May 26, 2020 - Croatian travel info is become clearer, and now a concrete answer to one of the most confusing issues - what kind of booking confirmation do you need to cross the border?

It has been a really interesting experience over the last two weeks seeing how the quality of travel information is evolving in these chaotic times. 

Our trip to the main Bregana border between Croatia and Slovenia on May 17 was an eye-opener. I was very impressed with the efficiency of MUP, as well as more than a little shocked that Slovenian tourists were arriving for a holiday, but then not being allowed into Croatia as they could not prove a reservation. The policy of no reservation, no entry made sense, but the fact that tourists were arriving without the reservation meant that the information was not being transmitted effectively.  

For the latest travel info, bookmark our main travel info article, which is updated daily. 

Join the Total Croatia Travel INFO Viber community.

Since then, the information has improved considerably (and if you join the Total Croatia Travel INFO Viber community on the link above, you can get your questions answered by the community), but one issue which was still confusing a lot of people was what exactly did a booking confirmation constitute, and what did they need to bring to the border?

The process at the border was also painfully slow. The border police not only checked the passports, but then manually had to enter the data of the reservation. This meant that each car was taking 5-8 minutes to pass. 

Thankfully this is only a temporary measure, and I understand that an online pre-arrival check-in option is being worked on.  

And this very helpful bi-lingual form is now available. My advice is to print it off, then fill in all passenger names and details before arrival and then present it with your passport. This should reduce the border waiting experience and move things along much quicker. Once the online system comes, things will be quicker still.  Please note this is not an official form. 

For the latest in Croatian travel, check out the dedicated TCN section. 

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 25th of May, 2020, this season, in order to increase the safety of guests, Valamar is introducing something called the "CleanSpace - 100% privacy" service, which guarantees that key points of contact in rooms and mobile homes are thoroughly cleaned and disinfected, and that no one enters the accommodation unit before the scheduled guest arrives. In addition, the service offers complete privacy in the room throughout the guests' stay with the guarantee that the staff will enter the accommodation unit only at the invitation of the guest themselves.

Valamar Riviera, known as the largest tourist company in Croatia, started opening its tourist facilities once again on May the 22nd, 2020, with the opening of the Lanterna Premium Camping Resort in Poreč and La Pentola restaurant in Rabac. By the end of May, the other twelve Valamar camps will open across Istria and Kvarner. 

The opening of accommodation facilities owned by the tourist giant Valamar is a continuation of the plan to open the tourist season in Croatia, as announced by the Ministry of Tourism and the facilitated border crossing regime in May and June for Slovenia, Austria, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Germany and Poland. After that, it will be possible to open tourism up further to other markets depending on the epidemiological situation as time goes on.

For the past 90 days, Valamar's focus has been on managing the crisis caused by the global COVID-19 epidemic. As such, Valamar's business was successfully "paused", all jobs were preserved and the company was preparing for a restart while the priorities were to provide liquidity until the normalisation of business in 2021. Emphasis was placed on the modification of products and services to increase overall guest safety and accelerate existing digitalisation projects.

In the last 60 days, Valamar has modified its products and accelerated the development of its various digitisation projects to improve the services it can offer for the 2020 tourist season. In 2020, the accommodation capacity of hotels, resorts and camps will be reduced by 20 percent to provide even more space for guests in various areas. The key pieces of innovation that will be implemented at the re-opening of Valamar's numerous facilities are the "V Health & Safety" programme for the safety of guests, the aforementioned "CleanSpace 100% privacy" enhanced system for the cleaning of hotel rooms and mobile homes, the "Valfresco Direkt" online shopping and food delivery services, the "Online reception'' service and the "Bed & Brunch" concept.

V Health & Safety is a comprehensive programme encompassing health, safety and environmental standards, as well as advanced cleaning protocols aimed at further strengthening the hygiene standards that Valamar applies in its facilities. V Health & Safety protocols are harmonised with the safety recommendations of the World Health Organisation, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, and the Croatian Institute of Public Health. From 2020 onwards, every accommodation facility owned by Valamar will have a V Health & Safety manager who is available to guests 24/7 throughout their stay, and should it be necessary, in close cooperation with the Croatian health system, manages the provision of health care for Valamar's guests.

