In foreign markets last month, the results of tourist bookings in Croatia for all of 2019 were weaker than expected due to slowed down or reduced demand, but also from the increasing number of competitors in the Mediterranean. Thus, the Croatian tourism sector will have to put in more efforts to get the results this year, reports Poslovni.hr on March 2, 2019. 

President of the Association of travel agencies at the Croatian Chamber of Economy, and the president of the management board of tourist company Uniline, Boris Žgomba, added that the information on reduced bookings this time of the year is from virtually all channels and from many of their Croatian and foreign partners.

"There has been a reduction in foreign demand, which could be seen already in the summertime when there are empty capacities. It was then clear that the dynamic overhead we had from 2016 to 2018 will not last forever. I am sure that many in the Croatian tourism sector are aware of this and are working on adjustments,” Žgomba said to Hina.

The current lower demand for domestic and foreign travel agencies and tour operators, means that they will have to invest in additional marketing and promotional activities to fill in their programs, almost immediately, because in Croatia, they account for about 70 percent of the total pre and post-season tourism , which largely depends on their total annual business results.

"By selectively looking at the tourism segment, some of the hotel capacities are now poorly filled for all of 2019, with the fact that the backlog of the previous bookings in hotels compared to the same period last year was lower than in private accommodation and camps. It is important to note that all this is not another reason for panic, because the time of more intense foreign bookings is on the way, but it is very likely that this year will be more ‘last minute’ and we will have to fight for every guest,” says Žgomba.

He points out that such trends do not only apply to Croatia, but also many other destinations in the world. Žgomba added that it is caused by the increased supply of competitive capacities in the Mediterranean, their more intense marketing efforts followed by significant price advantages, and partly the recession in some European countries. Europe’s demand for shorter and longer vacations is being redirected to other destinations, such as Turkey, Greece, North African countries and their own countries.

Due to all this, Žgomba believes that more needs to be done this year in terms of tourism promotion at the national level, and it is good that the Croatian National Tourist Board recently raised 10 million kuna for marketing and PR activities in 16 markets, because, as he says, “it is not time to wait, but for prompt actions".

Important campaigns are also targeted through social networks and all other channels and communication platforms for all periods of the tourist year, and Žgomba believes that it is necessary to continue opening regular and charter flights and introduce other combined measures.

Regarding the dynamics of sales, which, as well as the price depends on the policy of each individual subject, Žgomba thinks that the prices should be mindful, but that lowering them is not a solution. Instead, it should be about what value we give for the money and whether we have customers at all.

"I consider it a key factor - and not that domestic tourism is viewed exclusively through the prism of price, which is only one of the factors of competitiveness. Tourists to Croatia do not come only because of low or high prices, but because they get adequate value for their money and I am convinced we are globally competitive here,” said Žgomba. 

Žgomba, therefore, expects that in the foreseeable future, certain price corrections may be made. He added that it is high time to reduce the VAT rate in tourism to the level of competitive Mediterranean destinations and to adequately regulate the special procedure of taxation of tourist agencies, which still puts them in an inequitable cost market position.

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

The stand of the Croatian National Tourist Board (HTZ) with its 24 exhibitors is the largest at this year's Munich Tourism Fair, with the tourism potential of both Zagreb and Slavonia having special emphasis placed on them. Gari Cappelli believes that continental tourism is the future for Croatia's tourism offer.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 21st of February, 2019, through the variety of Croatian snacks prepared by famous Croatian chefs, master chef Branko Ognjenović and the chef of the Croatian football team, Tomica Đukić, numerous visitors to the International Tourism Fair f.re.e 2019 - which, as we reported recently, is being held in Munich, Germany, from the 20th to the 24th of February this year, had the opportunity to get better acquainted with the gastronomic offer of Slavonia and the City of Zagreb yesterday at the stand of the Croatian Tourist Board.

The Slavonian gastro scene showcased Ilok cellars (Iločki podrumi), Kutjevo, Belje, Brzica and Feravino. The promotion of Croatian tourism also includes some of the legends of FC Bayern - Slavonia native Ivica Olić, Giovani Elber, and Andreas Jung.

The f.re.e. tourist fair is otherwise the largest and most visited tourist fair in Bavaria, stretching to over 88,000 square metres, and this year, boasting as many as 1,300 exhibitors from 70 countries across the world, it is bigger than ever before.

