weeks of August, the number of passengers through the Split Airport increased by about 4 percent compared to the same period last year.

Melvan also said that by mid-August, traffic at the Split Airport had increased by about 150,000 passengers compared to the same period last year.

"About 2.2 million passengers have flown through the Split Airport so far this year, with an estimated 1.1 million more expected by the end of the year," Melvan said.

Recall, Split Airport experienced record numbers this summer. Just after it unveiled its brand new terminal building, the airport recorded the busiest month ever - 723,048 passengers in July,  which was up 4%. From January to July, Split handled 1,825,166 travelers, which is up 6.4% or an additional 109,029 passengers compared to last year. 

There were also more passengers departing at the Split bus station on Saturday than arriving.

"About 400 buses will pass through the Split bus station on Saturday, and we increased the number of bus routes to Zagreb due to the increased number of returnees from holidays," said Split Bus Station Director Mate Jujnović.

To read more about travel in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page. 

August 17, 2019 - German daily newspaper Der Tagesspiegel poorly advertised Croatian tourism with the help of numerous reports from Croatian media this summer. 

And if you’ve kept up with all things Croatia this summer, the negativity should come as no surprise - and many who have experienced the benefits of Croatian tourism this year will even say that it is quite realistic, reports Vijesti.hr.

Namely, Der Tagesspiegel writes that Croatian beaches and ferries are half-empty this summer and that apartment owners are panicking because they did not have as many guests as they anticipated. 

More specifically, in the first 12 days of July alone, the number of guests dropped 6.2 percent, while renters lost 9.4 percent.

"The growth of Croatian tourism so far has been fueled by problems with their competition in North Africa and Turkey," Tagesspiegel emphasizes, adding that tourism revenues account for about a fifth of Croatia's GDP.

Indeed, since the challenges of their competitors, including Greece, have virtually disappeared, issues have arisen for Croats and Croatian tourism. But, what the Germans say is a 'public secret', is that investment and a richer offer could efficiently resolve these problems. Unfortunately, this was absent in the vast majority of cases this year, and prices went up without delay.

"The beauty of Croatia's island world and rugged coastline is undisputed. Hotels and better-equipped apartments continue to show good occupancy rates and in some cases even growth. But especially in one- to three-star apartments, the sharp rise in price levels often no longer correspond to the quality offered. Guests pay more than 100 euros per night for studios that were set up in Yugoslav times. Especially older apartments, in which nothing has been invested for years, are less and less popular. Sun, sea, furniture from Yugoslavia and high prices - that is no longer possible," Tagesspiegel writes, noting that Croats also charge too much for parking and lounge chairs and that feces pollute the sea - a consequence of not investing in sewage.

“In anticipation of further growth, the number of guest beds in the apartments has increased this year by another 40,000, after it had already increased by 60,000 in 2018. But the supply now exceeds the demand. The times of steadily rising numbers of guests and prices seem to be over in Croatia for now,” Tagesspiegel adds.

The lack of Croatian workforce also had to be mentioned.

"Restaurants are struggling to find staff because Croats have left the country. That's why they have been looking for seasonal workers outside of Croatia at the last minute," Der Tagesspiegel concluded.

You can read the full piece on Der Tagesspiegel here. 

To read more about travel in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page. 

August 14, 2019 - A new project sets out to make Croatia a gastronomic icon of Europe.

Earlier this year, in collaboration with WYG Counseling, the Institute for Tourism and the Institute for Development and International Relations, a major project was completed entitled "Croatia, the New Gastronomic Icon of Europe: A Strategy for the Development of Gastronomy, Gourmet, and Gastronomic Tourism in Croatia with an Action Plan 2019 - 2022," reports HRTurizam.

TCN’s Mario Jukić was at the closing conference of the Gourmet Croatia project back in March, held at the Principovac estate near the easternmost Croatian town of Ilok.  There, Neven Ivandić and Neda Telišman Košuta from the Institute of Tourism presented the project and the brochure “Croatia - the New Gastronomic Icon of Europe".

The overall objectives of the project are to link the food processing sector and the tourism sector through establishing local production systems, as well as the territorial branding of Croatia as a recognizable gourmet destination, or, more precisely, a gastronomic destination that enters the top 20 tourist destinations in the world. The strategic document analyzes the current state of gastronomy and gourmet offerings in Croatia, the main market trends in the field of eno-gastronomy, defines the vision of the development of Croatian gastronomy and "gourmet" and is complete with an action plan. The project is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund.

