As Novac/Veljko Ostojic writes on the 8th of April, 2019, after almost a decade of high growth rates in Croatia's domestic tourism indicators, the dominant feature of this season, at least from the market's point of view, is uncertainty. The only thing we can be sure of, however, is the rapid growth period behind us. Facing Croatia is a period of struggle for each tourist owing to extremely turbulent broadcasting markets.

Such a destiny is shared by all Mediterranean markets with the exception of Turkey, and tourism in the Mediterranean as a whole is influenced by two dominant trends.

The first concerns the general insecurity in the European Union's economy, driven by the slowdown in individual national economies, primarily in big players such as Germany and Italy. An additional element that generates general uncertainty is the potential of Brexit (should it ever happen at all), the real effects of which at this stage can't really be estimated. These movements deter people from spending too much money, which is felt by the lack of bookings and reservations. In the first two months of 2019, the annual cumulative booking from Germany to Croatia was a little less when compared to 2018, while the decline in British tourist reservations throughout the Mediterranean was much more apparent, with Brits booking their holidays in the sun in advance being 10 percent lower on average than last year.

The second trend is the return of an old tourism king, Turkey, which has been a source of discomfort and nerves for Western Mediterranean countries, especially Spain, especially with its policy of subsidised travel arrangements last season, this season, Turkey is set to continue to record high growth rates of reservations from key European emission markets.

Such is an environment that defines the prospects of Croatian tourism not only this year, but over the next few years. The Croatian Tourism Association decided to quantify the effects of these trends on the expectations of Croatian tourist companies and the results of that survey were published in the first issue of Tourism Impulse, which will be published continuously every quarter. They surveyed the fifteen of Croatia's largest tourism companies, which account for 81 percent of the country's hotel sector.

The survey has shown that Croatian travel companies are experiencing revenue declines on one hand, and rising costs, primarily regarding labour, on the other. Croatian tourist companies are expecting slower annual revenue growth by 11.4 percent when compared to last year. Without changing the business environment in which Croatian tourism operates, this will result in a reduction in profitability and of course, a reduction in investment potential. With Croatia's damning reputation among foreign investors on the world stage, this really is the last thing it needs to seek to encourage.

The rather damp expectations of some of Croatia's largest tourist companies also show a drop in profitability this year by almost five percent and, as a consequence, the reduction of investments this year by a concerning twenty percent. Over the next two years, a further decline in investment is expected at a rate of 33 percent when compared to the periods in 2018 and 2019.

Reducing investment potential in tourism has a significant impact on the long-term prospects of Croatia's tourism. It is clear to all that in the long-term, Croatia must compete exclusively with quality rather than price. Reducing prices as much as possible to compete with Turkey on a surface level will only destroy the Croatian coast and Croatia's tourism sector as a whole. This isn't an option.

To be able to really compete with quality, apart from having determination to do so, it is crucial to attract and stimulate investments, something Croatia lacks in, and rather severely.

For that, Croatia will have to make numerous significant changes to its business framework. Today, Croatia is one of the least competitive in investing in tourism in the entire Mediterranean and has the highest tax burden of them all, especially if we look at the VAT rate. Spain, France and Italy have a reduced their VAT rates to help boost tourism. Croatias VAT rate, however, is 13 percent for hotel accommodation and 25 percent for hospitality services. Only Denmark is operating anywhere close to that in the whole of Europe, and one can hardly compare Croatia to Denmark.

Tourism directly and indirectly generates nearly twenty percent of Croatia's GDP, the sector generated eleven percent of all investments in Croatia. There is a lot of discussion about the optimal structure of the economy in which tourism makes up such a big part of it, and this, like many such discussions in Croatia, is often a waste of time. In a situation where tourism is experiencing significant growth rates and becoming an increasingly important factor in the receptive Mediterranean market, such discussions are quite unnecessary.

Of course, the priority requirement for Croatia's tourism growth is to boost investment, which will continually increase the country's overall quality.