This season, in order to increase the safety of guests, Valamar is introducing the "CleanSpace - 100% privacy" service, which has been detailed above.

As a result of the acceleration of digital development in 2020, the ''Online Reception'' service will be available to all hotel and camp guests. This service enables the check-in and check-out of guests via the Internet, thus simplifying arrival and departure procedures.

Bed & Brunch is a new restaurant concept in the Old Town Holiday and Sunny B&B hotels, which, instead of the classic half board scenario, offers an extended breakfast and brunch that guests can enjoy from 07:00 to 13:00, which gives them even more space and simplifies meals and hotel stays.

As part of the preparations for the restart of Croatian tourism amid the coronavirus pandemic, Valamar has developed a new service called Valfresco Direkt in just 60 days, which will be launched in early June in Istria and will be available to all citizens, tourists and Valamar guests.

Valfresco Direkt will enable the online ordering, purchase and delivery of domestic products directly to Valamar's customers, with special emphasis having been placed on partnerships with Croatian producers and family farms. In addition to a wide range of fresh local products, which are strongly supported by local producers, Valfresco will also offer a selection of ready-made dishes. The project will be premiered in Istria, and then the service will be extended to other Valamar destinations across the Republic of Croatia.

For more, follow our business page.

The tourist turnover for Croatian private renters, at least when judging by the current state of reservations, could be at the level of a mere 30 percent of last year's turnover this season.

As Novac writes on the 25th of May, 2020, as predicted by Nedo Pinezić, the owner of the Quanarius tourism consulting company and provider of household accommodation services in Malinska, the recovery of tourism in Croatia will begin only next year and will be long-lasting.

''Family accommodation is good because we have a lot of loyal guests. There have also been new inquiries, reservations and announcements, and a lot of those arrived from Italy. The will to travel hasn't subsided,'' said the family tourism expert in the show "TNT" which is aired on N1 television.

He added that it would be very helpful for tourism workers to classify European regions into red and green zones, and it is important that tourists know exactly which protocol smust be followed when visiting a particular country. The instructions and recommendations, he says, can never be stressed or made clear enough.

''We receive dozens of emails with the same content in them. Tutorials on YouTube would be very helpful, to illustrate how to prepare accommodation and deal with things after guests' departure. There are a lot of unknowns in this,'' he pointed out.

We must, he says, be ready for the situation of a tourist getting sick, and we must have a clear protocol for dealing with and repairing possible damage. These are questions that are more than likely playing on the minds of Croatian private renters as tourism begins to gradually and cautiously wake up again.

''We all remember the situation with hotel and the cruiser when everyone was quarantined because of a few infected people. I’m not entirely sure we’re aware enough of such a possibility. Such an incident would take us back to the beginning of this whole story, back into the negative zone. Formally, all tourists are covered by an insurance policy. If tourism is important to us, and it is, then we need to talk openly about such issues. People want to know what awaits them,'' concluded Nedo Pinezić.

For more on Croatian private renters, follow our business page.

May 25, 2020 - Following the #CroatiaLongDistanceLove campaign, the Croatian National Tourist Board launched a new communication platform titled 'Enjoy the view from Croatia' to promote Croatian tourism further.

"Welcome to 'Enjoy the view from Croatia', where you can enjoy the countless unique beauties of Croatia in one place. The past months have been challenging. For the sake of each other, we stayed in our homes and thus showed togetherness.

Although distant, here we are together, united in love for the crystal-blue Adriatic, sun-soaked beaches, centuries-old customs, and cheerful people who make every holiday special.

Let's forget about the worries. Let's swim in the virtual waves of Croatia and enjoy the flavors and aromas that we have transferred to the screens in the hope that the hardest is behind us and that we will see each other as soon as possible!

Dear hosts, we would like to add your photos or videos to our gallery. Send us the most beautiful scenes from where you are and together, we will show the world that Croatia is waiting for you, more beautiful than ever and ready to create new memories!" writes the Croatian National Tourist Board about its latest campaign.

