As you all know, the beautiful city of Dubrovnik is located along the sparkling waters of the Adriatic, and attracts people from all over the world for its bright blue sea, medieval walls and Game of Throne’s filming spots.

Tourism in Dubrovnik has sky rocketed in the past few years, and a lot of it has to do with the Game of Thrones’ filming locations, which brings 60,000 tourists a year just for that particular reason.

It was reported that in a single day in August of 2016, over 10,000 tickets were bought to walk Dubrovnik’s famous city walls. This heavy influx of tourism has caused excessive pollution, the destruction of animal habitats, and it overloads the infrastructure as well as threatens the culture and heritage of the city. The limestone of Stradun has been gradually smoothed down from thousands of people walking along it with each tourist season, so much so, that the city has had to manually create texture on the limestone with hammers to create some kind of slip resistance.

The prices of homes in Dubrovnik’s Old Town have increased because of the amount of houses being turned into Airbnb’s to accommodate tourists. This destroys a sense of community and inflates the price of property. It has been reported that today only 1,157 people call Dubrovnik's Old City home, compared to 5,000 in 1991. Many argue that Dubrovnik is on its way to become the next “Disneyland”, which has already happened in places like Venice, just across the Adriatic.

Along with the threat of the city turning into a place that does nothing but cater to its many foreign visitors, over construction along the coast is threatening the biodiversity of the land, as well as pollution from the thousands of visitors who walk through the streets of Dubrovnik each day. Dubrovnik is a beautiful city that has a rich history, and it's a no brainer why people want to go within the city’s walls. There needs to be a solution that allows visitors to travel to this uniquely alluring city on the Adriatic, but in a way in which such trends won't destroy the land and the culture.

Any tourist who is interested in planning their next trip to Dubrovnik should see if they're meeting a standard checklist that will keep over tourism from saturating the city. This checklist should make foreign travellers consider the following,

Is the place you are staying at owned by locals?
Are you supporting local businesses and contributing to the economy versus buying items at manufactured souvenir shops?
Are you participating in any excursions that do not respect the environment?
Are you respecting the locals’ culture?
Do you clean up after yourself when visiting the hiking trails or beaches?

By promoting and implementing the use of a kind of checklist for tourists to use to keep these questions in mind when visiting Dubrovnik, visitors and locals are ensuring that there is a way to coexist in a positive manner, where the economy can prosper, and continue to make Dubrovnik a thriving destination for people from all over the world. Making visitors aware of sustainable tourism through promotional advertisements or a simple brochure when they enter Dubrovnik’s walls has the potential to influence their actions.

By supporting local businesses, treating the land as if it were your own, and respecting Dubrovnik's way of life, it is ensuring that the long-term development of tourism in Dubrovnik is sustainable and promotes the harmony of the local economy, the environment and the cultural/social aspects of the city.

SOURCE(S): Overtourism in Dubrovnik from Responsible Travel. (n.d.). Retrieved here.

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

When it comes to results, Croatia's Include published an impressive 115 percent growth in revenue in the first quarter of the year, and an average selling price growth of almost 40 percent.

As Tomislav Pili/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 23rd of April, 2019, one of the main stars of the Croatian startup scene, entrepreneur Ivan Mrvoš, is continuing to impress. Just two years after Include's first capitalisation through Funderbeam, recapitalisation is about to happen again, aiming this time at almost ten times the amount. Before today's public announcement of the campaign, Include's main man revealed that his company, which is a top Croatian manufacturer of solar powered benches, is collecting part of the finances through Funderbeam while the other part will be provided by private investors.

"After the successful first round of investment back in 2017, when we raised about 3.5 million kuna with a 30 million kuna valuation, we decided to enter a new round of recapitalisation. We didn't set a fixed amount, but we expect that the investment will be at least 20 million kuna, with the potential to reach approximately 30 million kuna. As for Funderbeam's part of the investment, we're expecting to raise about 10 million kuna through the platform,'' said Include's boss Ivan Mrvoš. At the moment, he has secured about 10 million kuna from the Funderbeam platform and is actively discussing the additional funds with several potential investors, including private individuals and venture capital funds.

"Right now, I can't say which investors are involved, but they're people who have led or are currently leading various Croatian industries, which we consider to be a significant indicator," he pointed out. When asked how much shares in Include now sell for and how much the company is valued at, Include's founder explained that things are a bit different now than they were back in 2017.