If VAT on the entire tourist service is reduced to the level of Croatia's competitive countries, tourism can attract an additional three billion euros of investment, it can increase employee salaries by twenty percent and continue to rise over the next few years, which will further stabilise budget revenues and raise the standard life in Croatia in general.

Make sure to follow our dedicated business, lifestyle and travel pages for much more.

Nautical tourism is yet another tourism sector that Croatia would do very well to get stuck into, much like the country's already blossoming medical tourism industry. As more and more people arrive by sea to explore the beauty of the Croatian coast and more than 1000 islands, it seems revenues are gradually on their way up, too.

As Morski writes on the 6th of April, 2019, in a total of 142 Croatian ports designed for nautical tourism in six different Adriatic counties last year, a total of 857 million kuna in revenue, which is nearly three percent more than in 2017, was recorded, and the highest of this revenue, 618.1 million kuna (seven percent more), came from the renting of berths, as has been deemed from the data taken from the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS).

In Croatia's numerous nautical tourism ports, on the 31st of December 2018 there were 13,617 vessels moored on a permanent basis, which is 1.4 percent more than the number recorded one year earlier on the 31st of December 2017, according to a report from SEEbiz.

According to the type of vessel permanently moored in the sea, the most numerous of all were yachts (50.1 percent), followed by motor yachts (46.1 percent) followed then by various other types of vessels (3.8 percent).

The largest number of vessels permanently moored were operating under the flag of the Republic of Croatia, equalling 44.0 percent in total. Following came vessels all sailing under various European flags - Austria (15.8 percent), Germany (15.2 percent), Slovenia (5.1 percent), Italy (4.2 percent) and the United Kingdom (2.2 percent).

In 2018 there were 194,164 vessels in transit, which is 3.8 less than there were back in 2017.

According to the type of vessel in transit for which a berth was used, the highest number once again were sailing yachts (67.3 percent), followed by motor yachts (28.3 percent), and then came other vessels (4.4 percent).

In the year 2018, the highest number of vessels in transit were from the Republic of Croatia (47.7 percent), Italy (13.9 percent), Germany (12.8 percent), Austria (6.6 percent) and Slovenia (3.8 percent) which makes up 84.8 percent of the total number of vessels in transit.

Make sure to follow our dedicated lifestyle page for much more. If it's just sailing in Croatia you're interested in, give Total Croatia Sailing a follow.

Click here for the original article by SEEbiz

As Novac writes on the 27th of March, 2019, tourists staying in both hotels and private accommodation in Dubrovnik are on average 42 years of age, of a higher level of education and possess decent paying power. They typically spend 170 euros per day on average, which is 90 euros more than the average stands in seven other coastal Croatian counties, according to a survey taken by TOMAS Dubrovnik 2018.

This research was conducted by Zrinka Marušić from the Institute for Tourism, for the needs of the City of Dubrovnik, only for Dubrovnik, conducted on a sample of 1,600 respondents.

"Dubrovnik attracts a specific sort of guest, due to broadcasting markets that aren't specific to the rest of Croatia. According to the motives of the visits, we can no longer speak of a [typical] holiday destination," Marušić said.

Namely, while visiting Croatia's southernmost city, guests are mostly attracted to new experiences, gastronomy and cultural sights, as well as swimming, local portal Dubrovački vjesnik writes.

According to the survey's data, the average daily spending of stationary guests staying in Dubrovnik is 170 euros, of which about half or 87 euros refers to accommodation, food and drink outside the accommodation facility accounts for 43 euros, culture and entertainment accounts for 14 euros, purchases account for 11 euros, etc.

The biggest spenders are from non European, more distant countries, topped quite unsurprisingly by the Americans, followed by tourists from Australia and from various Asian countries. Two thirds of Dubrovnik's stationary guests arrive in Dubrovnik with their partner, and 86 percent of them who visit the city are doing so for the very first time.