Namely, HRTurizam reports that the Croatian National Tourist Board invites you to participate in the project by sending photos or videos, which will be included on the CNTB platform. The photo or video should be sent to the e-mail address This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

If you use Instagram, you can send the photo/video to the enjoytheview_fromcroatia profile, use #EnjoyTheViewFromCroatia or mention @enjoytheview_fromcroatia. You can also share your photo or video on Facebook and Twitter using #EnjoyTheViewFromCroatia.

The Croatian National Tourist Board especially invites hosts to send a picture or video to their guests via the inbox of the booking service they use, and write #EnjoyTheViewFromCroatia in the message. Also, the CNTB advises adding a private message if desired (example message: We hope you are well, our vacation is not the same without you!) In the message, share the link to the website so that they too can enjoy the most beautiful Croatian views. If there is a story behind your photo or video that you would like to share, feel free to add a short description.

More information about the Tourist Board's new campaign HERE

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

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Marija Crnjak writes on the 25th of May, 2020, tourist vouchers that are being introduced to encourage domestic tourist spending, or are just being considered, could partly encourage domestic tourist traffic and local consumption, and make it easier for travellers looking for a holiday. But will such moves be enough to rescue Croatian tourism this year?

Certainly, the voucher system will have a different effect depending on the country in which it is introduced, and these subsidies will hardly "save" the tourist season and make a significant difference in small countries and for those whose tourism has always rested on an export basis. Croatia and Croatian tourism rather awkwardly falls into both of those categories.

In the Croatian tourism sector, domestic guests generate about 90 percent of the traffic, and most of them spend the summer in their own coastal homes, with their friends and family. In the ideal conditions for the real success of the Cro card idea, domestic guests alone, talking in financial terms, would not be enough to opem up hotels, restaurants and other similar attractions.

Without foreign guests, Croatian tourism won't really have a season this year. In addition, the purpose of the Cro card was never to save the season, but to strengthen continental tourism outside the season, as is the case, for example, in neighbouring Hungary.

With the exception of the epidemiological picture and the level of security, which will be the number one factor for all travellers this summer, from the announced Cro card, Croatian tourism could have a much greater impact on similar activities in which the country's emitting markets invest.

In this sense, the markets of countries from which driving to Croatia is relatively easy are important for this year, which are the strongest for us anyway - Slovenia, Austria, Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Italy and Germany, and of course neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Of all these countries, Hungary is the only one that already applies a type of tourist voucher system and already invests a lot in Hungarian tourists. Serious announcements have also come from Slovenia, whose government plans to invest 345 million euros in this support. That is as much as 13 percent of the amount of last year's income generated by the Slovenian tourism sector.

Vouchers are still being considered by the Czechs and Italians, and instead of vouchers, Germany and Austria have strong campaigns for the retention of domestic guests, and since these are large markets, the locals could even save the season for them. This is especially true for the Germans, the world's strongest emitting market, which was responsible for 100 million trips around the world in 2019.

When it comes to the Hungarians, the introduction of their card hasn't significantly affected the results of this emitting market in Croatia so far. The Germans have a sharply narrowed down set of choices for travel this year, due to the lack of flights and the difficult epidemiological picture in one of their traditionally favourite countries - Spain. Turkey is also too far for them to drive to.

If the borders are opened, there will still be enough Germans who can afford to come to the Croatian coast. The Austrians have already told Croatia how much they're looking forward to see the Adriatic, the Czechs were also the first to launch the idea of ​​creating a corridor to Croatia, and they're ready to spend hours on the road to reach the Croatian Adriatic sea.

Make sure to follow our travel page for more on Croatian tourism in the coronavirus era.

As Morski writes on the 24th of May, 2020, the wildly popular Balearic islands which belong to Spain are losing foreign guests rapidly in terms of nautical tourism due to the ongoing coronavirus epidemic and Spain's unfavourable epidemiological picture. Instead, those nautical tourists are sailing here to Croatia, where there are no strict measures to control the infection in place anymore, the Spanish newspaper El Mundo writes.

In an article entitled "Croatia is fishing in the waters of the Balearic islands", El Mundo points out that some multinational companies are moving their fleets to the Croatian coast, which is also a popular nautical destination, reports HRT.

