October the 13th, 2022 - Zadar has broken records left, right and centre when it comes to nautical tourism, with more vessels having entered the waters of this Dalmatian city in a single day this year than ever before. 150 cruise ships announcements for next year are also encouraging for many.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, yesterday in the City of Zadar, the record for the number of vessels that entered the city's waters in the same day was officially broken. After the July record of four cruisers, there were as many as five present in Zadar yesterday, and it represented a new test for the Gazenica Passenger Port, reports HRT.

The General Director of the Gazenica Passenger Port, Rebeka V. Pevec, said that everything went smoothly, and that the plan for next year is already being prepared, with the announcement of new cruises and their arrival in the city currently more than great.

"The most important thing to emphasise is that there will most likely be no further restrictions regarding the capacity of ships, and that's the most important thing for us,'' said Pevec, adding that diversity is also very important for the destination itself, because different profiles of guests are arriving. Zadar has that advantage, however, it needs to be raised to a higher level and offer new events.

The recovery of the cruise industry has also been well and truly confirmed by the 130,000 passengers who will pass through Zadar's international terminal this year. For the local economy, it is important to add that about sixty thousand crew members are also involved.

"The entire economy in Zadar County benefits enormously from these cruise ships. Year after year, we're witnessing that the level of service in the hospitality industry and tourism as a whole is rising,'' emphasised the President of the Zadar County Chamber of Crafts, Ante Lukacic.

''For next year, we already have an announcement of 150 cruise ship arrivals. What I can say is that sixty percent of them go to visit the national parks, go to the cities of Nin, Pag... and some forty percent stay in the area of ​​the City of Zadar itself,'' said the director of the Zadar Tourist Board, Mario Paleka.

For more, make sure to keep up to date with our dedicated news section.

July the 31st, 2022 - Rijeka cruise ships arrived this weekend carrying thousands of passengers into the formerly industrial Northern Adriatic city. Tourists have been becoming more and more of a frequent sight in this part of Kvarner over more recent years, as more people discover the Croatia outside of Dalmatia and the islands.

As Morski writes, on Saturday morning, two large cruise ships, "Mein Schiff 5" and "Marella Explorer 2", and more than ten smaller cruise ships-sailboats belonging to ID Riva Tours, carrying more than 4,500 passengers and 1,600 crew members, arrived in the City of Rijeka, the Tourist Board of the City of Rijeka reported.

The Rijeka Tourist Board and the Kvarner Tourist Board, together with the Port Authority of Rijeka, welcomed the guests from the cruise ship by presenting them with welcome gifts and informative brochures so that they could spend their time in Rijeka as well as possible.

Numerous excursions have been organised for these cruise ship guests, and the most interesting of which are excursions to Rijeka itself and its surroundings, as well as to the nearby island of Krk, Istria County and the City of Zagreb, as was reported by Index. Most of the guests who are set to stay in Rijeka visit Trsat and enjoy organised tours of the city centre, taking in cultural and historical sights, markets and local museums.

"By the end of the year, we expect several more cruise ships to enter Rijeka's waters''

With the arrival of Rijeka cruise ships, which were until recently a far more common sight docked in the ports of various Dalmatian cities much further south down the Croatian coastline, the City of Rijeka is being promoted as a tourist destination of its own, as well as a recognisable cruise destination.

Rijeka is resting and breathing easily owing to the fact that it has fully recovered after the global coronavirus pandemic and has now returned in an even better state than it was in back during the pre-pandemic, record-breaking year of 2019.

''By the end of the year, we expect several more Rijeka cruise ships, two in August, September and October and one in November, which is certainly a good announcement for an excellent post-season and a complete recovery of that segment of the market,'' they pointed out from the Tourist Board of the City of Rijeka.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated travel section.

June the 18th, 2022 - Despite being the subject of endless complaints before the global coronavirus pandemic struck and forced the industry to a halt, Croatian cruise traffic is making a marked comeback as we approach the height of the summer tourist season.

Croatian cruise tourism was an enormous ecological issue up and down the coast, but the vast majority of (understandable) complaints and issues arose from Croatia's tourist Mecca - the southernmost city of Dubrovnik. The Pearl of the Adriatic felt plagued by these giant floating cities which pollute the waters and cause enormous infrastructure issues for the entire area. The pandemic, which threw a massive spanner in the works for more or less all forms of travel, especially for leisure and tourism, saw Dubrovnik's waters free of huge vessels for a very long time.

It seems now, however, that Croatian cruise traffic is making a decided return to not only the country's traditionally most visited city, but all along the coast. Sibenik, quite a bit further up the coastline, included.

