October 5, 2020 - Designed by the Ministry of Tourism and Sports and the Croatian Tourist Board, the Vacation-Worthy Week campaign encourages domestic tourists to travel around Croatia for half the price, from October 16 to 25, 2020. 

If you were always hesitant to take a relaxing weekend at a hotel or a nice apartment because it was too expensive for your budget, this October might be the right time for you.

Slobodna Dalmacija writes that from October 16 to 25, domestic guests can enjoy the perks of tourism half-off thanks to the Vacation-Worthy Week campaign designed by the Ministry of Tourism and Sports and the Croatian Tourist Board.

Across these 10 days, domestic guests can treat themselves to a trip, extended weekend, or week around Croatia where they will enjoy tourist products at half the price, from the accommodation, transport, and sights to catering services and various experiences.

Although there are only a few weeks left until the campaign begins, everyone who wants to offer their services to domestic guests at a discount can sign up until October 15.

The action already includes numerous hotel houses, private renters, restaurants, nature parks, national parks, museums, galleries, adrenaline tourism, outdoor activities, boat renters, and health and spa tourism facilities.

According to the Ministry of Tourism's propositions, the minimum discount amount is 50 percent, but it can also be higher. The exception is the transport category, in which a discount of less than 50 percent is allowed. As things stand now, there are interested parties on both sides - companies, and individuals who will offer their services at lower prices, but also guests who would like to end this stressful year by taking a beautiful wellness or nature holiday.

"We planned to work all October in the hotel, and we joined the action with lower prices for domestic guests. We calculated that the prices would be half of what they usually are in September, so it is quite affordable. The hotel facility is in operation, and we would like local guests to come at the end of the season and discover some new beauties during a short vacation at affordable prices. In terms of earnings, this year is lost in that sense, so why not give the locals a chance to rest a bit?" says the director of one Dalmatian island hotel.

As large hotel facilities prepare for closure, smaller accommodations and family homes will certainly work much longer. They could have more guests because they offer specific services and can dedicate themselves to the guests.

"We are very ready to participate in this action because every day we can work is important to us this year. With us, guests will be able to have half-board in a four-star hotel for 30-40 euro a day and numerous excursions, sightseeing, and activities that are available to them because we are close to nature parks. All of that would be twice as expensive on some other October days. And in nature, the prices will be half the price for tickets and tours, so when everything is added up, the family can enjoy a lot for much less," says the owner of a small family hotel in Zadar.

On the other hand, family renters will find it easiest to prepare for domestic guests because they are practically always ready to offer them accommodation.

However, as they halved their prices in September, it is not expected that they will continue to lower them, so an apartment for four people can be rented for 30 euros a day. Other renters do not see any profit in that, and have chosen not to participate.

"It doesn't pay to clean the apartment, change the bed linen, and disinfect everything for 30 euro a day. I spend so much on electricity, water, labor, and detergents. My lowest price can be 50 euro a day, and I don't make any money with it either. But for less than that, I will not work. I would like to have guests in October, I will sign up for this action, so we will see if there will be interest from local guests," says one landlady from Split.

As planned, October should be marked by domestic tourists if they decide to enjoy cheaper tourist offers. How important domestic guests are for the overall tourist result is best shown by the eVisitor data. Last year, domestic tourists recorded 2.4 million tourist arrivals and 13.8 million overnight stays, or about 12 percent of total arrivals.

In the current part of the 2020 tourist year, this result has almost doubled. Domestic tourists have achieved 1.3 million arrivals and 9.6 million overnight stays, which is about 20 percent of total tourist arrivals and overnight stays in 2020. 

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September 16, 2020 - A "Thank You" campaign launched by the Croatian Tourist Board will target 13 foreign markets. 