For years, the beautiful Spanish archipelago in the Mediterranean has arguably been the centre of nautical tourism with a remarkable growth in the number of sailboats. Foreigners enjoyed sailing around the islands of Mallorca, Ibiza, Menorca, Formentera and Cabrera, which saw the injection of tens of millions of euros into the economy of these Spanish islands each and every summer. More than 350 companies focused on the Central European market are registered there.

However, despite secure and lucrative summers past, El Mundo notes that companies that rent out medium-sized sailboats, rather than large yachts, are worried about the frequent customer calls they have been receiving over recent days.

''They are calling on us to cancel or postpone their reservations until next year. The damage has been brutal. We're completely paralysed,'' said María Jimenez, a spokesperson for companies that rent sailboats.

Since the state of emergency was declared in Spain back on March the 14th, 2020, navigation, travel between the provinces and the arrival of foreign tourists have been banned on the Balearic islands. People who come from abroad, and currently that is only Spanish students or workers, must be in self-isolation for fourteen days upon arrival.

Due to that, a new phenomenon has emerged, that tourists who once frequented Spain's Balearic islands are switching over to the ''main competitor, Croatia", as reported by El Mundo.

Some multinational companies are moving sailboats east, to here on the Croatian coast, and they have stated in their advertisements that "there is no fourteen-day quarantine in Croatia".

Deputy Prime Minister Teresa Ribero told the Spanish news agency EFE on Thursday that foreign tourists could start arriving in July when the country's health situation is likely to become more favourable. Spain, along with the United Kingdom and Italy, is among the most affected European countries with 235,000 cases and 28,630 deaths from the new coronavirus.

For more, follow our travel page.

May 24, 2020 - German tourist are desperate to come, Croatian tourism is desperate to welcome them. A prime time German TV feature follows a journalist coming on holiday to Croatia. 

We live in the Information Age, and yet there is very little information - at least accurate information - about the current travel situation in Europe. 

People want to go on holiday but do not know if they will be subjected to quarantine rules, and a host of other uncertainties. 

The German market is a natural fit for Croatia. No planes need to be involved, simply drive to the end destination of Adriatic heaven, and the beach is yours. 

But there are uncertainties along the way. What happens on the borders with Austria, Slovenia and Croatia?

Some of the most popular articles on TCN right now are accounts of people who have managed to reach Croatia by car from places like Belgium and the UK. Ordinarily a very dull story, but in these corona times, a riveting read. 

A great addition to the info flow this evening from a member of the Total Croatia Travel INFO Viber community - thanks Francis!

German TV channel ARD  ( one ) showed tonight at 19 h 20 a nice story "going to Croatia ".  Prime Time !

You can see the video report here

For the latest travel info, bookmark our main travel info article, which is updated daily. 

Join the Total Croatia Travel INFO Viber community. 

 May 24, 2020 - TCN launched the Total Croatia Travel INFO Viber community 5 days ago. It has been quite a ride. 10 things I learned since we started. 

Last weekend, I called PR guru and champion of orange shoe fashion, Kresimir Macan, suggesting he take me in his Porsche to the main border with Slovenia at Bregana. With information so hard to find, a little first-hand reporting might be useful. MUP were extremely responsive by email with the media permission and very helpful at the border. You can see the realities of life on the Croatian-Slovenian border on May 17 here. 

"We have that really good Viber account, Koronavirus.hr for corona updates. Why doesn't the Ministry of Tourism have the same for the latest travel advice?"

"Why don't you make your own Viber community?" asked Macan. 

"I wouldn't know where to start."

Two days later... 

I have known Kreso for 6 years. And I have known many who have worked for him. They are some of the brightest minds who go on to do incredible things in the public and private sector. So when he suggested I come to the office and have a chat with his two interns, I knew it would not be just a chat. 

After we got over the initial embarrassment that I did not know how to download Viber to my desktop (thanks, kids!), we - or rather they - got to work. In precisely 22 minutes, we were live with my Viber community Total Croatia Travel INFO (and you can join too - but you need to download the app). 

Nobody has helped me more in the last 5 years than Macan. He is a controversial chap and a polarising figure (he is the erstwhile Communications Director for current Prime Minister Plelnkovic), but he is a master of his craft. I sat and watched, and within an hour, we had an infographic with the relevant info that people needed to know.  

Ann thanks to the generosity of our Viber community, that infographic is now available in 12 languages. There is also a consolidated Croatia travel master article which is updated daily. You can bookmark it here. 

