Excellent news at the very dawn of the brand new year for Donje Čelo on the island of Koločep (Kalamota) as a huge cash injection for port infrastructure is on its way. Getting enough cash for Croatian islands is something in the forefront of the minds of many, and this move will work to ensure higher quality for all.

Koločep is one of a group of islands close to the mainland known as the Elaphite (Elafiti) islands, made up of Koločep, Lopud and Šipan, which lie just north of the City of Dubrovnik. The islands attract many visitors on the numerous excursions which leave from the popular Pearl of the Adriatic on a daily basis during the warm summer months.

As Morski writes on the 11th of January, 2019, the Ministry of Maritime Affairs, Transport and Infrastructure has decided on allowing the financing of a massive 24 million kuna's worth of renovation and reconstruction works for Donje Čelo's port on the southern Dalmatian island of Koločep, in a move conducted by the County Port Authority of Dubrovnik. 

This is otherwise one of the eight local and regional port projects that Dubrovnik-Neretva County is preparing for owing to very welcome funding from non-refundable European Union funds, meaning that while standards are still not matching those on the mainland cash for Croatian islands is no longer just a pipe dream.

More cash for Croatian islands will be channelled through further projects currently planned for the Perna port in Orebić, Polačište on the island of Korčula, Trpanj harbour in the Trpanj Municipality, Prigradica in the Blato Municipality, a ferry-passenger terminal in Vela Luka and Luka Ubli on the island of Lastovo. The total value of the aforementioned projects stands at about sixty million euros, as has been reported from Dubrovnik-Neretva County.

Stay up to date by following our dedicated lifestyle page. If it's just Dubrovnik and the extreme south of Dalmatia you're interested in, don't forget to give Total Dubrovnik a follow.

We're sure that a disgruntled huff can be heard across various platforms when greeted with the unwelcome news that the Dubrovnik city walls' entrance fee has risen once again.

Dubrovnik is a bit of a paradoxical city. Known for being shamefully expensive yet also boasting some of the cheapest lesser known locations in all corners of the city, many tourists consider the sheer beauty and history that makes Dubrovnik what it is to be overshadowed by its often extortionate prices.

Having lived in Dubrovnik for several years before relocating to Zagreb, I can say with some confidence that this talk of everything being ultra-expensive isn't entirely true, and that Dubrovnik's story certainly isn't that black and white.

Regardless, seeing the price of enjoying a cold beer on Stradun is enough to make anyone jump to such rash conclusions about the famed Pearl of the Adriatic and its continuous descent into the almost Disneyland-like misery of its own wild success.

The Dubrovnik city walls, a truly magnificent medieval structure surrounding the heart of the UNESCO protected old city, are by no means left out of this age old conversation on pricing, having faced several price hikes over the past several years, it comes as no real surprise to learn that the City of Dubrovnik has raised the entrance fee yet again.

As Morski writes on the 6th of January, 2019, the Society of Friends of Dubrovnik Antiquities, in agreement with the City of Dubrovnik, have introduced a new price tag for the entrance to Dubrovnik's city walls. As of January this year, visitors will need to fork out 200 kuna per person for the visit, instead of the previous amount of 150 kuna, which was already met with complaints by many.

The new decision has also abolished discounts for groups. The Society of Friends of Dubrovnik Antiquities, in addition to the Dubrovnik city walls, manages several other historical sites across the wider Dubrovnik-Neretva County, and each location managed by the society, growth in visits has been recorded. Otherwise, about 1.3 million visitors visited the Dubrovnik city walls in 2018, according to a report from RTL.

Make sure to stay up to date by following our dedicated lifestyle page. If it's just Dubrovnik you're interested in, keep up with all you need to know by following Total Dubrovnik.

An unusual visitor in the waters of Croatia's southernmost city of Dubrovnik as a large Canadian warship arrives to ring in the New Year. 

As Morski writes on the 30th of December, 2018, the Canadian frigate, named HMCS Ville de Québec, has arrived in Croatia's popular destination of the Pearl of the Adriatic. On this occasion, Captain Scott Robinson and his associates were received by Dubrovnik-Neretva County's prefect (HDZ), Nikola Dobroslavić, and Dubrovnik's mayor (HDZ), Mato Franković.

The captain of the Canadian vessel, Scott Robinson, stated that the ship intends to remain in Dubrovnik until January the 2nd, 2019, and that this New Year will be celebrated on the land with the rest of us, considering that he and his crew awaited Christmas at sea.