"The company has four years of business behind it and some remarkable results have come to fruition, so we decided to hire one of the companies from ''The Big Four'' to do a valuation. What I can say is that it was a very intensive process that lasted for several months, and the company was estimated at 110 million kuna last week,'' says Mrvoš.

"The company ended last year with a positive result, and we also continued things successfully during the first quarter of this year, with 60,000 kuna of net profit," Mrvoš revealed.

The collected money will certainly go into the development of existing markets, but also to conquering new markets.

"We intend to strengthen our presence on existing markets and continue to build a global distribution network. In addition, we're beginning with the development of new products that will be complementary for the existing markets, and intended for those same markets, and we'll also get some more advanced equipment for our development and production activities,'' explained the talented young entrepreneur.

The trading of Include's tokens at Funderbeam was stopped on April the 1st this year due to campaign preparation, and the latest market price is 3.5 euros. The director of Funderbeam Damir Bićanić explained that the price of the shares will not be one euro as they usually are in Funderbeam's campaigns, but higher, meaning more specifically that they'll reflect the company's new valuation.

The leading investor, as was the case in 2017, will be Ivana Šoljan who says that Include will certainly pass at least one recapitalisation, and "hopefully maybe go to the stock market in the future.''

"Mr Ivan Mrvoš and his whole team have advanced tremendously. Organisationally, they did well, they wrote regular reports to investors, they're not late with deliveries, they plan things smartly - they're ready for a new round,'' concluded Šoljan.

Make sure to follow our dedicated business and Made in Croatia pages for much more.

Click here for the original article by Tomislav Pili for Poslovni Dnevnik

As Merien Ilic/Novac writes on the 23rd of April, 2019, while some can't wait for the Croatian tourist season to arrive, others see it approaching with tears in their eyes and with gritted teeth. The latter are, of course, Split's many tenants who in recent years, somewhere around this time of year, have begun to be afraid that they will be kicked out of the apartments they're renting and have to settle all of their bills, after having signed a contract (and one can only guess how much weight that really holds legally) and despite there having been no objections whatsoever to their behaviour as tenants.

Practice has shown that the euros which line the pockets of tourists are worth more than the kuna of Croatia's actual residents, so during the summer, beginning as early as the Easter holidays, numerous apartments are rented to foreign tourists who think nothing of paying multiple times what your regular Croatian tenant can pay for one month's rent.

Apartment ads which are in the "long-term" rent category are a real attraction indeed, and each and every genuine such ad is quickly snapped up, disappearing from the internet.

''I have more than 200 inquiries in my inbox and I've had about thirty calls in record time, so I apologise to anyone I didn't manage to get back to. I've just agreed to rent out my apartment. I wish you all luck in finding an apartment!'' stated one landlord in a group for the long-term rent of apartments in Split and its surrounding areas. The apartment in question was located in Sućidar, it looks tidy, has two bedrooms and was rented for 3000 kuna per month, plus the electricity and water supply. Realistically speaking, this was a real gem because such apartments, especially those that have been done up nicely, are very rare for such a price.

Those who are looking for a flat have drastically different experiences from the field.

''I'm giving up on searching in Split. We're a family of five and we have to move out of our rented apartment because the owners want to rent it to tourists, and the search for a new one is impossible. The price are sky high, and they look at us as a family of five with appehension. You can't find a respectable apartment under 500 euros,'' this was the unsettling experience of a tenant who was searching for a place Split's surroundings, and eventually found an advertisement for a nicely decorated apartment in Vranjic for 400 euros per month long term.

Social networking sites such as Facebook are full of common experiences of people who have come across apartments being rented at sky high prices by landlords, and which appear to not have even seen a paintbrush or some new wallpaper for the last few decades.

People describe being met with 40 year old rugs and carpets, furniture from the socialist era and landlords seeing no issue whatsoever with still wanting 400 euros plus bills for month for such apartments.

A social networking user detailed his personal experience:

''There was a flat for rent in Brda, "long term", in a private eighty square metre building. We went to look at it, everything was great, the woman seemed alright, and we were also alright. There were two of us and two other guys. The owner said she'd get back in touch with us because someone else was still coming look at the apartment too. I called her at noon today and she says to me, "I'm still thinking about it, we're a serious family, I'd prefer someone younger if we end up deciding that they need to move out earlier. It's easier to get younger people out of the apartment than it is with a family."