As Mladen Miletic/Poslovni Dnevnik writes, Viking Sky, a 228-metre-long Viking Cruises cruiser flying the Norwegian flag, made its way through the St. Anthony's Canal in front of the Port of Sibenik a couple of days ago.

This ancient coastal Dalmatian city, which is steeped not only in history but also in rich culture, has now become almost a regular stop on the routes of this gigantic 400 million US dollar ship with accommodation capacities for more than 1,000 passengers who can enjoy two swimming pools, a winter garden, theatres and cinemas, and numerous shopping opporunities when on board.

In gorgeous Opatija last weekend, the luxurious Azamara Onward could be seen floating in front of the array of Austro-Hungarian architecture this Kvarner town is so famous for.  The Marella Explorer 2 was also moored in the nearby Port of Rijeka, whose company announced the arrival of nineteen large ships for this summer tourist season, while the aforementioned City of Dubrovnik expects as many as 345 cruise ship arrivals this season, bringing with them more than half a million passengers.

For more on Croatian cruise traffic and tourism, make sure to check out our dedicated travel section.

April the 14th, 2022 - There will be five times more Dubrovnik cruise ships this year, as the country's tourism makes an impressively fast recovery from two pandemic-dominated years in which the then hated vessels weren't seen in the Pearl of the Adriatic.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Marija Crnjak writes, this year's cruise season for the Croatian Adriatic's ports has started with the arrival of MSC's ship Fantasia in Dubrovnik's Port of Gruz, which, according to current announcements, will bring five times more Dubrovnik cruise ships alone than last year. In addition to that, the current news is that MSC will enable boarding in Zadar and Split for the first time ever, which has already aroused a lot of interest from Croatian passengers.

Five days ago, the first cruise ship of this year, MSC Fantasia, sailed into Dubrovnik's Port of Gruz. This Fantasia-class ship can accommodate up to 4,300 passengers and will visit Dubrovnik on Thursdays until the end of the season on September the 8th, 2022. According to the company, in addition to Dubrovnik, MSC fleet ships will visit Split, Zadar and Rijeka and achieve a total of 63 arrivals in various Croatian ports during this season alone.

"The last time we had this cruise in the Eastern Mediterranean to Greece was from Dubrovnik 6-7 years ago. This itinerary is interesting for passengers from Croatia and neighbouring countries, because of the ease of access to the port, simplicity and less crowds in terms of terminals, because of all the still valid pandemic measures in force on board and in some European countries. The programme is very affordable for the Croatian market and we've had some great interest from travellers from Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina,'' revealed Igor Odak, in charge of marketing and sales at MSC. The first cruisers of this year brought a total of about 2,500 guests to the City of Dubrovnik in just a few days, pointed out the director of the Dubrovnik Port Authority, Blaz Pezo.

"Last year was a solid cruise season in which we were visited by 139 ships and 110,130 passengers. Considering that there were none in 2020 at all, we're satisfied with the results from 2021, which reached 30 percent of the amount we saw back in 2019. This represents a good base for this cruise ship season, in which, according to the plan, we expect to achieve 70 percent of the turnover from 2019. We're welcoming this season with optimism,'' Pezo added.

Exactly how many passengers Dubrovnik cruise ships could see enter the country's southernmost city is still unknown, as the number keeps changing, but the ships are currently between 60 and 70 percent full. Given the much more favourable situation with the coronavirus pandemic, the Dubrovnik Port Authority expects that both European and American shipping companies will gradually increase their capacities on cruises this season. Pezo also added that at the same time, the sustainable development of the cruising industry, which Dubrovnik opted for after experiencing a collapse due to intolerable crowds, hasn't been forgotten.

"According to current announcements, throughout 2022 we can expect 343 arrivals of ships and about 515 thousand passengers, which is fully in line with plans for sustainable tourism development in this destination. The maximum number of passengers from cruise ships in Dubrovnik throughout 2022 is 4,000 passengers at a time, or an average of two ships at berth,'' explained Pezo.

The Dubrovnik Port Authority is otherwise quite actively participating in the project of the City of Dubrovnik called "Respect the City".

As part of that project's activities, the Ordinance on conditions and criteria for accepting and allocating berths for cruise ships in the context of sustainable destination development was drafted, and an even better schedule for Dubrovnik cruise ships and their arrival was achieved, which will result in a more even flow of passengers from the port, especially towards the historical core, and in this way the intensity of the load on the city's roads in the direction Gruz - Pile - Gruz will be reduced,'' said Pezo.