Research has shown that Croatia's long-standing tourism Mecca is a distinct airport destination as more than 85 percent of the respondents arrived by air. As many as 70 percent of the southern Dalmatian city's guests stay from four to seven days.

The city's visitors are most pleased with the beauty of the city, the levels of safety and security, the hospitality, and the typically high quality of the provided accommodation. They are least satisfied, however, with local transportation, shopping opportunities and the intolerable crowding and traffic in public places and on the city's numerous beaches.

The survey also included visitors who arrived in Dubrovnik on a cruise ship and shows that they are on average 49 years old and spend on average 51 euros per day. The most extravagant among them are once again Americans, and the most frugal are our neighbours from across the Adriatic, the Italians.

As many as 92 percent of the tourists asked were visiting Dubrovnik for the very first time, discouragingly, they are mostly ''one-day visitors'' and remain in Dubrovnik for a mere five and a half hours. Most often, they visit sights and eat at restaurants, and these guests are by far the least satisfied with the shopping opportunities and the total lack of organisation of the traffic and the huge crowds.

Make sure to follow our dedicated lifestyle and travel pages for much more. If it's just Dubrovnik you're interested in, give Total Dubrovnik a follow.

The Croatian National Tourist Board, in cooperation with the Slovenian Tourist Organization and with the financial support of the European Tourist Board, organizes two business workshops titled "Experience Croatia, Feel Slovenia" in China, reports HRTurizam on March 26, 2019. 

The workshops are intended for representatives of Chinese tour operators and agencies. The first workshop was held on Tuesday in Beijing, while the other will be held on Thursday, March 28 in Shanghai.

"We are pleased to have Ctrip, the largest Chinese online agency at this year's workshops, and one of the largest in the world. There is also the presence of Qunar, the leading Chinese travel search engine as well as the Mafengwo and Qyer platform, the largest Chinese online platform through which young Chinese share their impressions of travel through photos, video clips and notes, which certainly contributes to strengthening awareness of the destination's image,” said Franka Gulin, the director of the HTZ Representative Office in China, who added that Croatia’s excellent position was also confirmed by the great interest of the Chinese media that followed the workshop, including China Media Group, China Daily, CCTV, Lonely Planet China, Sina Travel, Sina Fashion and others.

In addition to the workshop, there is also a rich supplementary program, which includes a special light show and the delineation of six Croatian tourist destinations and locations including Zagreb, Dubrovnik, Opatija, Pula, Kornati, and NP Plitvice Lakes. For the Chinese participants, they prepared a prize game with two wagers per workshop, including a return ticket and overnight stays in Zagreb, Dubrovnik, and Šibenik, as well as tickets for NP Plitvice Lakes.

Twelve Croatian entities participated in Beijing, while 11 of them will be present at the Shanghai workshop, including the Dubrovnik-Neretva, Lika-Senj, and Šibenik-Knin County tourist boards, as well as Northern Sunshine Farms d.o.o., Amathus Travel, Greatline, G2 Travel Croatia, Limea Travel Zagreb, Dnevnik putovanja, Ilirija d.d. and A.T.I. d.o.o.

In 2018, Chinese tourists made up 234,118 arrivals and 345,293 overnight stays in Croatia, representing a growth of 46 percent in 2018, while 2019 projections show more than 300,000 arrivals and more than 430,000 overnight stays from the Chinese market.

"The good news of Chinese partners from the Beijing workshop shows that our activities directed at the Chinese market are producing results and that we are expecting a very successful tourist year from this market, during which we will keep high growth rates of tourist traffic. Also, we are extremely pleased to see that the representatives of luxury travel agency agencies attended the workshop, which confirms the breadth and attractiveness of our offer,” said Croatian Tourist Board Director Kristjan Staničić.