The Canadian captain also mentioned that he is sailing mostly along the eastern Mediterranean and that they have otherwise passed through Egypt, Syria, Israel, Turkey, Greece, Spain and Portugal so far, but admits that the dramatic and rugged Croatian coast is the most impressive waters the ship and its crew have entered yet.

The Canadian vessel is able to dock and ''reside'' in the Republic of Croatia, more specifically the City of Dubrovnik, owing to the bilateral military cooperation between the Croatian Navy and the Royal Canadian Navy. The ship's delegation was also accompanied by a Croatian officer for the international military cooperation of the Croatian Navy, Davor Gardun.

Otherwise, HMCS Ville de Québec is a Halifax class frigate and has been serving the both the Royal Canadian Navy and the Canadian forces since back in 1993. 

Make sure to stay up to date with our dedicated news and lifestyle pages for everything you need to know about what's going on up and down the country, from news reports to in depth articles on business, cultural events, politics, the diaspora and much more. 

If it's just Dubrovnik you're interested in, make sure to follow Total Dubrovnik.

In line with its reputation for being expensive in all manners, flat tax is set to rise in Dubrovnik next year, much to the dismay of the city's very many private renters.

As Marija Crnjak/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 27th of December, 2018, although private renters have already argued that the new law on income tax will significantly increase their burdens, based on the decisions taken by local authorities, it seems that only a few will actually decide to go for more drastic measures in the next year, while a good deal of 2019's taxes will remain at this year's level.

According to the results of Poslovni Dnevnik's mini poll, it would appear that only Dubrovnik will see the flat tax rate increase significantly, with projections suggesting that the optimal amount will be 750 kuna for renters in ''tourist class A'' areas, which along with Dubrovnik includes Orašac, the nearby islands of Lopud and Koločep (Kalamota), as well as Šipanska Luka.

In addition, increases in the aforementione tax are expected in Bol on the island of Brač, but at this moment in time the amount isn't known. Most of the local self-government units that Poslovni Dnevnik contacted stated that they still have to create a draft proposal for a decision on the flat tax amount.

All of them are waiting for a new order to come into force, which defines the method of the determining and the calculating of flat tax. After that, the decision-making procedure on the amount of flat tax will be launched, which takes us into 2019, and could be possible by the end of January next year.

As stipulated by the law, from the present maximum amount of 300 kuna, the flat tax amount can't be less than 150 kuna, or more than 1500 kuna per bed or accommodation unit in a camp or Robinson accommodation.

A decision should still needs to be made by by Rovinj, Zadar, Split, and Pag. At the meeting of the leaders of the local self-government units of the Opatija Riviera (Opatija, Lovran, Matulji and Mošćenička Draga), a single amount of flat tax per bed or accommodation unit was agreed in mid December, and the highest amount of flat tax was 345 kuna, corresponding to the flat tax amount of sojourn fees for 2019.

The highest amount of flat tax will of course be reported by those areas in Croatia which are classified as class A tourist destinations, they state from Opatija, which will also formalise its decision after the adoption of the order.

The Mayor of the City of Poreč will send a proposal to the City Council that the flat tax for rent per bed or accommodation unit in a camp remains the same as it is to date, ie 300 kuna per bed, and 350 kuna per accommodation unit in a camp.

The City of Šibenik has stated that the flat tax rate will not alter. Similarly, the flat tax rate has no intention of being raised in the Primošten municipality either. Responses from Zagreb, Novalja, Crikvenica, Hvar, and Mali Lošinj are still awaited.

Make sure to stay up to date with our dedicated lifestyle and business pages for much more.

Click here for the original article by Marija Crnjak for Poslovni Dnevnik

Back in the 90s, Dubrovnik, best known today for being the Pearl of the Adriatic, was an entirely different place. Ravaged by war and under attack from the JNA (Yugoslav People's Army) and their Serbian and Montenegrin helpers, who made sure to not only burn houses, but to steal from them too, Croatia's southernmost city suffered one of its most devastating attacks on this very day, back on the 6th of December, 1991.

As Morski writes on the 6th of December, 2018, today will remain scarred into history's bloody memory as the day when the City of Dubrovnik was defended. The attack, which began on Friday, December the 6th, 1991, at 5:50 am, saw the JNA put its weight behind its senseless and barbaric attack on the Croatian city of the arts. The aggressors launched a horrendous assault on the beloved UNESCO World Heritage site, showering the city with blows from the sea and the land, assisted by heavy weaponry including cannons, mortars, and tanks.