It has been quite a ride. 10 random things I learned from the Total Croatia Travel INFO community that I did not know last week. (Let me put a MASSIVE disclaimer here that you should check all info independently with official sources to be 100% sure - all the info looks very credible, but please check before you travel)

1. You can apparently fly from the UK to Croatia before June 15, just not directly.

2. Hungarians REALLY want to come to Croatia

And you are very welcome! About 30% of the chat in the community has been in the Hungarian language. Thanks to the Viber auto-translate feature, we are able to understand and answer their questions where we can, or direct them to the relevant official contact.

To help things along, our little Viber community created a Hungarian version of the infographic. 

Many thanks to our community member Mariann Markai for volunteering a Hungarian translation of our May 21 update. 

And this cool new feature from Google allows you to be fully updated with the latest in any language you choose. For our Hungarian guests, wecome to Croatia and have a great stay.

3. It seems you can fly from the USA to Croatia if you have the right passport and circumstances

I have no more info on that, but you can always join our Viber community and request more details. You can join here.

4. Different countries have different corona info requirements.

In Croatia, the focus has been on how many cases (zero yesterday) and how many deaths (99 in total). But potential tourists have been asking lots of questions about how many people have been tested in Croatia. You can see full details of that and how Croatia compares on many corona stats here. 

5. There is a big need for a clear explanation on quarantine rules and test requirements entering Croatia (none) and returning to the home country. 

6. There is a big need for a clear explanation on the border crossing experience.

Who can, who can't, under which conditions. Are all borders open etc. This was my experience at the Slovenian border on Sunday, May 17. 

7. Flight information IS out there, and new flights are being announced.

Source the Total Croatia Travel INFO Viber community via Avioradar.

You can keep up with the latest flight announcements on the TCN latest flights page.

8. While the official information by Croatian authorities has improved MASSIVELY, it is still failing both tourists and the tourist businesses they represent. Sadly. 

Here's why. And I really hope for all of us that this will change as quickly as tomorrow. 

9. Community is strong and the quickest way to get the very latest. Build a strong community which respects others and helps out where it can, and there is no need for anything else regarding travel info. Or anything else. 

10. I am too old for all this, but I see a massive future for my kids. It has been an incredible few days, and I think we made Croatian travel info a little easier to find. 

Join us! Contribute your knowledge, ask your questions, and our community will try to get them answered, or send you to the right place to ask. You can join here (you will need to download the Viber app). Why Viber? I am advised that it is the best platform to allow unlimited numbers in groups and communities. Smart. 

For the latest travel info from Croatia, bookmark this article, which will be updated daily. 

Things have been gradually opening up again, but when will Croatian camps, hotels and other such facilities be back into the swing of things in this state of ''almost'' normalcy?

As Novac writes on the 23rd of May, 2020, after the Croatian Minister of Tourism presented the plan for the opening of the Croatian summer tourist season, which envisages that by the end of May - travel will be facilitated for Slovenia, Austria, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, and during June for Germany, Poland, and then for other countries which have a similarly certain epidemiological situation.

The Croatian tourism sector, through the Croatian Tourism Association, presented a plan for re-opening tourist facilities and recommendations for tourist travel to the Republic of Croatia.

The plan to open tourist facilities envisages the opening of Croatian camps in Istria, Kvarner and Dalmatia and some hotels by the end of this month, and the full opening of most Croatian camps, hotels and all other tourist services across the country's destinations is expected during June. Croatian borders are now open for tourists. Upon entry, tourists must have a confirmation of booking accommodation, and at the border they'll receive instructions for a safe stay in the country. You can read more details here.

A tourist application is also being developed, with which guests will be able to announce their arrival in advance and which will enable them to cross the border faster. The application will enable the introduction of a "fast line" regime of entry for tourists to Croatia by the end of the month.

During June, the countries from the main Croatian emitting markets are expected to enable their citizens to travel freely to Croatia and back, given the recommendations issued by the European Commission and the fact that Croatia is one of the countries with the lowest number of infected people in Europe. Owners of Croatian camps, hoteliers and other tourist workers are ready to welcome the opening of the season.