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

The local politicians (county councilors) of Split-Dalmatia County have analyzed the past tourist season and discussed preparations for the season ahead. All in all, they are happy with the number of arrivals and overnight stays, but warn against the negative side of sudden tourist development, reports Dalmacija Danas on March 26, 2019. 

“In Dalmatia, we have a growth in tourism, increasing demand for local food, and people are leaving us from Zagora, Slavonia. Sinj is the center of Dalmatia, connecting it to the highway would be important, and therefore Split-Dalmatia County must insist on traffic verticals. We have to make sure that at our restaurants, ethnic cuisine is not ordered, but local cuisine. Fields have to be irrigated. We no longer have lambs; now we only have them in the elections. We have to encourage livestock farming and be cautious, as my colleague Bačić said. We import frozen lamb from Romania and New Zealand. Let's not fool around with the shepherds. The meadows are empty. Weeds are growing in the Sinj field. We will applaud it when it is resolved. It is good to grow tourism, but we produce very little. To produce only for tourism purposes, Zagora would be full of flocks and cultivated fields. We produce food, encourage shepherds and cattle. At that point, the cry will be heard in the birthplaces in Zagora, not at the bus stations,” said MOST’s Miro Bulj.

Danica Baričević from HDZ said that there are more and more flights in Dalmatia every year. 

“At the fair, the county presented the coast, the islands, and Zagora. They presented Dalmatian flavors, from cheese to prosciutto. We are the only county in the Republic of Croatia that recognizes all the efforts of private renters and co-finances it, especially in Zagora. It is my pleasure to return to the roots in this tourist story. The maritime department and tourism department is planning well, and we are doing projects like Hidden Habits which recognizes our natural heritage in Dugopolje, Split, Mosor and Kaštela. We need sustainable tourism. It is located in the tourist infrastructure, especially Zagora. More and more guests are returning from Western countries. In 2019, our Zagora became a place for pleasant and safe living. The analysis is excellent and the results are to be praised. We want this season to be even more successful.” 

SDP’s Damir Krstinić said that tourism is holding up the state, but there are also negatives.

“It's aggressive towards resources, especially nature. It burdens the infrastructure. Almost all our places along the coast and on the islands have an unresolved issue of fecal water. Tourism changes the structure of society; in particular, it means that somebody may be chasing you off of your "own" beach because you will not rent a lounger. Due to all this, the price of subsistence is very high and the students are begging to leave their apartments by June 1. Short-term rent is promoted which brings much less revenue. Tourism is a good servant, but it can become a bad master. We have to be careful not to lose control over tourism.”

Milija Baldić-Lukšić (MOST) emphasized that Kaštela celebrated 110 years of tourism.

“The first hotel in Kaštela, the Palace, is still fresh. It is photographed by tourists who send photos on their mobile phones. How to improve our county's offer and turn it into the best destination? I want the consumption of tourists in the county to be bigger than it is now. It is imperative that we use our own products, cultural and historical goods more. As for the number of tourist overnights - in Seget, the number is growing, in Solin this number is low. We have the offer, but it should be coupled with the preservation of the environment so that tourists can recognize us by ecology, sea, and gastronomy. It's not good that everything goes by figures, it should also be about quality. The number of apartments is increasing, and the prices are falling.”

Natalija Rajčić from the Pametno party spoke about the issue of waste generated during the season.

“Marketing is good, but there are no words about problems like semi-permeable septic tanks, etc. Let's take more account of what the guests are not content with.”

Mate Rebić (MOST) said that tourism is the strongest branch of the county. 

“I think tourism is the most important in economic terms. While it increases, there is an increasing pressure on space and the problem of sustainable tourism development comes to the fore and it is increasingly in the public's focus. Last year, the Institute of Tourism developed a Study of Capacity. Recall, there are several major constraints on tourism development. There is the problem of waste disposal, drainage, roads, parking places, and overburdening the electrical network. If we want the growth rates of tourism to be bigger, we will need to be serious about it. In parts of the county where there is a higher pressure of tourism, there is a greater degree of irritation on the local population.”