The JNA's end goal was to weaken and break Dubrovnik's last line of defense from the former Hotel Belvedere, which now lies in ruin as a star reminder of this shameful assault, to Sustjepan, located along Rijeka Dubrovačka. On just that day, more than 600 Yugoslav Army grenades rained down on the city's historic core, killing and injuring along their way. The JNA, Serbia and Montenegro were quickly met with international condemnation following this act of terrorism, with Serbia and Montenegro ostracised by the European Community, and by the world.

As the fires caused by the attack didn't take long spread across the city, a group of veterans located at Srđ's Fort Imperijal, a Napoleonic building at the very top of the mountain, managed to fend off the brutal and relentless Yugoslav attacks and prevent the defeat of Dubrovnik's last defense, today marks the solemn anniversary, and we honour and celebrate Dubrovnik's War Veterans Day, as Dubrovniknet reports.

During this primitive and unjustifiable attack, nineteen people lost their lives, and sixty were injured, some very seriously. Nine of Dubrovnik's buildings burned, and the damage to the UNESCO World Heritage site's historic core was vast, as it was throughout the rest of the city. At 16:00, the relentless attack ended, with the JNA accepting defeat and finally withdrawing. The courage and the enormous sacrifice of Dubrovnik's war veterans is the reason the city is as it is today.

Pavle Strugar, a former JNA General, was sentenced and rightly put behind bars at the Hague International Tribunal for failing to take command of responsibility during the horrific JNA attack on Dubrovnik on this day back in 1991. Miodrag Jokić also pleaded guilty to six counts of the charges against the JNA for the attack on Dubrovnik, he was also sentenced and jailed.

Make sure to follow Total Dubrovnik for more on the Pearl of the Adriatic.

With plastic pollution continuing to be an ever growing threat to the world's seas and oceans, the EU has ramped up its overall efforts to make sure member states do their jobs. Croatia has been carrying out numerous beach and sea bed cleanups up and down the coast, mainly in the pre and post season but also in the summer. The latest praiseworthy Dubrovnik eco action has seen some ever concerning items dragged from the sea.

As Morski writes on the 2nd of December, 2018, under the organisation of the Dubrovnik Tourist Board and the Dubrovnik Diving Club, yet another Dubrovnik eco action was held, this time at the location of the old town port, where the seabed was cleared of its various types of rubbish. The waste extracted from the sea bed was made up of a variety of plastic and glass bottles, all the way to much larger, bulkier items such as rubber tires and sponges, according to a report from the local portal Dubrovniknet.

One very concerning fact about this particular Dubrovnik eco action is that one of the most commonly found items were rubber tyres from various types of vehicles, this should no longer be the case since there is a recycling company in Croatia which deals specifically with old and unwanted tyres.

Old tyres such as those found during the latest Dubrovnik eco action in the medieval city's famous old port can be left for authorised regional collectors to come and get them, who then send such types of waste to have the rubber content recycled for many other items, as the further application of such material is largely beneficial in many different economic activities and sectors, including construction, infrastructure, playgrounds, and much more.

Make sure to keep up to date with our dedicated lifestyle page for more information like this. If you're interested in keeping up with just what Croatia is doing to protect the environment, follow Total Eco Croatia. If it's just the Pearl of the Adriatic you're interested in, stay up to date with Total Dubrovnik.

Click here for the original article by Dubrovniknet.hr

As Morski writes on the 24th of November, 2018, a meeting of the technical working group in the framework of the ECO-NautiNET web project was held in Dubrovnik on November the 20th and 21st, in which the needs of the website's users were discussed. Through the ECO-NautiNET project, activities are being carried out to improve the competitiveness and innovation of small and medium-sized companies in the nautical sector, as well as acting as a means to support their internationalisation and networking abilities.

The meeting saw the presentation of the results of the research conducted so far between the four target groups - the small and medium-sized companies from within nautical sector, broker project partners, and supporting institutions and scientific institutions. Based on the results and conversations with platform developers, the technical working group has managed to define the simplest in which way to include future users, and which tools are needed for the most efficient presentation of the project's products and services, technical and technological achievements, and innovations.

The goal of the ECO-NautiNET web platform is to motivate and involve as many business entities, support institutions, and other innovations in order to take advantage of the opportunity to place themselves on new markets, and to develop the competitiveness and innovation of the nautical sector of the Adriatic-Ionian region as a whole, through easy access to all news and high quality information in just one place.