All standards in terms of safety for the stay of foreign guests have been implemented in Croatian camps, hotels and other accommodation facilities, as well as in restaurants and other such locations according to the recommendations of Croatian epidemiologists, the World Health Organisation and with regard to the recommendations from Croatia's key emitting markets.

The director of the Croatian Tourism Association, Veljko Ostojic, is satisfied with the preparations for the opening of the summer season, and the first foreign guests have already arrived in Croatia.

''Croatia has an excellent epidemiological situation, and for most guests from key emitting markets, Croatia is a destination which can be reached by car. The Croatian tourism sector has adjusted its safety standards to both national and international recommendations, and we're ready to welcome guests,'' said the director of the Croatian Tourism Association, Veljko Ostojic.

Croatia has been managing the coronavirus crisis very effectively throughout the entire epidemic, and according to international organisations, it is one of the most successful countries in the fight against the COVID-19 epidemic in the world.

New cases of infection currently appear only sporadically and Croatia has one of the best epidemiological situations in the whole of the Mediterranean. The health care system and the public protection system in Croatia have responded well to the crisis and have, as such, done well in suppressing the spread of the epidemic. The Croatian health care system remains ready to respond in a timely manner in the event of a virus outbreak as tourism begins to wake up.

Make sure to follow our travel page for more.

May 23, 2020 - After weeks of incompetence, the Kings of Accidental Tourism seemed to have finally got some coherent information and an efficient system to answer tourist travel questions. But what happens when you contact the email address?

The Minister of Tourism is apparently not very happy with me. I am apparently making his life very uncomfortable at the most inconvenient time. No, I am not talking about the tourist season, but rather the upcoming elections. 

I am glad if I make him unhappy (although it is nothing personal, I have never met the guy), even more so if I make him uncomfortable. For finally, it seems, he has started to do his job. Kind of.

For the latest travel info, bookmark our main travel info article, which is updated daily. 

Join the Total Croatia Travel INFO Viber community.

The minister has been the minister now for 4 years. The only memorable thing I can remember of his term so far are him saying 'This is not accidental tourism' when he catches my eye at press conferences, and for his award-winning pandemic tourism slogan, Croatia Breathes Tourism. 

Oh yes, apart from that incredible moment in Vinkovci at Days of Croatian Tourism last October when he announced - to thunderous applause from the party faithful:

"Croatia is the best tourism destination in Europe."

No facts to back up the claim. No numbers. Which is odd because The Capp loves his numbers. 40 million tourists, a record year. This is not accidental tourism. 3 billion overnights. This is not accidental tourism. That kind of thing. 

He also has a fondness of some other numbers, as our colleagues at Index.hr informed the nation recently - fax numbers. 

Four years into his reign in the Kingdom of Numbers, Numbers, Numbers, our esteemed minister decided to upgrade from the fax number (the year is 2020) on its homepage - email is a concept the Ministry of Tourism was just hearing about, to a sudden change of communications strategy just over 2 weeks ago. Out with the fax and in with 4 emails. I am not sure what brought on so much bold and dynamic change after four years of blissful fax heaven. 

I could go on at length about all the other changes that have happened after the Croatian media covered my story, but I want to get to the point of this article, which is to explain to tourist businesses now that many tourists will not come to Croatia this year because they cannot get any information on the situation. 

On paper, after weeks of ineptitude, it seemed that there was finally a coherent message. TCN has been doing travel updates throughout the crisis (and you can bookmark our daily update here, now available in 12 languages), and we recently started a Viber community called Total Croatia Travel INFO. 

The Viber community concept is completely out of my comfort zone and I will return to it in a minute, but one of the recurring comments from community members has been the lack of response from the official central email tourists are encouraged to send questions. 

A few examples. 

This comes at a time that we have 319 tourist boards in a time of nothing happening, and 75% are too busy to open an email with an offer of a free destination article form an award-winning travel writer. That is not 75% who did not respond, that is 75% that did not even open the email. Of those that did, 68% were too busy to click on the link.

This is not just another Uhljebistan story. This is an issue which will cost many jobs and closed businesses in the next few weeks. Croatia's private tourism providers are on their knees. The next two weeks are crucial, and while Greece is doing INCREDIBLE PR and clear communication, life in the Kingdom of Accidental Tourism goes on as before. 