The second stated that tenants are unprotected and usually without a contract. Many landlords don't even register people renting, they don't pay taxes, and life tends to be the most difficult of all for students in the area searching for long-term accommodation during their studies at local universities.

As the situation in and around Split worsens all the more for would-be long term residents, a similar situation can be found in almost all of Croatia's tourist gems, with particular emphasis on Dubrovnik, a city which lives and breathes tourism and has continually put it far above any of the often very basic needs of its burdened residents for many years now.

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Click here for the original article by Merien Ilic for Novac/Jutarnji

Think you can predict the ending of GoT? Let the Unforgettable Croatia agency know!

If one thing has put Croatia on the map more than anything else for film and TV buffs, its the hit Game of Thrones series which has taken the world by storm, leading to countless visits to the many Croatian filming sites, particularly those in Dalmatia's southernmost city of Dubrovnik, which plays Kings Landing in the series, as well as Split.

While the Game of Thrones hysteria has been met with both positive and negative conclusions from residents of popular cities like Dubrovnik and Split, there is no doubt that economically speaking, Croatia has benefited beyond belief.

As Lider writes on the 19th of April, 2019, the British-American agency Unforgettable Croatia has announced a competition in which the task is to guess the ending of the wildly popular Game of Thrones (GoT) series and the reward for the one who manages to decifer the unfolding of the series' events will be rewarded with a trip to no less than GoT heaven - Croatia. So far, more than 5,000 people have sent Unforgettable Croatia their thoughts about who will take the throne at the end of the hit series.

The winner will be awarded a tourist-style tour of the various locations where the popular series was filmed across Croatia, more specifically Dalmatia, including Split, Klis, Hvar, Vis and Dubrovnik. Game of Thrones took off like few could have ever imagined, and the promotion that brought to Croatia was and remains unquantifiable. The first episode of the final season alone, which broadcast on Sunday attracted a record 11.8 million viewers.

Graham Carter, the owner of the British-American Unforgettable Croatia agency which launched the this GoT inspired competition, had his business in mind, which would further flourish by increasing the overall interest in travelling to Croatia. Every year, this agency brings about 5,000 passengers travel to Croatia, and they're hoping to increase that figure to 6,500 next year, as Carter revealed for Večernji list. Carter is currently residing in Split, where he is trying to establish a Croatian office for his the Unforgettable Croatia agency.

The winner of Unforgettable Croatia's competition will be offered half-board accommodation for a seven-day trip for two to Croatia, a tour of the Game of Thrones sites accompanied by a professional guide, and a visit to Hvar and Vis by sea. But there is, of course, a catch - the winner will not win the airplane tickets for travel, and they'll need to foot the bill for that themselves. 

GoT fan? Have your say! Click here.

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Pelješac is home to much more than just stunning views, golden sunsets and incredible wine, as if that wasn't enough. Home to a wide array of wildlife and many caves, this rugged peninsula in southern Dalmatia is as interesting academically as it is beautiful on the surface, and 2019 brings with it yet another biospeleological expedition of the area.

As Morski writes on the 19th of April, 2019, field research across the entire Pelješac peninsula was conducted at the end of 2018, in close cooperation with the public institution for the management of protected areas of nature of Dubrovnik-Neretva County, the Croatian Biospeleology Society and the Breganja Association. The announcement of the beginning of the second such biospeleological expedition - Pelješac 2019, has arrived, which has been being held since the 19th of April 2019 and will continue until May the 1st, 2019.

In the scope of the Pelješac expedition this year, the plans are to explore this rocky area's numerous caves and pits located along different parts of the peninsula and to obtain more detailed information on the distribution of certain groups and species living underground and within said caves. The expedition is likely to gather more than sixty researchers from around the entire region, meaning it will take on a much more international character, and will include the exploration of speleological ocations across the whole of the Pelješac peninsula.

The goals of the expedition include the detailed sampling and photographing the cave fauna as well as topography and the further exploration of newly found pits and caves.

On the two terrains that preceded the main expedition, the emphasis was placed on finding caves and pits known only in literature and by Pelješac's local population. Over twenty caves and pits of various sizes and in numerous locations were explored during the last such expedition, caves suitable for exploration to seek out any animal species living there were recorded, cave fauna was collected, and entry and exit coordinates were noted.

During this expedition, over 100 hundred known caves across the Pelješac peninsula will be explored.