The Croatian Tourist Board has launched a new promotional campaign titled "Thank You" on social networks Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, thanking foreign tourists for choosing Croatia and Croatian destinations for their travels this year. The campaign is being implemented in 13 foreign markets, including Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Italy, Hungary, Belgium, France, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

"With this campaign, we would like to thank all foreign guests who, despite the prescribed epidemiological measures and travel protocols, have shown their confidence in Croatia in this challenging and unpredictable tourist year. Our goal is to keep Croatia's visibility in selected markets and to tell everyone that they are welcome in our country next year as well," said Croatian Tourist Board Director Kristjan Stanicic, adding that more than seven million tourists have visited Croatia so far this year, of which nearly six million are foreign.

The focus of the "Thank you" campaign is primarily Germany, Slovenia, Poland and the Czech Republic, or the markets that, along with domestic guests, achieved the largest tourist turnover in Croatia this year. For each market, the visuals of the three favorite destinations that the guests from the mentioned market visited the most and the tourist products they enjoyed the most were targeted. For example, Medulin, Porec and Rovinj were chosen for the German market, Dubrovnik, Hvar and Split for the UK market, Crikvenica, Rovinj and Vir for the Hungarian market, while Omis, Makarska and Baska Voda were chosen for the Polish market.

Let us add that in these countries, in addition to the visuals, prize games will be organized on social networks, and the winners will be able to win a gift package of Croatian souvenirs.

After the "Thank you" campaign, the Croatian Tourist Board will start implementing promotional activities for the post-season, during which the focus will be on nautical, the continental offer, eno-gastronomy and Croatian national parks and nature parks.

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ZAGREB, Sept 11, 2020 - In the first eight months of this year, 6.8 million tourists visited Croatia and generated 47.5 million overnight stays, which was at 41% and 53% respectively of last year's levels.

YTD tourism results are better than expected following the outbreak of the coronavirus infection, according to a statement made by Tourism and Sports Minister Nikolina Brnjac and the Croatian Tourist Board (HTZ) director Kristijan Stanicic at a news conference in Zagreb on Friday.

Of those 47.5 million overnight stays, the lion's share, 84%, were made in July and August, and in those two months, Croatia registered 5.2 million holidaymakers.

Addressing the news conference, Minister Brnjac thanked the stakeholders and businesses in the tourism sector for those results.

"Clearly, nobody finds this situation easy, however, the sector has shown that it has been well prepared and we thank everyone for these results," she said.

The minister says that the government adopted the right measures in a timely fashion to help keep jobs and liquidity in this industry.

The gradual reopening of the borders paved the way for the arrival of tourists, and the results are better than expected in all types of tourist accommodation, she added.

"Nautical tourism is one of the segments that has fared well, and currently there are about 300 mega-yachts in Croatia. We hope that this good season will continue."

Government assistance schemes for the tourism and hospitality industry will be in effect until the end of this year to help the sector make good preparations for 2021, and the minister recalls that part of the money will be ensured from the European Union's funds.

She announced the preparation of a strategy for sustainable tourism with the engagement of experts in drawing up the document.

About 200,000 tourists currently vacationing

HTZ director Stanicic said that about 200,000 tourists were currently vacationing in Croatia.

He said that HTZ campaigns on social networks had registered hundreds of millions of visits.

Stanicic also commented on some negative campaigns on foreign markets that were unfavorable for Croatia.

We tried to respond to that "with certain positive and fact-based messages," he said.

When asked about the financial effects of the tourist turnover, Stanicic said that one should wait for the end of the year.

The director of the Croatian Association of Tourism (HUT), Veljko Ostojic, said that given the circumstances, the results in the sector were the best possible.

In hotels, overnight stays in the first eight months were at 30.4% of the levels in the corresponding period last year, Ostojic said, warning that the financial effects would be even lower.

Ostojic and the head of the Association of the Croatian Travel Agencies (UHPA), Tomislav Fain, agreed that the assistance provided by the government had been essential to keep the sector in motion.

The head of the association of marinas within the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK), Sean Lisjak, told the news conference that marinas were satisfied with this year's results.