He especially emphasised the fact that in 2022, the turnover during the pre-season and post-season is expected to increase, and there is an expected decrease in traffic in the peak months of the main tourist season, more precisely during the months of July and August.

For more, check out our travel section.

December 28, 2021 - In the 28th edition of the renowned World Travel Awards, the distinction of the best European cruise destination went to Dubrovnik, surpassing other cities such as Amsterdam, Oslo, Lisbon, and Athens.

The award for the leading European cruise destination went to Dubrovnik as part of the 28th edition of the World Travel Awards, reports HrTurizam. It is an organization that awards the best in the travel, tourism, and hospitality industry every year, and the awards are given at the global, regional, and national levels.

The winners are chosen by experts from each field, but also by users who also participate in the selection. The World Travel Awards, also known as the Oscar of the World Tourism Industry, is an esteemed award in the tourism sector and is globally recognized as a top feature of excellence in the industry.

Dubrovnik has been declared the leading destination for cruises in Europe, where there is no lack of competition. Also nominated were Amsterdam, Athens, Lisbon, Venice, Copenhagen, Oslo, Cannes, St. Petersburg, the Scottish cities of Edinburgh and Forth, and as many as three Turkish destinations: Bodrum, Izmir, and Kusadasi.

Dubrovnik has also entered the selection for the world's best cruise destination. A total of 14 destinations from all continents were nominated, and Jamaica was re-elected as the best. In addition to this, Dubrovnik was nominated for the award of the leading European city destination at sea, which also included Barcelona, ​​Lisbon, Porto, Istanbul, and Venice.

The cruise industry around the world, including Croatia, has experienced a slight recovery this year. In the first nine months of this year, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics, 24 foreign cruise ships sailed into Croatian ports with 134 cruises. Of that number, most cruises were realized in Dubrovnik, a total of 111.

For more, check out our dedicated travel section.

December 10, 2021 - The cruise industry was one of the most affected due to the coronavirus pandemic, but this year Dubrovnik registered very positive numbers, with a cruise tax revenue estimated at almost 1.5 million kuna and would be invested in transport infrastructure to raise the standard of the destination.

As of January 1 this year, the City of Dubrovnik has started collecting tourist tax for cruise ships. It was announced back in 2019 when the relevant Ministry of Tourism introduced the so-called cruise tax.

After 2020, in which the cruise industry was paralyzed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, many were skeptical this year in the months before the start of the summer season, with unfavorable forecasts in a city that in normal circumstances usually receive hundreds of cruises during peak season.

HrTurizam reports that this year there were a total of 135 cruiser touches that had over 50 passengers on board and as such were subject to a fee. Thus, the total revenue of the tourist tax paid by ships on international cruises for 2021 is 1,463,000 kuna, of which 85% - 1,243,550 kuna belongs to the City of Dubrovnik, and 15% - 219,450 kuna belongs to the Dubrovnik-Neretva County.

These are earmarked funds that would be invested in transport infrastructure to raise the standard of the destination.

At a recent meeting with representatives of CLIA, the umbrella organization of cruise companies, Dubrovnik Mayor Mato Franković reported on the continuation of cruise tax revenue collection next year, where the City of Dubrovnik, as this year, will show flexibility in relation to the capacity of ships.

Namely, due to the fact that due to special safety protocols, conditioned by the COVID pandemic, cruise ships sailed mostly with only half the capacity, the Ministry of Tourism and Sports gave the opinion that, during these circumstances, the capacity of passengers on board the number of passengers on the ship calling at the port, not as the total capacity of the ship.

For more, check out our dedicated business section.

Cruise ships in Croatia continue to be a very problematic issue along the coast. With Dubrovnik, Croatia's southernmost city, having suffered the most, just how have cruise ships in Croatia affected the Croatian coast in 2019?

As Morski writes on the 12th of January, 2020, from January to November last year, 75 foreign cruise ships sailed into Croatian seaports up and down the coast, which realised a total of 710 voyages. A total of 1.1 million passengers were on board these enormous, environmentally damaging ships, spending a total of 1,413 days in the Republic of Croatia.

In Sibenik-Knin County, 1.6 percent of the country's total number of cruise ship visits were made, while Dubrovnik-Neretva County came first, rather unsurprisingly, with as much as 59.4 percent of Croatia's total cruise ship visits realised. The following are Split-Dalmatia County (25.6 percent), Zadar County (6.5 percent), Istria County (3.8 percent), and Primorje-Gorski kotar County (3.1 percent), according to the Central Bureau of Statistics.