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A brand new building is set to be built down in Dubrovnik as a mosque for the religious needs of almost 1,500 people who identify as Muslims (according to the 2011 census) will be constructed.

As Al Jazeera Balkans writes on the 16th of April, 2019, the Islamic centre which will be located in the Gruž area of the City of Dubrovnik should become a reality in just two years, according to a report from Dubrovacki dnevnik.

As soon as all of the required documentation is dealt with and settled, the construction of the mosque, complete with a minaret, is likely to begin, which is not expected to last for a particularly long time. For now, building permits are being waited on.

The future mosque's location will be at a space on the site of former GP Dubrovnik in Gruž, the project foresees the construction of a mosque complete with a minaret, which will be built in Mediterranean or Moroccan style.

"The project will go its way, it will not take long until we get the construction permit, so we're currently preparing the paperwork, and everything will be ready for construction in two years. We have to emphasise the fact that we in the Islamic community have great cooperation with the city authorities which have been coming to meet with us,'' said the Islamic Community's president, Fehim Vukotić.

The construction of an Islamic center is a long-term desire of Dubrovnik's resident Muslim population, of whom in Dubrovnik, at least according to the census of 2011, there are 1,499. That number has likely risen since then.

By building an Islamic center and a mosque with a minaret, there will finally be a place dedicated to numerous social content and events for the southern Dalmatian city's local Muslim community, as well as prayer rooms.

Make sure to follow our dedicated lifestyle page for much more. If it's just Dubrovnik and the extreme south of Dalmatia you're interested in, give Total Dubrovnik a follow. Need ideas for what to do when visiting the Pearl of the Adriatic, check out Dubrovnik in a Page.

As Morski writes on the 15th of April, 2019, the Mediterranean Festival of Books, a book fair with a sales and festival nature will be organised by the Association of Publishers and Bookstores of the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK) and under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture, Split-Dalmatia County and the City of Split, will be held from the 8th to the 12th of May, 2019.

A record 100 exhibitors will be offering discounted books with up to seventy percent off, with around 10,000 titles to choose from.

As always, entrance is free and during the five days of the festival, you will be able to see the latest publications covering a space of more than two thousand square metres in the large hall of ŠC (Arena) Gripe, and there are also three other stages where the Mediterranean Festival of Books program will take place.

In addition to the well-known Bookvarij and Mali Bookvarij locations where children's workshops, panel discussions and a professional program will be held, the evening part of this event related to all things books will also be located at the "Cukarin" hospitality facility in Gripe.

Fifty program activities have been prepared, and the expectation is for as many as 35 promotions of the latest works of some award-winning and acclaimed authors to take place.

Among other things, this year's Mediterranean Festival of Books program will include panels consisting of prominent lecturers who will talk about important local topics, and there will of course be a multitude of workshops for the youngest among the festival's visitors on offer. Numerous promotions for new children's editions are also being planned.

All information and a detailed oveview of the Mediterranean Festival of Books 2019 program with its workshop schedule is available here, as well as having been published on the event's official Facebook page and on Instagram.

The Mediterranean Book Festival is being organised with the support of numerous partners such as the Split Tourist Board, Split University, Split Student Centre, the Split Sports Facilities public institution, Hotel Zagreb - Split, Cukarin Gripe, Slobodna Dalmacija, Europlakat, Mandis, CineStar, Barcaffè, CedevitaGo, and Kala.

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From the construction of Pelješac bridge to planning to build a car factory in southern Dalmatia's Neretva valley, to displaying interest in potentially rescuing the enfeebled Croatian shipyards Uljanik and 3 Maj, the Chinese are no strangers to showcasing their investment interest in Croatia.

Croatia has earned itself a less than positive reputation among foreign investors, alright, let's not be so politially correct and say that Croatia is a burning hot mess in the eyes of foreign investors. ABC has come to mean ''Anything but Croatia'' in foreign investment circles, and many are simply bypassing the country entirely. That's not to talk about local, Croatian investors who have been dragged through the proverbial mud twice or even thrice the amount. Given the somewhat depressing statistics, just why are the Chinese suddenly so deeply interested in investing such huge sums of money in Croatia?

While many have welcomed the money-laden offers of the Chinese, others have remained cautiously optimistic, and some have made no qualms about being vocal in their dismay at the thought of the Chinese coming and ''taking over'' by investing heavily in Croatia's many pressing strategic projects. The motives that push the Chinese towards closer and closer ties with Croatia tend to end up as mere hearsay and solacious gossip in the comment sections of various portals, but what do the experts believe?