The director of the Split-Dalmatia County Tourist Board, Joško Stella, said that the capacity study is significant because the county has received this analysis, whereas, for example, Dubrovnik or Barcelona do not have it. 

“It is not a goal to raise capacities so that we have no one to work. This is an analysis of the tourist season, not tourism. As far as measures are the same every year, the result is that the season is constantly extended. Flights are now operating until November. I am not saying that we have to have an entire tourist year, but that the season is sustainable. The beauties must be preserved for the generations to come.”

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

T.portal reports on March 22, 2019, that Croatia is currently recording 14 percent more tourists and about seven percent more overnight stays than in the same period last year. The first results show that the Croatian preseason will be good and that we are preparing for a quality tourist year, Tourism Minister Gari Cappelli pointed out in Vinkovci on Friday.

"I think we are prepared for a quality tourist year, and we expect figures equal to last year's or one to two percent growth,” Cappelli said about preparing for the upcoming season at a meeting with representatives of the tourism and related sectors.

Cappelli also said that even though tourism is returning to some countries in the Mediterranean, such as Turkey, Tunisia, and others, Croatian tourism will not be jeopardized, and that late bookings this year is noticeable for all tourist countries.

The tourism minister emphasized that this year, more attention is paid to tourism in the continental part of the country, especially in Slavonia where the Days of Croatian Tourism will be held in the autumn.

"When it comes to the Slavonia project, the first assessment says that we will invest 575 million kuna in tourism projects in five Slavonian counties. Nineteen million euro was also given for the tourist development of Slavonia from European funds and the first grant from these sources was already allocated,” Cappelli said.

The director of the Croatian Tourist Board (HTZ), Kristjan Staničić, pointed out that HTZ approved an additional 10 million kuna for the promotion and marketing in 12 markets.

“As part of its activities, HTZ is also conducting the promotion of continental tourism, and in Vinkovci, we are coordinating with the Slavonia cluster, in which there are five Slavonian counties. It was agreed, among other things, to create a new tourist brochure, fair appearances and joint campaigns for the pre and postseason,” Staničić said, adding that a strategy for the development of tourism in Slavonia will also be worked out.

According to all surveys, security is the second most crucial factor in the selection of a tourist destination, said Deputy Chief of Police Željko Prša in Vinkovci.

He also assessed that last year's security in Croatia was high and reminded that the MUP formed the Headquarters for the implementation of security measures in Zadar, which coordinated all activities with competent bodies and services.

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

Minister of Tourism Gari Cappelli was a guest on the HRT show 'Now the Government'. As expected, before the beginning of spring, there is a lot of talk about the upcoming tourist season, reports T.portal on March 20, 2019. 

Last week, reduced bookings for Croatia were announced, and those that panicked declared that the season would fail.

“Tourists reserve accommodation later, and we have to get used to it. There will be bookings in April and May. As for the preseason, we have about 13 percent more tourists and about 9 percent more overnight stays. Current predictions speak of a small minus in the peak season, but in the end, it should be at the level of last year's results,” says Tourism Minister Gari Cappelli, adding that new markets are opening up.

The US and China have double-digit growth in the number of tourists in Croatia. The British market began to grow, though it undoubtedly slowed down after Brexit announcements. Minuses can be seen in countries such as Spain, France or Portugal, which are essential destinations for British tourists. At the same time, the minister of tourism claims that the growth of British bookings in Croatia is 3 to 5 percent.

As for other traditional markets, everything is under control.

"Italy and Austria are somewhere in the middle, Slovenia has a slight growth, Germany was a bit in the minus, but we expect things to straighten out. Russia again has made a huge step forward, and has grown about 20 percent."

Easter this year falls on April 21, which is often an indicator of how the season will continue. Cappelli says a 10 percent increase is expected as many will enjoy Easter until May 1, which could be an “outstanding two weeks”. 

