July 7, 2020 - The latest news from around Croatia’s airports for flights to Croatia with updates from Split, Dubrovnik, Zadar, and Pula.

Croatian Aviation reports that as confirmed by SAS, due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and reduced demand, the company does not plan to launch numerous seasonal routes to Croatia from Scandinavia in this year's summer flight schedule.

In the summer flight schedule, Scandinavian Airlines operates from numerous airports in Scandinavia to Pula, Split and Dubrovnik, though the company decided against launching numerous lines to Croatia this time around.

For the latest travel info, bookmark our main travel info article, which is updated daily. 

Read the Croatian Travel Update in your language - now available in 24 languages

Join the Total Croatia Travel INFO Viber community.

SAS already operates on several lines to Croatia, from Copenhagen, Oslo and Stockholm to Split, and from Copenhagen to Pula.

The company has no plans to launch flights to Dubrovnik in July, and it is almost certain that many other routes will also not be in this year's summer flight schedule.

Numerous lines to Split have been canceled

In the summer flight schedule, SAS operated from as many as 9 destinations to Split, while this year only 3 previously mentioned lines will be in traffic.

The company does not plan to launch lines from Tromso, Harstad, Alesund, Trondheim, Bergen, Stavanger, Kristiansand, Aarhus and Gothenburg to Split this year. However, from most of the mentioned destinations, it is possible to travel with one transfer via Copenhagen, Oslo or Stockholm, also with SAS.

Lines from Copenhagen, Oslo and Stockholm to Dubrovnik are also not on sale and will most likely not be available this year.

Pula Airport and SAS

Pula has been connected to Bergen, Oslo, Stavanger, Gothenburg and Copenhagen in previous summer seasons, but SAS operates only on the line from Copenhagen to Pula and does not plan to launch other lines this summer.

Zadar - a newly planned destination

This summer, the company planned to introduce the Copenhagen - Zadar route and thus add another Croatian airport to its destination network. The flights were originally planned twice a week, but have been completely withdrawn from sale for this year.

July 6, 2020 - The latest news from around Croatia’s airports for flights to Croatia with updates from Split, Dubrovnik and Pula.

Croatian Aviation reports that the British leisure airline, Jet2, is introducing numerous routes from the UK to Dubrovnik, Split and Pula.

Following the decision to lift the mandatory 14-day self-isolation upon arrival in the UK from Croatia, the company has confirmed the launch of its seasonal lines by which many British tourists come on holiday to Croatia.

For the latest travel info, bookmark our main travel info article, which is updated daily. 

Read the Croatian Travel Update in your language - now available in 24 languages

Join the Total Croatia Travel INFO Viber community.

From mid-July, Jet2 will launch as many as 12 direct lines from Great Britain to Dubrovnik, Split and Pula. Certain routes have been canceled, while the number of weekly flights has been reduced for all routes.

Lines to Dubrovnik

the Birmingham - Dubrovnik line is introduced, once a week, on Saturdays, from July 18,

the London - Dubrovnik line is introduced, once a week, on Saturdays, from July 18,

the Manchester - Dubrovnik line is introduced, 3 times a week (Thu, Sat, Sun), from July 16,

the Newcastle - Dubrovnik line is introduced, once a week, on Sundays, from 19 July.

Lines to Split

the Birmingham - Split line is introduced, twice a week (Wed, Sun), from July 15,

the East Midlands - Split line is introduced, once a week, on Sundays, from July 19,

the Leeds - Split line is introduced, once a week, on Saturdays, from July 18,

the London - Split line is introduced, once a week, on Sundays, from July 19,

the Manchester - Split line is introduced, twice a week (Tue, Sat), from July 18.

Lines to Pula

the Birmingham - Pula line is introduced, once a week, on Sundays, from July 19,

the Leeds - Pula line is introduced, once a week, on Sundays, from July 19,

the Manchester - Pula line is introduced, twice a week (Thu, Sun), from July 19.

B737-800 aircraft with a capacity of 189 seats in the fleet of this carrier has been announced on the routes.

Croatian tourism is painting two dramatically different pictures this summer. In the Istrian city of Rovinj, things are beginning to bloom, while it might be worth turning the lights off and locking the door down in Dubrovnik...

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 5th of July, 2020, the centre of Rovinj was the city with the most tourists in all of the Republic of Croatia on Saturday. Rovinj. Just over 13,000 guests decided to spend their holidays in Istria, in the town of St. Euphemia. Right by the sea, in the old town, in Rovinj, coffee is purchased for fifteen kuna, which is equivalent to just a little more than two euros, writes Dnevnik.hr

"There are a lot of people here on the weekends, mostly Austrians and Germans. There are also Italians. We expect that there will be more guests in July and August,'' said Sebastijan Ilic.

In Rovinj, occupancy levels are growing with increasing degrees on the thermometer, and the view of the old town from a five-star hotel will cost you about 4000 kuna per night. With breakfast included.