As Novac/Marina Karlovic Sabolic writes on the 12th of April, 2019, the Chinese are truly incredible people. They come to Croatia every ten years, and the Croats immediately forget about all of the Chinese "bofl" goods they've spent their lives purchasing and throwing away. They suddenly become blissfully unaware of the dreaded "Made in China" mark that everyone gets so sick to the back teeth of seeing plastered all over basically anything. Instead, their innermost desires display blurry images of an ailing Uljanik, of Tito's rotting memorial complex in Kumrovec, of Rijeka's port, and even football stadiums, Slobodna Dalmacija writes.

Does anybody bother to ask in this country what the Chinese will ask for in return, however? Entering into the dubious and somewhat unpredictable world of Croatian shipbuilding, constructing a much needed railway line and maybe rescuing a port in Rijeka all before dinner time will come with a price tag, and likely a hefty one. The situation when that bill inevitably arrives is one that tends to be what fills the militant online naysayers with fuel, and dread.

''Don't be afraid, China will not demand that the Communist Party be established in Croatia or that it rules the country,'' prof. Dr. Vlatko Cvrtila, one of the most prominent Croatian geopolitical experts, stated. He also added that in its long-term strategic plans, China really doesn't have any sort of idea of ​​introducing a single-party system in the countries in which it invests its money. Their interest, claims Cvrtila, is of quite another nature.

''The Chinese don't invest because they have a lot of money and they want to go around giving it out. There's no philanthropy in international relations. All they invest in is related to their global strategy of creating influence and linking the Eurasian world in a continental way. By investing in infrastructure, ports, roads and railways, they enable their goods to reach their customers more easily,'' says Cvrtila.

Such an approach, he points out, is legitimate for a country that has boasts such great economic potential at this time like China does. Their mega-project, the Silk Road, which would increase the possibility of land transport, aims to reduce overall dependence on maritime traffic restrictions.

Cvrtila notes the US administration's estimates and warnings that China will one day turn its massive economic influence into strategic power as well. This is something that United States, which is already competing with Russia, doesn't think well of. However, China is now quietly placing all of its cards on the economic side of the story.

''In order to maintain its economic growth, China must have a market. In infrastructure projects, they actually make the market more widespread. China can't stop, while it's riding the bike it needs to rotate the pedals. The Chinese are present everywhere where they can create prerequisites for the distribution of goods. In Greece, they're in the ports, in Montenegro, they're dealing with the construction of a motorway, in Croatia, they're building Pelješac bridge. This is a win win situation for everyone, because in the long run, any investment in infrastructure can improve a country's economic performance,'' says Cvrtila.

China has, therefore, created the 1 + 16 formet in Southeastern Europe where its usually large-scale investments help countries that otherwise don't have a lot of foreign investment.

''Europe has survived a difficult financial crisis and there is no "free finance" which would enter JI Europe. China's investment is actually beneficial for Europe, because along with China, the European Union has developed non-competitive but increasingly strategic economic relations, realising in time that they [the Chinese] can contribute to its economic growth,'' emphasises Cvrtila.

Croatia, according to him, is fortunate because it is strategically quite well positioned: it is closer to the heart of Europe than it is to Northern Europe. And, de facto, it is located at the intersection of the roads between the East and the West.

Unfortunately, Croatia hasn't used its geostrategic advantage yet. LNG terminal stands, as do the new train lines. It's also important to revitalise the Port of Rijeka so that Croatia can profit in the fast transport of goods to European consumers. We don't have our own investments, Europe has no capacity anymore, which is why the Croatian Government is seriously considering deals from China,'' concludes Cvrtila.

Therefore, there's no need for Croatia to be afraid of the Chinese, but rather actually use them for its own interests.

Make sure to follow our dedicated business page for more information on Chinese-Croatian relations, Chinese business plans in Croatia, and much, much more.

Click here for the original article by Marina Karlovic Sabolic for Novac/Jutarnji

Dubrovnik is no stranger to winning awards and you're probably used to reading about it, but this area in the extreme south of Dalmatia continues to fascinate the world for an abundance of reasons. From its stunning natural beauty and crystal clear sea, to its rich history and equally impressive culture, the Pearl of the Adriatic and its immediate surrounding area just keep on making the world's jaws drop.