Some legal changes related to tourism have also been announced, and membership fees, sojourn tax and the system of tourist boards will be discussed. The counties will discuss the increase in the sojourn tax in the future, and the minister believes that they will have some significant breakthroughs. 

"We will determine the minimum and maximum sojourn tax in the rulebook, but the final decision will be made by the counties. We also want to set up the Croatian Tourist Board as a promotion agency, for example, like Italy, Austria or Portugal did a few years ago.”

In Dubrovnik, a sojourn tax for cruisers will be introduced by a new law. Similarly, it could happen in Zadar, Split, and other major cities. 

Cappelli added that private renters have flooded the market and account for 60% of the total accommodation capacities in Croatia.

“The problem is that more than 70 percent are apartments and rooms with three stars. We intended to equate quality. The market will regulate the surplus of apartments, and the loans offered are to give renters an opportunity to raise their quality. Already last season showed that there was a surplus and it is a warning that we should not continue to register new apartments and private facilities, but to upgrade them."

Investments in tourism in recent years grew by 40 percent. There are several large facilities, and there are significant investments in camping tourism. Croatia lacks large hotel chains and larger hotel capacities. We have ten percent less than what we should, Cappelli added.

"We will continue having this problem because the tourist season has been extended. We also have the first direct line between Philadelphia - Dubrovnik, three times a week. We have realized the possibility that objects can be opened a month to a month and a half earlier, and that some work until the New Year. We must send a message that we are no longer a seasonal destination.” 

Cappelli added that funds had been invested in additional medical teams on the coast.

“Next year, we should introduce a helicopter service, and build six new ships for transporting patients. There's a lot of work here, but a lot of progress has been made. They all understood that they must be in the service of tourism,” the minister concluded.

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

Traditional food, historical sites, and the Dalmatian ‘fjaka’ mentality and culture are, according to foreign tour operators, the most important things that bring tourists to Dalmatia, reports Splitski Dnevnik on March 13, 2019. 

While the Ministry of Tourism considers increasing the quota of workers from the Philippines this year and restaurants serve modern dishes, finger food, and pizza, visitors actually want to experience the authentic Dalmatian konoba, ‘fjaka’, and the colors, smells and tastes of the Adriatic.

"Croatia is an absolutely beautiful country, the people and food are wonderful, it's hard to say that you are better than Italy, but you are very close. In Croatia, there are many beautiful sites, and most of our clients appreciate the authenticity of both nature and culture. This is exactly what you need to preserve for the future and keep an eye on not bringing too many guests, but rather concentrate on better quality guests and those with higher spending power,” said Anna Rostron, a representative of an Italian tour operator, who, together with her colleagues from 12 countries, discussed how to attract new guests to Dalmatia with higher spending power at an international conference and business workshop in Split.

Along with representatives of the tourism sector, more than 40 tour operators and representatives of agencies from the United States, Great Britain, France, Italy, Hungary, Sweden, Poland, Germany, Spain, Russia, and Croatia participated.

"Ireland is very similar to Dalmatia, especially in understanding what customers want. You have a lot of potentials, the Irish people here feel at home,” said Sheni Renan, a representative of a tour operator from Ireland, and admits that the only unpleasant surprise in Split was the bura.

The dispersion of tourism before and after the season is the primary job of the Ministry of Tourism in the next period, and a way to make this happen is in the development of health tourism.

"There is no concern for Croatian tourism while we are working on quality and are trying to develop specific forms of tourism which are our sole guarantor for development before and after the season. Research has shown that the sun and sea are still the main reason for tourist arrivals to our destination, but some other motives are certainly appearing to attract tourists with higher spending power,” says Monika Udovičić, Assistant Minister of Tourism, adding that the Strategy for Tourism Development defines specific forms of tourism which would be more competitive than others.