The Croatian Tourist Board's stand, with its 24 exhibitors, was the biggest at the fair. Unlike in previous years when Croatia promoted its popular destinations on the coast mostly, this year the often overlooked Croatian continent, more specifically the capital of Zagreb and the Eastern region of Slavonia, which both have a lot to offer to tourists, are taking the limelight. The promotion of Slavonia as a desirable tourist destination is an excellent move for the Days of Croatian Tourism, which is set to be held on 4th to 9th October in the Slavonian region of Osijek.

Croatian Minister of Tourism Gari Cappelli, and Director of the Croatian Tourist Board Kristijan Stančić participated in the presentation of the Croatian tourist offer along with the director of the Zagreb Tourist Board, Martina Bienefeld, Osijek-Baranja County Prefect Ivan Anušić and the domestic manager of the tour operator for Croatia, Selimir Ognjenović.

''Of the three million tourists coming to Croatia from Germany, 1.2 million of them come from Bavaria. So I can say that the Munich Fair is always some sort of indication for us to know what's going to happen this year in regard to tourism. The Germans are the type who appreciate the quality of Croatian tourism, because when those three million tourists return home to Germany, there's a lot to talk about.

Interestingly, we're not presenting the coast but the continent, because I think that's the future through health tourism, special forms of tourism, hunting, fishing, cyclotourism...'' Gari Capelli told Poslovni Dnevnik.

Nera Miličić, head of HTZ in Germany, says that there is a sense of pride in announcing the expansion of the Croatian tourist offer with "The most beautiful Croatian tourist secret" - Slavonia, and the triple winner of the most beautiful European advent - the Croatian capital city of Zagreb.

''We're especially delighted to have organised the largest presentation of the Croatian continent in Bavaria with our partners so far,'' noted Miličić.

''Given that for Croatian tourism, Germany is the emitive market from which we have the largest tourist turnover, we've created a rich and original event program at the Croatian stand that is attracting the attention of numerous visitors.

This is also the confirmation of a well-founded cooperation with FC Bayern Munich which gives us additional promotional value on the Bavarian market, where every other German tourist comes to us from,'' commented HTZ director Kristjan Staničić.

As a tourist destination, Croatia is a serious competitor on the German market. During these times of major changes, an increase in the amount of airline passengers from Germany to Croatia has been recorded, which has positioned Croatia among the most competitive destinations, alongside Spain, Turkey, Greece, Portugal, Egypt and Tunisia, countries which many tourists seeking package deals are usually attracted to.

Although Croatia was otherwise perceived as a destination to drive to from Germany, through the country's camping and private accommodation offer, it has also entered into the package holiday segment (hotel, transfer, flight) which is sold through a tour operator network. All in all, the interest of German tourists for Croatia remains very high indeed.

Numerous tour operators are continuing to expand their programs, smaller operators have begun ''selling'' Croatia, and some airlines are continuing to announce new lines.

The Germans are still in the leading position when it comes to the number of overnight stays realised by foreign tourists in the Republic of Croatia. In addition, the largest number of tourists from Germany come from the regions of Nordrhein-Westfalen, Bavaria, and Baden-Württemberg. However, the Germans typically enjoy more family oriented holidays, often bypassing potentially more ''specialised'' types of tourism on offer.

Therefore, the presence of Croatia's more specialised tourist offers at such fairs is crucial to boost the awareness of German tourists to the country's more numerous tourist offers, and in particular to awaken tour operators to Croatia's more luxurious package of arrangements,'' stated Dragan Kovačević, Vice President of Agriculture and Tourism at the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK), who is also representing Croatia's tourist offer in Munich.

Make sure to stay up to date with more on continental tourism, the Croatian Tourist Board and Croatia's various tourist offers by following our dedicated travel and lifestyle pages.

French and Dutch tourists are increasingly making their way to Croatia throughout the year. 

Although Croatia's coastal and continental cooperation has been discussed for years, it has not yet reached a level that would satisfy all the participants of that story. Therefore, a working meeting of the leaders of Vukovar-Srijem and Dubrovnik-Neretva County was held in the Dubrovnik Palace of Ranjina, where they discussed establishing stronger economic cooperation between the land and the sea, i.e., the ”green" and "blue" Croatia, reports Lokalni.Večernji.hr on February 6, 2019. 