This time however, it isn't just the famous Dalmatian UNESCO protected old city and its mighty walls which are taking home yet another award for a promotional film made about its unique beauty, but the wider area of Dubrovnik-Neretva County. This truly picturesque part of southern Croatia boasts an almost equal amount of natural beauty and history, and from Ston to Konavle next to the Montenegrin border, you'll likely have your breath taken away multiple times.

As Morski writes on the 11th of April, 2019, the brand new promotional film from the Dubrovnik-Neretva County Tourist Board, ''Dubrovnik Riviera'' continues to win awards and receive recognition from all sides. To be more precise, at the 2019 New York Festivals® International Film and TV awards festival, which was held in Las Vegas, Nevada, the promo film showcasing Dubrovnik-Neretva County's sheer beauty came third place and won the bronze plaquette.

To briefly recall, at the recent ''The Golden City Gate'' ceremony in Berlin, Germany, at the biggest international ITB World Tourism Fair, the promotional film came second place in the category of regional films, the film has been made by Balduci Film from Zagreb, was directed by Herve Tirmarche and produced by Spomenka Saraga. The film depicts the beauty of Dubrovnik-Neretva County from the Neretva valley, to the islands of Korčula and Mljet, and then Croatia's southernmost municipality of Konavle, which borders Montenegro.

Make sure to follow our dedicated lifestyle and travel pages for much more. If it's just Dubrovnik and southern Dalmatia you're interested in, have a look at Dubrovnik in a Page for everything you need to know about the Rearl of the Adriatic.

What do Croatian and international travellers think of their hosts when staying in private accommodation? How do they rate them, how much interaction is too much and are privacy and inside information the key?

As Lea Balenovic/Novac writes on the 9th of April, 2019, almost two thirds of Croats believe that the host is a key factor when staying in an accommodation facility, and those who are the best rated in the Republic of Croatia, both from domestic and foreign guests, can be found in in Rakovica, Osijek, Bibinje, Korenica, Kaštela, Makarska, Brela, Senj, Trogir and Podstrana.

They are the results of research conducted by the world's leading rental company, Booking.com, on a sample of 21,500 travellers worldwide. As the survey showed, 63 percent of international travellers and 62 percent of Croatian travellers think that their stay was better because of their engagement of the host who did everything they could to make it a better stay for them.

Most travellers want to feel "at home," as they have indicated in such surveys. For 62 percent of international travellers, the main advantage of non-hotel accommodation is the ability to take advantage of the knowledge and information available from the host and decide to stay in a property owned by someone who actually comes from the region in which the property is located. The same goes for 48 percent of Croatian travellers.

Nearly half of the international travellers who partook in the survey, or more specifically 45 percent of them, and 59 percent of Croatian travellers consider the local knowledge and information at their disposal from their host important for their overall budget because they hope to be given insider advice that will help them save some cash and avoid potential tourist traps.

However, while it seems that all travellers who took part in this survey generally consider the same things to be significant, each traveller is looking for a different type of engagement from their host. Therefore, some travellers are satisfied with a simple warm welcome, while others have slightly higher expectations from their hosts.

For example, 52 percent of international passengers and 40 percent of Croatian travellers believe that their host should only be seen once during their stay in order to make them feel welcome, and more than a third of international travellers and almost the same number of Croatian travellers expect their hosts to contact them only during their arrival, registration, and then again when they eventually check out and leave the premises.

What is often even more challenging to hosts is the fact that many travellers also expect them to have some sort of sixth sense and know just how much of a personal touch is needed for each traveller. 69 percent believe that hosts should intuitively know the right amount of time they should be spending with their guests, and that is also what 73 percent of Croatian travellers think. For four out of five international travellers and the same number of travellers from Croatia that means respecting their need for personal space, which means that the feeling of privacy is key.

The hosts also agree. Namely, nearly 80 percent of Croatian hosts think that the most important thing for guests is to be able to properly ensure their privacy.

"Our research reveals that it's very important for the owners and managers of accommodation facilities to find a balance which ensures the best experience, regardless of whether guests are staying in a vacation home, an apartment, in accommodation with their hosts or any other type of facility," explained Olivier Grémillon, the vice president of Booking.com, adding the fact thatt "what is crystal clear is that there is nothing like the ability of ordinary people to turn something into an unforgettable experience."

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

Click here for the original article by Lea Balenovic for Novac/Jutarnji