As we explored recently in Jebote! As Greece Restarts Tourism, Croatia Lauds Conference Success, in a Pandemic, our heroic Ministry website was reporting on a meeting with truck drivers, while the national tourist board director was congratulating himself on Croatia being the 34th best conference tourism country in the world, and number 1 in the region. 

"After various world associations held 114 conventions in Croatia in 2018, even more conventions were held in 2019, 123, and Croatia went up four places in the ICCA rankings, to the 34th place globally by the number of conventions held. That is the highest position Croatia has taken to date, which also confirms its status as the leading conference destination in the region," said HTZ director Kristjan Stancic.

He thinks this is great news for Croatia's conference tourism, which is on an upward trajectory, as well as for Zagreb, which has taken the 48th place in the ICCA rankings for conference cities, jumping up by 20 places compared to 2018.

Conference tourism on an upward trajectory in the Zoom and Corona Age. Clearly, the gurus of the Kingdom of Accidental Tourism are ahead of their time. 

While The Capp was coming out with his breathtaking corona-era slogans, and a 17-year strategic plan was put out to tender to the cousins, nobody was answering the emails. 

And so the tourists - who LOVE Croatia and contribute 20% of its GDP - are looking elsewhere. 

With only 319 local tourist boards, 20 regional tourists boards, 1 national tourist board, a ministry of tourism AND a dedicated tourism body within the fabulous Croatian Chamber of Economy, who could possibly find the manpower to answer questions from tourists?

Surely everyone knows that in the Kingdom of Accidental Tourism, tourists simply come. 

I decided to try. As an experiment. 

Last weekend, I called PR guru and champion of orange shoe fashion, Kresimir Macan, suggesting he take me in his Porsche to the main border with Slovenia at Bregana. With information so hard to find, a little first-hand reporting might be useful. MUP were extremely responsive by email with the media permission and very helpful at the border. You can see the realities of life on the Croatian-Slovenian border on May 17 here. 

"We have that really good Viber account, Koronavirus.hr for corona updates. Why doesn't the Ministry of Tourism have the same for latest travel advice?"

"Why don't you make your own Viber community?" asked Macan. 

"I wouldn't know where to start."

Two days later... 

I have known Kreso for 6 years. And I have known many who have worked for him. They are some of the brightest minds who go on to do incredible things in the public and private sector. So when he suggested I come to the office and have a chat with his two interns, I knew it would not be just a chat. 

After we got over the initial embarrassment that I did not know how to download Viber to my desktop (thanks, kids!), we - or rather they - got to work. In precisely 22 minutes, we were live with my Viber community Total Croatia Travel INFO (and you can join too - but you need to download the app). 

Nobody has helped me more in the last 5 years than Macan. He is a controversial chap and a polarising figure (he is the erstwhile Communications Director for current Prime Minister Plelnkovic), but he is a master of his craft. I sat and watched, and within an hour, we had an infographic with the relevant info that people needed to know.  

An infographic that was available in multiple languages thanks to the generosity of the Viber community we had created, as people volunteered their time to help others. 

I built a master travel info article, which I pinned to the top of the Viber community, so all could see. I update it daily. 

Meanwhile our travel update page, which links to all the relevant official pages, is now available in multiple languages - the translation is not perfect, but then it never is when the budget is zero:

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We had LOTS of engagement in on our little Viber community. We decided to invest some time to answer the questions in real time. For free. This is a community after all. 

The community is growing quickly and is VERY helpful, with people sharing experiences (including no response to emails by the Kings), and I have learned a lot. 

(Answering tourist questions in real time, making their choice to come to Croatia on holiday an easier one. Join the Total Croatia Travel INFO Viber community - you will need to download the app).

This is what Macan, two interns and a fat Irishman have managed to do as a part-time extra to our working days since Tuesday. 

Meanwhile, in the Kingdom of Accidental Tourism, the minister is breathing tourism, the national tourist board director is feeling pleased with the upward trajectory of his conference tourism strategy, and business after business is going out of business. 

Because nobody has time to answer the emails. 

To learn more about the brilliance of the Kingdom of Uhljebistan, follow the dedicated TCN section.