When it comes to Dalmatian cities, Dubrovnik had the highest number of cruise ship visits last year, with 518 cruise ship visits, followed by Split with 267 visits and Zadar with 117 visits. This is followed by the southern Dalmatian island of Korcula with 101 arrivals, Hvar with 100 and Sibenik with 64 cruise ship arrivals from January to November last year. The lowest number of arrivals in that period took place in the Istrian city of Pula - with only 20, reports local portal SibenikIN.

The largest number of voyages by cruise ships in Croatia was realised by ships flying the flags of Malta (199 voyages) and the Bahamas (127 voyages), while the largest number of passengers arrived by vessels flying the flags of Panama (287 thousand passengers) and then again by Malta (258 thousand passengers).

From January to November 2019, the number of trips made by cruise ships in Croatia increased by 5.1 percent over the same period back in 2018, and the number of passengers jumped by 8.6 percent.

Make sure to follow our dedicated travel page for much more on cruise ships in Croatia.

Dubrovnik's cruise ship issues might finally be coming to a head as Croatia's southernmost city decides to impose sojourn taxes on the passengers of these giant, damaging vessels visiting the city.

As Marija Crnjak/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 24th of September, 2019, as of January the 1st, 2021, the City of Dubrovnik will formally introduce the payment of a sojourn tax for one-day visitors from cruise ships, as was decided by Dubrovnik's city council at its session on Monday this week.

As defined by the city's decision, the fee will be paid per ship, and the amount will vary depending on the size of the ship and/or on the vessel's passenger capacity, and it will average around 10 kuna per passenger.

Thus, ships with capacity from 50 to 200 passengers will pay 2,000 kuna in fees per ship, those which can carru up to 1,000 passengers will pay 10,000 kuna, while the largest ships which can carry 3,000 or even more passengers will pay a massive 40,000 kuna per visit fee to the City of Dubrovnik.

As stipulated by the Tourist Tax Act, the funds will be allocated so that 85 percent goes to the city itself and 15 percent to the wider county, in this case Dubrovnik-Neretva County, and will be used to improve public and tourist infrastructure and also be put towards sustainable development projects and programs, which Dubrovnik so desperately needs. It is estimated that around one million euros could be collected from these fees annually, pumping a more than decent amount into much needed infrastructure improvements and more.

As is well known, Croatia's tourism Mecca has recently aligned the rules for the 2020 season with representatives of the shipping companies and the international cruise ship association CLIA, and CLIA have also echoed their support for the introduction of this future system of taxation.

One measure and piece of news for next season is the introduction of cruise ship transportation to Pile and back with low-floor articulated buses, which we recently reported on.

''The shuttle service will be taken over by JGP Libertas, which will significantly reduce congestion on the roads, and better control the situation and prevent malpractices by the agencies,'' explained Mayor Mato Frankovic yesterday.

Make sure to follow our dedicated travel page for much more. If it's just Dubrovnik and the extreme south of Dalmatia you're interested in, give Total Dubrovnik a follow or check out Dubrovnik in a Page for all you need to know about the Pearl of the Adriatic.

Dubrovnik has suffered at the hands of the cruise ship industry for several years now. As the environment is threatened and the situation with these gigantic floating cities grows ever more problematic, Dubrovnik made several promises to limit the number of cruise ships allowed to enter the Port of Dubrovnik (Gruž), but the complaints just kept rolling in regardless of that fact. Has TUI provided an answer to this burning issue, at least partially?

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Marija Crnjak writes on the 17th of September, 2019, the City of Dubrovnik, TUI Cruise and the Global Cruisers Association CLIA organised a tour of TUI's Mein Schiff 6 cruiser in the port of Gruž on Monday this week, which outlined not only ultra-modern technology, but a very impressive environmental policy applied by the company on board their ships.

The southern Dalmatian city of Dubrovnik is the first city with which CLIA signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Tourism Sustainability back in July, which also envisages a joint tourism sustainability study in future.

According to Maria Deligianni of CLIA, cruise companies have invested around 22 billion euros globally in new environmental technologies, and TUI Cruise is the leader in this trend, with its youngest fleet and new technology designed for sustainable development.

"We understand the problem Dubrovnik has with the crowds and we want to be active in resolving it," she said. Among other things, the plan is to build a facility at the Gruž Harbour which will also aid in making the situation there a little less alarming.

We're working on a design solution. The Mein Schiff 6 boat we visited has a very strict environmental policy, they themselves produce seawater, purify sweage, separate waste, and the sulfur emissions from the fuel are at a minimal 0.1 percent,'' revealed Ivana Zore, environmental director at Mein Schiff, who is otherwise from the City of Split, another popular Croatian city which has been experiencing increasing issues with cruisers.

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