August 18, 2022 - Osijek's tourism workers follow world trends to keep up with the times and, of course, to be even more competitive in the global tourism market. This is confirmed by the example of Jasmina Krkić Poznić, the owner of Guesthouse Maksimilian, in Franjevačka Street, Tvrđa, who has just announced that accommodation and stay in the facilities can be paid for with cryptocurrencies.

Glas Slavonije spoke to Jasmina. “Paying for accommodation with cryptocurrencies from now on in our boutique. In step with the times. We might be located in a historic building, but our spirit is young. Cryptocurrency players welcome #cryptocurrency #wherecanIspendBitcoin #paycek”, says as of this week the Facebook page of Guesthouse Maksimilian, which, precisely thanks to the skill and courage of its owners to always combine modern and traditional, in the past seven or eight years has received valuable recognition from travellers who ranked it among the 25 best in Croatia, among the top 10 in Croatia in terms of hospitality, and several other recognitions that gain additional meaning, because they come from guests, service users, or tourists themselves.

It is thus not surprising that Maksimilian is the first guesthouse in Osijek that allowed payment with cryptocurrencies, but also among the few in all of Croatia that decided to take that step.

“I've been thinking about this for a year and a half, actually since the possibility of paying with cryptocurrencies appeared”, says Krkić Poznić, adding that in the end, she came to the position that paying with cryptocurrencies is a “full-time job”. “I was researching models of how we could introduce the possibility of paying for our services with cryptocurrencies. I realised that cryptocurrencies are used by a very large number of people in the world, but recently also in our country and that there is a need to use them in everyday life to buy goods and pay for services, to simplify things. In the past month, the boys who prepared the technical solution and the application found me”, explains Krkić Poznić, meaning a virtual currency exchange app.

According to her, she will not see cryptocurrencies at any time.

“Unfortunately, or fortunately, I will not even see cryptocurrencies, because the guest pays with virtual currency through the application, and I receive the full amount in kuna at the same time. I don't have any contact with cryptocurrencies, the virtual exchange that takes them, and they pay me in kuna to the amount of the issued invoice. They, therefore, take on the business risk of trading cryptocurrencies” says Jasmina, emphasizing that he does not even know what model or “exchange rate” this is based on.

When asked if there is any risk of loss of value or fraud in the transaction, Jasmina says no, as the moment she issues the bill to the guest for the service used, the entire amount in kuna is credited to her account.

“If there even was a way of paying with cryptocurrencies in Croatia, I would be in trouble, because I am not familiar with the management of virtual money. On the other hand, there are more and more people who own cryptocurrencies and want to use them. In our country, too, some gas stations, retail chains, and post offices accept cryptocurrency, according to the same principle as I do. It's a local company and if big players work with them, then that's enough of a guarantee for me”, claims Jasmina.

Considering that payment with cryptocurrencies has taken off in our country, it is logical that our tourism employees adapt to the new conditions, as well as to the wishes of tourists. Those who have even a superficial understanding of the world of cryptocurrencies say that it is a simpler and far safer way of payment than when you must carry cash or cards with you. For now, the only drawback is that there are still very few places that accept “virtual money” as a payment currency.

“I don't think that there will be a big rush of cryptocurrency owners, but they should be given the opportunity no matter how much we might shy away from change. There is, however, a whole world of IT people and cryptocurrency owners who like to travel, go on excursions, and go to good restaurants. For these people, the fact that they can pay in cryptocurrencies can be the deciding factor when choosing their destination”, Jasmina Krkić Poznić concludes with satisfaction.

60 booked for autumn

Although summer is not a peak period for tourism on the continent, Jasmina was asked how this part of the season was going, and how the preparations are going for autumn, which local tourism workers are looking forward to.

This year there are just as many tourists as there were before the pandemic. There are even more domestic guests, she claims, recalling that before the pandemic, a significant number of guests in the summer period were tourists from Australia and New Zealand.

“They haven't come back yet. More domestic guests are coming, and I notice that the profile of the guests is also changing. We were rarely a destination where people would come for holidays, it was mostly about travelling. They would stay for a night on their way to the south, however, this year some tourists would stay up to three or four days. French and Italian and those who don't like crowds look for solitude and don't want to go to the sea. Such people discover us” says owner Maksimiliana with satisfaction.

She reminds us that autumn, that is, September - October, is their full season.

“We are already about 60 percent booked. Business events, meetings, seminars, congresses, conferences are starting, plus the tourist part, we are ready to welcome all our dear guests” she points out.