It was concluded that there is room for cooperation in the marketing of products from Vukovar-Srijem County to the tourist sector in Dubrovnik-Neretva County. It was announced that the presentation of these products would be organized at the traditional meeting of winemakers with restaurants and hoteliers. The visit of representatives from Slavonian tourist agencies will also be organized in order to explore possible ways of cooperation and overcome the problems of distance, but also the cost of transport. It was agreed that subsidies would be required for a flight between Osijek and Dubrovnik. 

“The main goal of the meeting is to find out what is needed for the hoteliers in the south of Croatia. We want to save our OPGs, so we founded the Agro-Cluster, in cooperation with the County with several municipalities and with the Agricultural Faculty in Osijek and Cooperative 'Vinkovačka šparoga'. This is our first year and we are heading in the right direction. In 10 years we lost 3000 households. We now operate around 6000. We as the County are doing the infrastructure, and we want to know how we can cooperate specifically here,” said Vukovar-Srijem County Prefect Bozo Galić. He added that such cooperation would save many Slavonian family farms and that they could personally guarantee the highest quality of products in the county.

Dubrovnik-Neretva County prefect Nikola Dobroslavić recalled that Croatia's "blue" and "green" cooperation has existed for a long time on several levels, but there is always room for progress. 

“Cooperating is not easy, you have to work hard on it. Every year we deliver mandarins to Vukovar-Srijem County, and they gave us apples this year. This is, of course, all symbolic, but it shows what kind of friendly relations we have,” Dobroslavić said. 

The mayor of the County Department for Tourism and Culture, Marija Budimir, emphasized the wish for Slavonian manifestations and sights to become part of the organized visits created by Dubrovnik-Neretva County tourist agencies.

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

As eZadar writes on the 27th of January, 2019, at the ITF Slovakiatour 2019, the largest Slovak holiday and leisure fair which is currently marking 25 years of existence, the Vir Tourism tourist agency set up a stand with gifts for visitors to the fair, and held a presentation of the Croatian island in which the hall was filled to maximum capacity.

''We did a good job presenting the island and its tourist offer, and after the presentation there was quite a lot of interest in Vir. Of course, we did business with tour operators, agencies and tourism journalists who were fascinated by the number of Slovaks going on holiday to the island,'' says Srđan Liverić from the aforementioned Vir Tourism agency.

Liverić and the head of the agency, Mate Čulina, carried out most of the work directly with the fair's stand which attracted the attention of not only Slovak travellers and tourists, but also the director of the Croatian Tourist Board for the Czech Republic and Slovakia, Dubravko Miholić, who joined the Vir locals a week earlier at a similar fair in in Brno, Czech Republic.

The Slovak part of Vir's tourism promotion was held from January the 24th to the 27th, with a presentation in Bratislava, the participation of numerous representatives of the Slovakian media, investors and business partners of Vir's destination companies. As a travel and leisure fair, ITF Slovakiatour is one of the leading trade fairs in Slovakia for the tourism and hospitality sector.

Slovakiatour is an excellent opportunity to present tourism products and services, and all visitors can get information from tour operators, travel agencies, hoteliers and airlines so that they can organise their own holiday plans. Exhibitors like Vir Tourism used the fair to interact with potential buyers of services and other representatives of the tourism industry.

''This jubilee 25th ITF Slovakiatour was the most visited so far, and as the only Croatian promotion booth, all the attention of the Slovaks interested in spending their summer holidays in Croatia was directed towards us,'' stated Liverić, reporting on a good job well done in Bratislava.

This year's ITF Slovakiatour brought together 350 exhibitors from many countries from across the world, from Croatia, the Czech Republic, Cyprus, China and the Dominican Republic to Iran, Kenya, Cuba, Austria, Italy, Morocco and many others.

The numbers speak volumes about the significance of the Slovak tourist market for Vir island. Slovaks made up 12,833 tourist arrivals and 108,612 overnight stays, representing a growth of 19.5 percent (10.742 in 2017) in arrivals and 18 percent in nights (92.049).

Along with Slovenes, Hungarians and Germans, only the Slovaks made up more than 100,000 overnight stays and 10,000 arrivals last year, with continuous tourist growth from that market for Vir.

Follow our dedicated travel page for more.

Click here for the original article by Kazimir Skrbic for eZadar

ZAGREB, January 26, 2019 - Environmental Protection and Energy Minister Tomislav Ćorić said in Split on Friday the planned exploration of hydrocarbons in the Dinaric Alps would not affect the development of Croatian tourism.