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August 26, 2020 - The Mayor of Vir, Kristijan Kapovic, and the Director of the Vir Tourist Board, Srdjan Liveric, are dissatisfied with the Croatian Tourist Board's attitude towards the island of Vir, the most successful tourist destination in Croatia so far this season.

Namely, HRTurizam reports that in the last two August press releases of the Croatian National Tourist Board (CNTB) which list the most successful tourist destinations, Rovinj, Porec, Split, Medulin, Crikvenica, Dubrovnik, Umag, Zadar, Pula and Novalja were highlighted as the destinations with the most achieved tourist arrivals. Contrary to the practice of all previous years, the most successful destinations by realized tourist overnight stays are not mentioned, i.e., the total data of realized overnight stays in Croatia and the most successful counties are given.

The fact that the island of Vir has the most in Croatia until August 15 - about 1.5 million overnight stays with 80 percent of last year's record numbers - is somehow bypassed at the peak of the summer season when the impression of the most successful and best destinations this year is created. In addition, Vir is the best destination in terms of overnight stays so far in August (433 thousand). With more than 700 thousand overnight stays (the only one in Croatia), it was also the most successful tourist destination in July.

However, the island of Vir simply does not appear in the CNTB's press releases in August. It is this fact that raised the whole of Vir to its feet, and the Municipality of Vir and the tourist board are asking: Is the island of Vir fancy enough to be the best destination in Croatia?

Realized tourist overnight stays measure the success of each destination. This fact is covered up in the CNTB's August media reports, according to a joint statement from the Municipality of Vir and the Tourist Board of Vir.

"They favor destinations in which billions of kuna of public state money have been invested so far, in communal, tourist and media-marketing infrastructure, so they are obviously bothered by Vir's success, which has never gained anything from all this. However, when the CNTB's coffers are filled, one does not ask where the money comes from, and a significant amount of money comes from Vir," says the mayor of Vir, Kristijan Kapovic. Thus, millions from the island go directly to the CNTB, and hundreds of millions to the state budget, adding: “No one can deny that, but we can also ask ourselves whether the time has finally come for that money to start coming back to us. Vir certainly deserved it," said Mayor Kapovic. The director of the Vir Tourist Board, Srcjan Liveric, agrees with him and feels first hand the complete neglect of the most popular Croatian destination.

“Several million kuna go every year to the CNTB's coffers at the state and county level, and not a penny has been returned to some media and marketing campaign for Vir. We do not have the support of the system and the people within the CNTB who, among other things, are paid with real money and whose job it is to help us. We rely only on our own strength," says director Liveric and adds that it is finally time for state institutions, tourism, and others, to start doing their job finally. "If we talk about tax revenues, hundreds of millions of kunas went to the budget from Vir. We would be satisfied if we got them back if we could arrange Vir as a top tourist destination in every sense," adds the director of Vir Tourist Board.

In their joint statement, they point out that a significant phrase of the CNTB director Kristjan Stanicic, who, speaking about the most successful destinations so far, mentioned only some of them. Even then, the island of Vir was not mentioned in a single word, letter or thought. When the CNTB director was confronted with the fact that Vir was the destination with the most overnight stays in Croatia, he responded to the journalist's statement somewhat reluctantly: "Vir is a specific destination of non-commercial accommodation."

According to UNWTO, the umbrella organization of international tourism and the United Nations agency, a tourist is any person who stays or spends the night in a place where there is no residence address. Therefore, that person can have their own house, cottage, caravan, tent, or brothel in the destination if they want. Still, if they do not have a residence - it is a person who is statistically registered as a tourist. This is what is called non-commercial accommodation in the structure of tourist traffic, according to Vir.

Vir also emphasizes that for a local or foreign citizen to buy or build a house in Croatia where they do not reside, it is necessary to set aside at least about 700 thousand kuna for the minimum facility and then pay taxes and other receivables. In one move, a foreigner or a local person invests about 100 thousand euro to have a housing or tourism business facility, on which they pay taxes and all possible benefits, and further use the goods and services at the destination. Only one such owner of the facility, or a tourist in non-commercial accommodation, spends at least one million kuna at the start, and their further consumption at the destination takes place at least three or four times a year.