How good is your knowledge of eastern Croatia? Take the CROMADS test above - how many places do you recognise?

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May 21, 2022 - It's been one week since the world's first NFT-enabled Web3 festival was held at Amadria Park Hotel Ivan in Šibenik, transforming Croatia into the crypto capital of the world. TCN spoke to BlockDown Croatia founder Erhan Korhaliller to find out why Šibenik was chosen as the lucky location to highlight the exploding phenomenon of Web3. 

BlockDown Croatia was held at Amadria Park Hotel Ivan from May 11 to 13 to focus on the Web3 world, particularly the metaverse, NFTs, gaming, and the role of DAOs in how we work, and play and socialize.

NFTs functioned as the tickets for the festival where participants were able to unlock exclusive experiences, connecting the potential of the metaverse with the real world. Attendees came to Šibenik from more than 50 countries, with 45 speakers, ten keynote sessions, presentations, panels, exhibitions, prizes, networking sessions hosted by figureheads in the industry, afternoon boat parties, VIP lunches and dinners, NFT galleries, and dinners at St. Michael's fortress. It was three days packed with innovative discussions and next-level networking, bringing together professionals, entrepreneurs, regulators, prominent industry executives, and investors from all parts of the world.

"Unlike existing industry events, we plan to take our attendees on a three-day trip into another universe, where the excitement and energy of the Web3, NFT, and metaverse worlds collide in a feast for the senses," said BlockDown festival founder Erhan Kohallier before the event, emphasizing that this was the first-ever NFT enabled Blockchain conference. 

And it was Šibenik to have this honor. 

TCN was one of the lucky conference attendees and got to catch up with BlockDown founder Erhan Kohallier on the conference's final day to learn more. 

'I'm 31 and spent a lot of time in Croatia in my early 20s going to festivals and always loved how beautiful it is, how warm the people are, and had special memories here. I knew that I wanted to do an event here at some point in my career - little did I know that it would be a crypto event. We launched BlockDown because of lockdown (blockchain + lockdown), and we launched it as a virtual event to put smiles on people's faces. We did six virtual events, and this was our first in-person event. All of the concepts we have tried to do on virtual streams have been upbeat, an event for the people, creative and fun. We wanted to bring that into the real world."

But why Šibenik?

"We didn't want to do this in a city center or Miami or London as there are so many of them already. We were scouting locations and looking for places in Europe specifically as we felt that Europe needed an NFT/Web3 festival, which doesn't exist here. There are loads in the US but barely any in Europe. So it came down to Portugal and Croatia. We were looking for a convention center with a main stage that could hold 1500 people. This convention center in Šibenik had that. Then we shortlisted the locations in Portugal and Croatia to see what else they could offer, and when I came to Amadria Park, my jaw hit the floor. The natural beauty of this place is insane. While we spent a fair amount on production, we almost didn't need to because everything here is already beautiful. That helped us with the festival vibe. Every area gives you a different vibe. I wanted people to meet more naturally as opposed to being rushed. We wanted to add elements like sound healing and yoga, beach bar happy hours, boat parties, and events outside of the actual conference," said Kohallier.

"Everyone commented on how amazing this location is. And I've never been to an event in crypto or even outside of crypto that is this beautiful. But what people loved is that this conference wasn't solely tied to 9-5 in the convention center. We ended all panels in the early afternoon so attendees could enjoy the outdoors here and the beautiful days. I've also had incredible feedback about the actual attendees. The conference had a laid-back vibe which was a positive. No one felt the pressure to have to network; it was done in a more natural way and environment."

Did you encounter any issues in Croatia?

"I realized it's not easy to do things outside of Zagreb as much of what we needed for this event came from Zagreb, from the production team to the dancers. That caused us some roadblocks, but I love a challenge. It was all part of the process and made this event more rewarding for me. We managed to work through everything."

Will BlockDown stay in Šibenik?

"I am not 100% sure as we want to bring BlockDown to other areas of the world. We are also looking to take it into Asia, Bali - other beautiful natural settings, and emerging markets like South America and Africa. The idea is that we have the teams in place now, and we keep scaling up. Maybe we have an event every three months with multiple teams working on them. I would love to do something in Croatia again. Having the first in-person BlockDown in Šibenik is a testament to how beautiful Šibenik and the area are. After meeting so many wonderful people in Croatia, this event can only improve." 

You can keep up with BlocDown here.

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