Interestingly, the contracting authority of the strategy, which is several thousand pages long and has been reportedly working for three years, is the Ministry of Economy, Entrepreneurship and Crafts, not the Ministry of Tourism, which should be responsible for implementing the Action Plan.

The Ministry of Economy, Entrepreneurship, and Crafts turned out to be a mediator between the tourism and agriculture sectors in another story about the merger of the ‘green and blue Croatia’. The strategic brochure states that catering in Croatia is an industry that is developing faster than the economy as a whole, with a growing number of facilities and employees, as well as an increase in revenue and profit in 2016-2018.

However, at the conference back in March, Rudolf Štefan, the chef of the Pelegrini restaurant, spoke about the development of education in the gourmet area. "There are about sixty catering schools in Croatia, huge resources are being spent, but unfortunately, not all of these schools produce good staff. We need one high-quality institution that will create the foundations for high-quality gastronomic future of Croatia.”

Thus, the project brochure explains that the growth of interest in food and beverages reflects profound social changes driven by the improvements in education and prosperity, technology and growing environmental pollution, while the key trends for the development of global gastronomy are experience in buying, sustainability, healthy food, multiculturalism, return to tradition, good-quality fast food and growing media influence. That is the framework that supports further development of gastronomy and gastronomic tourism in the direction of creativity, authenticity and sustainability, concluded Jukić about the project in March.

To read more about travel in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page.

August 13, 2019 - Slavonia is in the French spotlight! 

One of France's most influential media outlets, the Le Figaro Magazine, published a major 10-page report on Slavonia in its weekly issue. The report was prepared by Jean-Louis Tremblais, a journalist and lover of Croatia, in collaboration with Eric Martin, one of the most respected French photographers, reports HRTurizam.

In September last year, the duo, organized by the Croatian National Tourist Board, stayed in Osijek-Baranja and Vukovar-Srijem counties, and their "Slavonian experiences" were translated into a sizeable photographic report entitled "On the Borders of Croatia. A Terrace on the Danube."

In the published report, which will be seen by millions of potential French tourists, Slavonia was named an open-air museum that will delight lovers of untouched nature and cultural heritage, as well as those attracted by undiscovered landscapes away from the tourist bustle and well-known destinations. "From gourmets to lovers of history, wine, horses and nature, Slavonia is an undiscovered corner of Europe for guests of exquisite taste," the influential French weekly revealed.

The report follows the breeding of Lipizzaners, which is part of the UNESCO list of Intangible Cultural Heritage, and mentioned traditional manifestations cultivated in Slavonia, such as Vinkovci Autumn, which retains authenticity and is a rarity in the tourist destinations of today. This historic region is also presented as a gastronomic paradise for lovers of local specialties such as kulen and various wine varieties such as traminac and graševina.

A separate section of the report entitled "Hedonistic and Cultural Escape from Everyday Life" provides a detailed overview of the most attractive restaurants, hotels, parks and museums to visit. During their stay in Slavonia, Tremblais and Martin visited many other tourist attractions such as Kopački rit, the ethno-village of Karanac, the Vučedol Culture Museum, the cathedral in Đakovo and others.

HTZ points out that filming the 90-minute well-known culinary show "Cuisine Impossible", which was initiated by the Croatian National Tourist Board and in cooperation with representative offices and local communities, was recently completed in June this year in Vukovar-Srijem County, in which the art of preparing fish stew will be presented to the French audience.

Thus, during the first seven months, 315,000 arrivals and 1.1 million overnight stays were recorded by French tourists, which represents a growth of 7 percent in arrivals and 6 percent in overnight stays compared to the same period last year.

In July, however, 136,000 arrivals and 530,000 overnight stays were recorded, which represents a 10 percent growth in arrivals and overnight stays compared to July last year.

You can find the Le Figaro spread on Slavonia here.

To read more about travel in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page. 

August 8, 2019 - Tourism works well when there is a balance between the ration of number of tourists and residents. An overtourism map featuring Dubrovnik and Croatia.

There are several ways to look at the issue of overtourism globally, and one simple method puts Croatia and Dubrovnik at the top of the global map of overtourism. 