In the case of Vir, we are talking about foreigners who spend 16 nights on average in the previous part of the season and domestic guests with 26.7 nights on average. The so-called commercial tourists that the CNTB likes, spend 500 to 600 euro once for accommodation and maybe the same amount for goods and services at the destination where they stay for two to three days, or a maximum of one week. They do not spend more than ten or fifteen thousand kunas without a guarantee that they will be in Croatia again next year. In order to equalize the financial performance of a non-commercial guest in the future, commercial tourists would have to stay at the destination for 100 years or there would have to be 100 times more of them, Vir points out.

"All tourism professionals know that reports are made according to the realized overnight stays, because it is the practice of measuring tourist traffic. Now that Vir is the best, suddenly reports are made in arrivals, which is strange, to say the least," concludes Liveric.

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July 21, 2020 - More than 600,000 tourists are currently staying in Croatia, some counties have a 60 percent occupancy rate compared to the same time last year, and by the end of the year, the result could reach 40 percent of last year, Tourism Minister Gari Cappelli said on Monday.

"Today we have almost 600,000 tourists, mostly foreigners, and there are about 90,000 locals. Croatia is a safe destination no matter what happens," Cappelli said after a session of the Croatian National Tourist Board (HTZ) on Slobodna Dalmacija.

Greece, he said for comparison, currently has only seven percent of turnover compared to last year.

On the other hand, Croatia has over 50 percent of its turnover in July compared to last year, and more than 30 percent at the level of the previous part of the year.

He pointed out that in some counties, such as Istria and Primorje-Gorski Kotar, more than 60 percent of arrivals are realized compared to last year. According to him, the tourist workers are well prepared for the epidemiological conditions in which they work. Currently, as he said, 75 percent of the available nautical charter is operating, while in August, everyone will work at one hundred percent capacity.

Cappelli is in favor of more rigorous epidemiological measures in order to achieve the results we expect with a reduced number of infected people, that is, to prove that we are still a safe destination.

He pointed out that the decline in the number of domestic tourists is only 13 percent, and that most continental destinations have traffic of more than 60 percent compared to last year, and family farms on the continent work even better than last year.

He stated that the prices of tourist services were reduced in a number of destinations, on average, by 10 to 30 percent.

"I claimed that the first good reaction of the economy will be in tourism, and that is what is happening," said the minister, adding that this year there is a minimum of seasonal workers coming from outside Croatia, i.e., that domestic labor has been withdrawn.

At the session of the Tourist Council, additional financial resources for the needs of crisis communication were approved. It will be aimed at continuous monitoring of the market situation, in order to quickly and timely inform the target public about all new changes in the travel segment, with an emphasis on Croatia as a safe and accessible tourist destination.

"Today we have provided additional financial resources for crisis communication activities in foreign markets. Quality promotion and placement of targeted messages are extremely important in these market circumstances when many countries are fighting very hard for each guest. With these financial resources, amounting to one million kuna, among other things, we will focus on intensified monitoring of the entire situation with an emphasis on communicating accurate information on the epidemiological situation in the country," said the director of HTZ, Kristjan Stanicic.

Stanicic also said that from Friday to Sunday, almost 300,000 arrivals and 1.8 million tourist overnight stays were realized in Croatia.

The members of the Tourist Council also discussed the situation on the markets and the course of the season, and it was emphasized that in the current part of July, from July 1 to 19, about 1.4 million arrivals were realized, which is 53 percent of last year's result achieved in the same period, and 9.6 million overnight stays, which is 56 percent of last year's result achieved in the same period.

The largest tourist turnover came from the markets of Germany, Slovenia, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Poland and Austria.

Stanicic also stated that additional funds will be used for PR activities in the domestic and foreign markets, and that additional funds were found through internal redistribution, within the HTZ budget.