"There are more of them, and the main focus will be on the development of congress tourism, which does not depend on the sun or the sea, and there is also health tourism. The Ministry has agreed to amend the two laws to develop this kind of tourism in Croatia. They allow health facilities to provide health tourism services. We must mention that active holidays are very popular. Split-Dalmatia County has all this and has great potential. It is necessary to work on improving accommodation capacities, but I think we are heading in the right direction."

And guests with higher spending power generally expect several-day arrangements that are generally booked before arriving at the destination.

"The Holy Scripture of all tourism is the motive of arrivals, and if the heart of the season is excluded, where the main motive is the sun and the sea, we must do our best to attract these kinds of guests. We can do this through the better organization of offers and better quality events in destinations, and along with that, effort, engagement and promotion in the pre and postseason so that the destinations live throughout the year,” says Boris Žgomba, President of the European Association of Travel Agencies and Tour Operators.

Cycling tourism, adrenaline, ethno-gastronomic tourism, and cultural tourism are all offers that will bring guests away from the heart of the season. It's not enough, says Žgomba, but we have to start somewhere. 

"Guests of higher spending power or better quality will come only if we have a quality offer. The offer in March and April must be that active and proactive vacation; there must be something that will attract them because the hotels and the destination are not enough. The accommodation we offer satisfies this kind of guest, it is quality and fine, but we need to concentrate on this bigger part of the job that is going on outside the hotel. They mostly search for programs that are directly related to the guest and created specifically for them, not typified, as we had for years in mass tourism programs. Whether it's gastronomic or cultural tourism, archeology, we have all these potentials. We are too often shy about it because we think that this will not be interesting to anyone, but guests are looking for exactly that.”

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

The third edition of the 3T conference took placeon March the 12th in the Kaptol Boutique Cinema with various topics related to tourism and technology.

This the confirmed connection of tourism as the most important industry in Croatia and technology as a great support to tourism. The conference's director, Oleg Maštruko, opened the conference and pointed out the high share of tourism in Croatia's BDP. He emphasised that this and the digitalisation of services shouldn't be self-serving, but act as a tool to increase the efficiency and profitability of tourism and other sectors.

He said the framework for this years' conference was partly developed from topics covered in the previous two conferences.

The keynote speaker, Miikka Rosendahl, from the leading VR studio in Europe - ZOAN, presented to the audience how Helsinki got to be the European Capital of Smart Tourism and how they built the virtual platform for Helsinki. This virtual platform plans to attract at least a million virtual tourists in 2019. This complex project was realised by using different technology solutions through 3D modelling. VR Helsinki is made to be the digital platform with which visitors can tour Helsinki not just in the actual surroundings, but experience the city from the beginning of the 20th century, buy designer Finnish products, or send them to friends.

It also allows users to meet other virtual tourists from all over the world and enables them to explore Helsinki together.

The company works closely with many tourism stakeholders in Finland such as Finnair, and the plan is to fully launch in 2019. The question for conference participants at the end of the lecture was which locations should be virtualised in Croatia, and what and where exactly would be the most attractive locations for virtual tourists to visit.

The second keynote speaker was Natalija Havidić from the Ministry of Tourism, and she presented the digitalisation project for public services in the tourism sector as part of e-Croatia 2020 project.

The plan is to develop public digital services by the end of 2020 and improve and connect services in the central tourist database, as well as improve the e-visitor system and the website Croatia.hr, as well as other e-services. All the data collected would be used for business intelligence in tourism and other related services.

Ilija Brajković from Kontra moderated the panel entitled “Smart marketing in tourism – what really generates bookings". The participants were Analytics Lead from Bruketa&Žinić&Grey, Robert Petković, Head of Digital Marketing for Maistra Petar Milevoj, Internet Marketing Manager of Hotel Dubrovnik, Tomislav Kosir and Martina Srnec, Head of Marketing Department from the Croatian tourist board (HTZ).