"Such exploration should not and there's no reason for it to harm tourism," he said responding to questions from the press.

He met with representatives of Šibenik-Knin, Zadar, Lika-Senj and Karlovac countries in Šibenik on Thursday, when it was officially announced that a public tender will be advertised soon for licences for oil and gas exploration in the Dinarides.

Ćorić said initial exploration and exploitation in the first stage, "which isn't invasive at all, lasts five to seven years" and that "the whole process will include clear communication with local communities."

He said some local communities did not want such exploration because they wanted to develop rural tourism, yet that there were others which, "after the preliminary findings, would certainly assess that exploration makes sense."

Ćorić's ministry said yesterday local government "has the biggest direct benefit from hydrocarbon exploration."

More news on the environmental protection in Croatia can be found in the Lifestyle section.

Croatia and Croatian tourism have been awarded at the prestigious American travel awards, the ‘Travvy Awards’, held at Gotham Hall in New York City. 

Namely, Croatia won the silver in the category of the best European destination and bronze in the category of the world's best destination, while the Croatian National Tourist Board won the silver in the category of the best European tourist organization, HTZ reported on January 24, 2019. 

The awards were accepted by Croatian National Tourist Board Director, Kristjan Staničić.

“What the Academy Awards are for film and the film industry the Travvy Awards are in the world of tourism industry! This is exceptional news for the entire Croatian tourism sector as it is confirmation of the popularity and the excellent position our country enjoys on this extremely large and important market that is not easy to win. The awards belong to all Croatian tourists who, with much effort and love from year to year, raise the quality of services and content of Croatian tourism. I am particularly proud of the silver in the category of the best European tourist organization because this award confirms that the Croatian National Tourist Board is carrying out creative and innovative promotional activities recognized by American professionals. Namely, acknowledgments are even more important when you consider the fact that they are granted solely on the basis of the votes of US tour operators and travel agents, that is, by the profession. Our goal is to further strengthen Croatia's market position through the implementation of key promotional activities which will ensure the retention of the growth trends from America, which is the market where we have the largest tourist turnover when it comes to far-away countries,” said Staničić at the awards ceremony.

Marijana Marinović

In the category for the best European destination, Greece won the gold and England the bronze. In the category of the world's best destinations, Australia won the gold, Barbados the silver, and Croatia the bronze, while in the category for the best European tourist organization, Switzerland won the gold and Croatia (HTZ) the silver.

The Travvy Awards are presented annually within the organization of travAlliancemedia to highlight the best examples of excellence and achievements in the tourism industry and are awarded to various stakeholders such as national tourist organizations, destinations, travel agents, products, and more. This year, the awards were given on the basis of more of 120,000 votes which represents the largest base of independent American travel agents.

Marijana Marinović

“We are extremely excited to see our work, but also the position of Croatia, recognized by reputable representatives of the US tourism economy. This is a great start for us this year and additional motivation to market Croatia further on the American market. We will continue with the dedicated work in cooperation with colleagues from the Croatian tourism sector, who have made a strong contribution to winning these prestigious awards,” said Ina Rodin, director of the HTZ Representative Office in New York.

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

This year will see the third edition of the 3T - Tourism, Travel and Tech conference. This conference has the goal of connecting tourism and IT professionals, and this year, the main focus of the conference lectures is smart tourism.

The share of tourism in Croatia's GDP is close to 20 percent, which is the highest percentage in the European Union. Tourism and IT are the two fastest growing and successful sectors in Croatia and therefore should collaborate more and use each other's strong points. Tourism should use innovative start up solutions and follow the trend which implements technology's role in travel and vacation. The role of smart tourism is growing and tourism businesses should use it, technology is here to support all of this.

The first keynote speaker is Miikka Rosendahl, who will explain how Helsinki obtained the prestigious title of the Virtual Capital of the World and what Croatian tourist destinations can learn from this practice and experience. The keynote speech will be followed by a panel discussion on the topic “What really generates bookings” which will be moderated by Ilija Brajković.

Finally, another keynote speaker, Natalija Havidić from the Ministry of Tourism will present a digitalistion project for public services in the tourism sector. The conference will see about fifteen other lectures, presentations and discussions.