A new map published earlier this year looks at the tourist countries and destinations which have the highest ratio of tourists to residents in the world. 

When comparing the ratio of tourists to residents, Croatia has the second-highest number of tourists per capita (3.78) behind only Iceland. 

Dubrovnik Old Town comes in third at 1,000 tourists per resident. 

Interestingly, the next European country in the list is Austria at 3.34. 

To see the map and the full list of the top ten countries and destination, visit the original article on Vivid Maps.

Tourism revenue for Austria was US$22.4 billion. For Croatia, it was US$10.7 billion. 

The Croatian Bureau of Statistics reported yesterday an increase of cruise ships (10.6%) and cruise ship passengers (14.1%) for the first 6 months of 2019.

Croatian tourism needs a reset, at least in my opinion. Apart from the negative environmental impact on its prized jewel, the Adriatic coast, due to the mass tourism of the summer months on the coast, a better ratio between number of tourists and local residents is crucial for successful tourism and local quality of living. 

Rather than just criticise, here are 5 gifts and trends I believe Croatia should focus on to develop its tourism with an eye to the future and away from the concentration on the summer months and most popular destinations - Branding Croatia: 5 Gifts and Trends to Focus On. 

For the latest in Croatian tourism, follow the dedicated TCN tourism section. 

August 7, 2019 - Ferragosto is known as the summer holiday period for Italians. This year, not unlike the past, Croatia remains one of their top destinations. 

Italy represents one of the most important markets for the Croatian tourism sector, which has achieved 579,000 arrivals and 2.3 million overnight stays so far, representing a 1.3 percent increase in arrivals and a 2.4 percent increase in overnight stays compared to last year, reports Dalmacija Danas.

Positive results were also achieved in July, during which Italian tourists generated 209,000 arrivals and 1.1 million overnight stays, which represents a growth of 1.5 percent in arrivals and 3 percent in overnight stays compared to July last year.

Croatian National Tourist Board Director Kristjan Staničić points out that the above results are excellent indicators for Ferragosto, the period when the largest number of Italian tourists visit Croatian destinations. 

"Most of the tourist traffic from the Italian market is follows the announcements for August and the first half of September, which key partners, tour operators and agencies confirm.

This is the result of a continuous and proactive promotional strategy that includes numerous marketing and PR campaigns, as well as excellent cooperation with Italian partners,” said Staničić, adding that the increasing transport links between Italy and Croatia are a driving factor for the further growth of tourist traffic from this market.

Italians mostly travel by car (almost 60 percent), followed by airplane (20 percent), train, bus and boat. When it comes to booking travel, about 56 percent of Italians book their trips directly, 37 percent do not book at all, while about 7 percent book their trips through an agency. When looking at accommodation in Croatia, Italians prefer household facilities and hotels, while in the tourist offer, they value top gastronomy, natural beauty, nautical tourism, and especially in the post-season, health tourism.

"We have done key promotional activities in the Italian market, which is evident from the results achieved, but also from numerous positive announcements that certainly contribute to creating a positive image and recognition of Croatia in this important market. Traditionally, Italians travel the most in August, with their favorite foreign destinations being Greece, Spain, and Croatia, where they most often travel to Istria, Kvarner, and Dalmatia, but increasingly discover the continental part of our country, especially Zagreb,” said Viviana Vukelić, Director of the Croatian National Tourist Board representation in Italy.

The popularity of Croatia among Italians is evidenced by several publications in the Italian media. Just before the tourist season, most were written about the Croatian islands and the coast, summer festivals, locations where the popular series ‘Game of Thrones’ was filmed, national parks, beautiful beaches, and detailed reports on trips with motorcycles and campers were published. The specialized magazine ‘Caravan e Camper’ dedicated its cover to Korčula, calling it timeless, while the cover of the popular ‘Dove’ magazine featured Vrbnik on the island of Krk. Furthermore, the Hvar lavender fields and the Makarska Riviera adorn the cover of 'Bell'Europa'.

The June issue of the specialized sailing magazine "Il giornale della Vela" published a detailed report on sailing in Croatia, providing a series of information on where to sail in Croatia, which bays to rest in, and what destinations on the islands and the coast to visit, all of which are illustrated by attractive photographs. The Kornati is featured on the cover.

To read more about travel in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page.