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ZAGREB, July 17, 2020 - The Croatian Tourist Board (HTZ) has launched a website for online payment of the tourist fee for boaters, which until now could be paid only in harbour master's offices, the HTZ announced on Friday.

The website, nautika.evisitor.hr, provides guidance in several languages on how to pay the fee. All major global card brands are accepted.

After paying the fee, the boater is emailed a receipt which they must keep for the entire duration of their stay on the vessel, the HTZ advised.

June 2, 2020 - The Croatian tourist board needs urgent reform. A detailed look at the problems... and a solution. 

The Croatian Minister of Tourism Gari Cappelli called me a few days ago. I have never met or spoken to him (or Croatian National Tourist Board director, Kristjan Stanicic) since Minister Cappelli assumed the office back in 2016. The phone call was therefore quite a surprise, and we had a nice little chat, including an invitation to meet in his office. That meeting is scheduled to take place tomorrow. 

It comes at a time when Croatian tourism is trying to get through this tough corona period. I have been vocally very critical of the tourism chiefs and their infrastructure - and I make no apology for that. Thanks largely to the interest and support of colleagues from Index.hr and also 24 Sata, direct and positive change has come as a result. 

Given that I have been heavily involved in writing about and promoting tourism since 2011 (including winning the Marco Polo FIJET award for Best International Promotion of Croatia at the Croatian Journalists Association in 2014), I have been following Croatia's tourism story in a lot more detail than even most Croatians. 

There are some serious problems. 

Problems which the corona strangling of the season have exposed a little more than might otherwise have been the case. 

Problems which can be resolved. 

It is very easy to laugh at those in the bloated tourism structure that Croatia has, and to accuse its directors of being lazy. While there is certainly an element of that, to do so would be a big disservice of the many tourist board directors in Croatia who do an excellent job. To see who some of them are, follow our new Virtual Croatia initiative, where we offered each local tourist board director the offer of a free article promoting all their digital tools in one place.

February 18, 2020 - The European Tourism Commission (ETC) has approved co-financing a joint project by the Croatian National Tourist Board and the Slovenian Tourist Board for the promotional campaign "Croatia and Slovenia: Full of Ways to Feel and Explore”, to be implemented in the Australian market by November 2020.

HRTurizam reports that the value and overall budget of the campaign is €200,000, half of which, ie, €100,000, is supported by the ETC.

"The joint promotion of Croatia and Slovenia in distant markets, and especially the one that will be realized in the large Australian market, is a unique example of successful cooperation in tourism promotion of the two countries. We know that guests from far markets usually realize their travels in the periods before and after the season when they visit several countries, which is why we cooperate very intensively with colleagues from the Slovenian Tourist Board,” said Croatian Tourist Board Director Kristjan Stanicic, adding that more than 242,000 arrivals and more than 741,000 overnight stays have been made in Croatia from the Australian market over the past year.

After European funds were approved last year for the "Experience Croatia, Feel Slovenia" campaign launched on the Chinese market, this year, the funds were approved for an Australian market campaign aimed at promoting and positioning Croatia and Slovenia as more attractive year-round destinations. A particular focus of the campaign will be on topics of active and adventure tourism, natural beauty and lesser-known tourist destinations for higher-spending guests. The campaign will also promote the rich cultural and historical heritage, eno-gastronomy, as well as other attractive tourist attributes of both countries.

"I am pleased that we have been successful this year in jointly applying for a European Tourism Commission tender, which confirms our excellent cooperation in promotion in distant markets. I am convinced that through a joint promotion campaign in the Australian market, we will present Slovenia and Croatia as destinations of unique experiences and sustainable tourism,” said the director of the Slovenian Tourist Board, Maja Pak.

As part of the campaign, workshops for agents and tour operators in Sydney and Melbourne will be organized, digital media advertising activities will be implemented, and cooperation will be established with selected Australian influencers who will visit Croatia and Slovenia next spring. Also, in cooperation with one of the leading online travel agencies in the Australian market, an online campaign will be devised and implemented through two waves, where Croatia and Slovenia will be presented to guests who want to enjoy unique and authentic experiences beyond the peak tourist season.