“Helsinki recently won the European Capital of Smart tourism competition and I’m happy to have the representatives from Helsinki here to let us listen to their experience in using the technology to improve their tourism offer. When we organised the first 3T conference in 2017 in order to connect the IT and tourist sector, it was a bit of a risky move. An excellent response to the first and the second edition of the conference proved we offered professionals and visitors what they wanted. This year will bring various content”, said Oleg Maštruko, director of the 3T conference.

The third 3T conference will take place on March the 12th in the Kaptol Boutique Cinema in Zagreb. Make sure to get your tickets in order to keep up to date with all of the rapidly developing technology trends in tourism.

For more information and tickets, click here.

Make sure to stay up to date with our dedicated lifestyle page for more.

In line with the fact that the Croatian National Tourist Board's budget is facing an increase, the plan is to allocate a hefty amount to strategic promotional campaigns, as well as to joint advertising.

As Marija Crnjak/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 21st of December, 2018, the Croatian National Tourist Board (HTZ) has announced a tender for the selection of PR agencies and media agencies on as many as sixteen different broadcasting markets.

The aforementioned tender launched by the Croatian National Tourist Board for the selection of PR and media agencies will last from December to March.

The total lease budget for all broadcasting markets included in the 2019 tender amounts to more than a massive 42 million kuna, as was decided by the Croatian National Tourist Board's Tourism Council during a recently held session.

As is already well known, there are concrete plans to increase the Croatian National Tourist Board's budget during the coming year, the increase is expected to be one of around 14 percent and will amount to an enormous 331 million kuna, which is a result of the increase of the tourist tax revenue in accordance with the government decree.

Approximately 41 million kuna will be allocated for the implementation of the Croatian National Tourist Board's strategic promotional campaigns across various broadcasting markets, i.e, for strategic cooperation with numerous air carriers and tour operators who have organised programs for Croatia in their packages and offers.

When it comes to joint advertising, as much as 24.6 million kuna will be allocated. After the session of the Tourism Council, the ninth Croatian National Tourist Board parliament session was held, where the aforementioned budget for 2019 was adopted.

Make sure to stay up to date with more information like this by following our dedicated news and lifestyle pages.

Click here for the original article by Marija Crnjak for Poslovni Dnevnik

Greek investor Petros Stathis has been visiting numerous institutions in order to complete the most luxurious tourist project in the Republic of Croatia, Amanresorts Cavtat, in Croatia's southernmost county of Konavle which borders Montenegro.

As Marija Crnjak/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 13th of December, 2018, Greek investor Petros Stathis has re-activated matters over more recent days in regard to the eventual realisation of the Amanresorts project in Cavtat, otherwise being hailed as the most luxurious tourist project in the whole of Croatia, which could even end up making the list of strategic projects in the Republic of Croatia, which would be a useful move in terms of resolving the outstanding issues of spatial planning, among others, as soon as possible.

As a result of the large amount of paperwork involved in the process, the aforementioned investor has been heavily engaged in all of the required fields, from the state administration to the local administration, as Poslovni Dnevnik has unofficially published. The reactivation of the Amanresorts Cavtat project comes after more than three years after Amanresorts Cavtat was supposed to open its doors, but unfortunately encountered several stumbling blocks, mainly typically administrative ones, although Stathis never once gave up on it.

"I'm convinced that the Amanresorts Cavtat project will be successfully completed, and together with other Aman projects in the vicinity, Amanresorts Venice and Sveti Stefan (Montenegro), will become the star of the tourist sector of South East Europe," said Petros Stathis in the spring of 2015, when he explained why he was suddenly closing the Cavtat construction site.

He then stated that there were problems with the Bonvena Hotels company which was due to take care of the Cavtat project, which Stathis took over in the meantime, and that the entire chain of Amanresorts luxury resorts had gone through the process of ownership change.

For the realisation of the project, the investor is supposed to adapt the spatial planning documentation, and it's necessary to reach an agreement on various other factors, considering that the investor is seeking the closure of the beach below the area with his 30 million euro project.

The Municipality of Konavle didn't respond to Poslovni Dnevnik's question of what exactly they are willing, or unwilling, to offer to the investor in order to realise the Amanresorts Cavtat project. In addition, not even the investor himself, who has been investing in Montenegro in the meantime, has spoken publicly on the subject.

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

Click here for the original article by Marija Crnjak for Poslovni Dnevnik