All of the present panellists agreed that most important thing in planning marketing activities in tourism is to choose a quality promotional ''mix'' which aims at all important markets, as well as the continuous need for research into the desires of potential guests in order to provide as much information as possible. They emphasised the importance of having a great website for a product or service in tourism. and the importance of choosing suitable social networks which act as a good support for such promotional mixes. They agreed that word of mouth always beats other promotional efforts, therefore a good product and excellent service will always pay off.

The second part of the conference was traditionally split into three areas with main topics – technology, marketing and experiences. Questions about digitalisation in tourism, various booking platforms and digital solutions for payments, virtual reality in services and different IT solutions were covered by experts from Hrvatski Telekom (Croatian Telecom), Combis, Auka, Ericsson Nikola Tesla, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Lemax, SedamIt, Spotsie and other such participating companies.

In the afternoon, there was another panel in which the topic "Croatian tourism in new technology surrounding – Growth limits" with moderator Željko Ivanković, from the Polazišta i perspektive think tank, was discussed.

The participants were Martina Nimac from the Croatian Chamber of Commerce, Neven Ivandić, from the Institute of Tourism, and Petar Rimac from the Expedia Group. Neven Ivandić presented the results of the research on some of the key issues of the sustainability of Croatian tourism and pointed out problems that come with the growth of tourism. The panellists debated on trends in other tourism destinations, like the shift from small family businesses to resorts, and adapting to the needs of tourists with digital solutions.

This years' 3T conference brought about new topics, interesting lectures and offered suggestions on how to deal with constant changes in tourism. The 3T conference is slowly building its brand, and it may well be the one in Croatia that helps tourism businesses to find appropriate solutions for their business processes along with the use of technology.

Croatian tourism continues to boom throughout the warm summer months, with visitors from across the globe descending not only on some of the country's most popular coastal destinations like Dubrovnik and Split, but further afield to hidden gems located in the rolling hills of the continental parts of the country, including but not limited to Zagreb, but gradually stretching all the way over to overlooked Eastern Croatia.

The more money a sector generates, the more loopholes can be found. The more complicated an industry becomes, the more clauses can be discovered by those who perhaps don't intend to use the system, but rather attempt to cheat it. 

From not registering guests staying in your privately owned accommodation facilities, to not registering said facilities with the appropriate authorities and the tax office, all the way to playing taxi and raking in thousands, there have always been those wanting to get as much as possible out of Croatian tourism and the hustle and bustle of the summer season, without having to jump through any of the burdensome hoops licensed entities have to. Could a new law on its way next month put a stop to that ''tradition''? Maybe.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 8th of March, 2019, the purpose of the upcoming legal changes, as was argued in the competent ministry, is not aimed at punishing people but rather at attempting to raise the overall quality of the tourist services provided. Unregistered activity, or work in so-called grey zone - is considered to be Croatian tourism's very personal plague. However, the new law, which comes into force on April the 1st, should change that.

All contained in one unified service, as it once used to be, there are seventeen types of inspections which have been operating within eight different ministries so far. Come April, any inspector will be able to record so called ''rad na crno'' (working on the black/unregistered) and issue an oral ban on the spot right there and then.

The Croatian Government considers that the consolidation of such types of inspections, or perhaps more correctly the re-establishing of an independent state inspectorate, will be much more efficient and functional. When it comes to Croatian tourism, it will enable a clearer and more concrete fight against the apparent ''plague'' of the black and grey economy.

''Now, aside from tourist inspectors, all inspectors have the right not only to deal with unregistered facilities but also those who are suspected of being unregistered,'' explained Tonči Glavina, State Secretary at the Ministry of Tourism, for HTV.

As stated, the government has claimed that the new law is not aimed purely at seeking out people to make examples of and punish, but rather to create a better environment in Croatian tourism for all. They claim that many people involved in this business need to be educated. They are not well acquainted with the laws, regulations, procedures, and therefore it is education that is missing, and not just control.

Make sure to follow our dedicated lifestyle, politics and business pages for much more.