The Croatian National Tourist Board and the Slovenian Tourist Board have successfully withdrawn funding through the ETC Call for Co-financing of Transnational Promotional Campaigns in Distant Markets, and under the Destination Europe project and the new Horizon 2022 strategy, a total of 18 applications were received, while 11 received support.

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

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Marija Crnjak writes on the 21st of January, 2020, the Croatian National Tourist Board (HTZ) expects the new portal to be positioned as a central place for the inspiration of its users in the decision-making process when it comes to choosing a holiday in Croatia.

The Croatian National Tourist Board has announced a tender for the creation of a new tourist information portal, Croatia.hr, as well as for the collection and management of databases necessary for the establishment of public e-services of the portal. The tender is being announced as part of the Croatian Digital Tourism (Hrvatski digitalni turizam) project, which is an EU project, managed by the Ministry of Tourism, and the total value of this procurement is 8 million kuna.

As the Croatian National Tourist Board explained, the project is funded by two European Union funds, namely the European Regional Development Fund and the European Social Fund, and they play the role of project partner.

The e-tourism project envisages the development and improvement of five public e-services, which will be completed by the end of this year, which will integrate the procedures of several public administration bodies into an integrated state information system. These are the Central tourist register, the e-Visitor guest check-in and check-out system, the Croatia.hr platform, and e-services for both administrative and non-administrative procedures.

''There are two components to the Croatian National Tourist Board, the upgrading of the eVisitor system and the creation of a new Croatia.hr web portal, which will integrate the complete Croatian tourist offer in the future. Accordingly, the procurement process was initiated, the subject of which is the procurement of website services for the tourist information system and the establishment of an IT system, the management of databases necessary for the establishment of public e-services, and the tourist information portal,'' the Croatian National Tourist Board explained.

The goal of the new portal is to connect all tourist boards into one system, so that each destination and tourist board will have its own promotion space on the national website, or on its subdomains. It is also expected to increase page traffic, have better SEO and page ranking and strengthen brand identity.

When it comes to technical features, the new portal needs to be supported through a user-friendly and efficient CMS with different administrative rights and responsibilities.

As explained in the tender documentation, the Croatia.hr pages must be made in accordance with all the latest technological solutions and requirements, responsive to display on all devices, multilingual, capable of commenting and sharing content on all platforms, and should be able to connect with different systems such as the Central tourist register and eVisitor.

Make sure to follow our dedicated lifestyle page for more.

ZAGREB, September 15, 2019 - The Tourism Ministry has recently made public the programme of this year's Croatian Tourism Days, to be held in a number of towns in the region of Slavonia on October 2-4, which is the first time the traditional meeting of tourism workers will be organised in inland Croatia.

More than 1,000 participants, tourism professionals and other actors in Croatia's tourism and related sectors, as well as central and local government officials and foreign guests, will attend the event, organised by the Tourism Ministry, the Croatian Tourism Board (HTZ) and the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK).

Recalling that the incumbent government placed emphasis on the economic development of Slavonia, Baranja and Srijem, Tourism Minister Gari Cappelli said that Croatian Tourism Days would be held in the country's easternmost regions in order to additionally accentuate the importance of regional tourism.

HTZ director Kristjan Staničić said that Slavonia and the continental part of the country had great potential for year-round tourism and that the HTZ's activities were geared towards promoting continental tourism.

"This year's two-digit increase in tourist turnover in inland Croatia proves that the continental part of the country has exceptional potential for further growth and development," he said.

Croatian Tourism Days will be held in all five Slavonian counties, which HGK head Luka Burilović said had a lot to offer to visitors - a rich cultural heritage, splendid scenery and an increasingly diverse cuisine, which is the main reason for visiting Croatia for around 30% of guests.

More news about Croatian tourism can be found in the Travel section.