This goal is highlighted as the desire to become the most important development driver of contact with more than 500 businessmen from the nautical sector from across Croatia, Albania, Italy, Greece and Slovenia, and most entrepreneurs in this field continue to face the same or very similar problems irrespective of the country they come from.

As a result, most of these companies have up to ten employees, and as far as typical issues and problems are concerned, poor cooperation within the nautical sector, a lack of clear nautical sector development policy, and the fact that cooperation with research and science centres is either non-existent or very small stand out as the most common and indeed the most pressing.

Over 80 percent of the respondents are primarily interested in improving competitiveness and innovation by linking small and medium-sized entrepreneurs in the Adriatic-Ionian region's nautical sector with supporting institutions and research and scientific centres through the ECO-NautiNET web platform.

ECO-NautiNET is otherwise project number 398 which is part of the INTERREG ADRION transnational cooperation program co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and IPA funds (IPA II).

Make sure to stay up to date with all things sailing by following Total Croatia Sailing and our dedicated lifestyle page.

Click here for the original article by Jasna Jaklin Majetic on Morski

Investment in tourism is a machine boasting many wheels which must keep turning and following world tourism trends on a constant basis.

Stagnation in the tourism sector has been threatening Croatia following a few record tourism years, and while many expected such a drop as more of the country's older tourism rivals recover respectively, just how can Croatian hotels keep their rooms full and their offer hot in the face of strong competition from long-time tourism kings like Spain and nearby Greece?

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 6th of November, 2018, over the now rapidly approaching winter period, the well-respected Adriatic Luxury Hotels hotel group will continue its massive investment cycle and focus on properly restoring and redoing some of their highest category hotels located in one of the country's most popular tourist destinations, southern Dalmatia's Dubrovnik area.

After the luxurious ''doing up'' of two top Dubrovnik hotels, Hotel Kompas (Lapad) and Hotel Excelsior (Sveti Jakov area), Adriatic Luxury Hotels have announced that the same will be done to another of their high-end hotels, Hotel Bellevue, which closed its doors to guests on October the 31st this year, in order to prepare for the huge renovation works of the hotel's accommodation facilities and part of the hotel's interior which are due to begin during the winter.

Adriatic Luxury Hotels will invest more than 400,000 kuna per room in the upcoming complete re-doing of the top hotel's rooms and apartments, representing the first significant investment in Hotel Bellevue since its inauguration over a decade ago, back in 2006.

The Portuguese design studio Tereza Prego is heavily engaged in the project, specialising in the interior design of exclusive hotels and other high-end residences.

As things currently stand, it seems that the redesigned Hotel Bellevue will be ready by the spring of 2019.

Click here to see just how the hotel will look upon opening its doors early next year.

Want to keep up to date with Croatia's investment in tourism and see if any hotels in an area you're planning to stay in are about to undergo makeovers? Make sure to follow our business page.

Keeping on top of things and putting the environment first isn't always easy in the time in which we currently live, but a beach cleanup is a more than excellent way to start. In Croatia, such seabed and beach cleanup actions take place quite regularly up and down the coast, with the most emphasis being placed on the pre and post season.

During this somewhat turbulent time of year, it's typical for unstable weather conditions and strong winds and currents to wreak havoc to some degree or another, often bringing in unwanted rubbish from other parts of the coast, sometimes even dragging up piles of waste on currents from Albania to Dubrovnik.

Plastic pollution is an increasingly dangerous threat to the world's seas and oceans, and while various laws continue to be passed to either ban or at least limit the use of ''throw away'' plastic products, the issue remains a pressing one. A well organised beach cleanup is an excellent way to combat the problem.

As Morski writes on the 1st of November, 2018, beautiful Mljet has experienced a proverbial reincarnation this year, as 32 volunteers participated in a program to clean up as many as fifteen bays and coves on Mljet, which is otherwise one of the country's most breathtaking national parks, located not too far from Dubrovnik.

This year's volunteer program, developed by JUNP Mljet and the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Energy through the EU Integration Project Natura 2000, was successfully completed, with 71 volunteers participating in all of the four volunteer programs.

For the first time, NP Mljet welcomed international volunteers from Lithuania, Australia, America, and neighbouring Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina to help clean up the national park's many bays and coves. Over 400 plastic bags, sewage, glass and various other types of waste was successfully removed from Mljet's shoreline.

Want to keep up with more news about how the environment is taken care of in Croatia and how you might be able to help? Make sure to follow Total Eco Croatia.

What secrets does the Municipality of Ston hide underground?