Much further down the coast in the famous City of Dubrovnik, Croatia's tourist Mecca, a completely different picture can be seen...

Down in Dubrovnik, the picture is completely different. Last year’s figures of 1.4 million tourist arrivals sound unreal now. Only 2,500 guests were registered in the city on Saturday, which is 10 percent of last year's traffic. Dubrovnik's coffee, an eternal inspiration to price analysts, still comes at a cost of 24 kuna on Stradun, and down one of the old city's streets, it costs up to 12 or 10 kuna.

In Dubrovnik, unfortunately, most of the terraces are empty. Some haven't yet even bothered to opened their doors. It's simple - there are no guests, so it's more cost-effective to keep the keys in the lock than put an empty pot on the stove for no reason.

For the most attractive view of the walls of Dubrovnik in a five-star hotel, you'll pay 5300 kuna. However, half of the hotels have not yet opened their doors in the famous Dalmatian city, and only some have adjusted their prices.

"We didn't open our hotels solely because of numbers and occupancy, but also because of the psychological effect, it proved to be the right decision and since the opening we're recording more and more interest, and we're pleased with the announcement from the British market, that is the most important one for Dubrovnik," said hotel spokeswoman Zrinka Martinovic.

On the most famous Dubrovnik beach this year, Banje (formerly East-West), you won't have a problem finding a place to put your towel this tourist season. One thing is for sure - this summer, many of Dubrovnik's actual residents will finally be able to enjoy their own beaches, which is both a blessing and a curse.

For more on Croatian tourism in the coronavirus era, follow our travel page.

July 5, 2020 - TCN interview with Dubrovacki Vjesnik about tourism in Dubrovnik, an incredible destination with incredibly bad tourism. Time to refocus?

I had an email from Lorita Vierda recently, a journalist from Dubrovacki Vjesnik, which resulted in an interview which was published yesterday - you can see the Croatian version here. Below, the English version. 

First of all, your name has been popping up almost every day, especially when it comes to the crisis, tourism and possible solutions for survival. Why is that? Doesn't Croatia have like a million experts in those matters, that we citizens pay to give us direction, to solve the problems, to offer some kind of path to recovery?

 

What's your personal opinion about Dubrovnik, its tourism, people, food, locations, way of life....?

 

 

July 5, 2020 - The latest news from around Croatia’s airports for flights to Croatia with updates from Split and Dubrovnik.

Croatian Aviation reports that Spanish low-cost airline Vueling has announced the start of traffic to two destinations in Croatia - Split and Dubrovnik.

This well-known low-budget company operates from four Croatian airports: Dubrovnik, Split, Zadar and Zagreb, and will launch lines to the Croatian coast next week.

For the latest travel info, bookmark our main travel info article, which is updated daily. 

Read the Croatian Travel Update in your language - now available in 24 languages

Join the Total Croatia Travel INFO Viber community.

The Rome - Split line is being reintroduced, from July 7, twice a week (Tuesdays and Saturdays). Already in the second week, the line should operate as many as four times a week (Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays). A320 aircraft have been announced on the route.

The Rome - Dubrovnik line is reintroduced, from July 15, three times a week (Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays). An increase in traffic on this line is expected from the beginning of August.

The Barcelona - Dubrovnik line is being reintroduced, from July 13, three times a week (Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays), and on this route, an increase in the number of weekly flights is expected from August.

The Rome-Zadar route is currently not on sale, while all flights on the Barcelona - Zagreb route have been canceled until the beginning of August.

July 3, 2020 - The animated film 'Dubrovnik - Safe Vacation' is part of the marketing campaign of the City of Dubrovnik and the Dubrovnik Tourist Board to revitalize tourism post-corona.

Dubrovacki Dnevnik reports that the 1.33-minute long cartoon, worth 100 thousand kuna, was to be placed on domestic and foreign markets, on airplanes and on cruisers that might have sailed to Dubrovnik in 2020. The City and the Tourist Board decided to step outside of the advertising box and show the beautiful Dubrovnik in a different light. While some applauded the campaign, others are laughing.

The animated video, which has since been removed on YouTube but can be seen on Vimeo, features Knight Orlando, who tells viewers about the beginnings of quarantine in Lazareti in 1377 and explains how to fight epidemics, while presenting the beauties and offers of Dubrovnik. Orlando emphasizes that Dubrovnik is still a safe city that cares about health. 'We knew then, we know today' is the conclusion of the animation, which aimed to attract tourists to this 'safe' Croatian destination.

"If, for example, they were British, would they decide to visit Dubrovnik because of the animation?", the former Minister of Tourism Pave Zupan Ruskovic said briefly. 

Of course not.

The cartoon talks about what the Republic did centuries ago and 'what it did then is certainly not a guarantee that it will work today'.

"People are interested in what has been done today in that sense, if that is their motive for coming. To claim that we are a corona-free destination at the moment is an unreasonable message. It should be realistic because the worst is when the guest feels cheated, and it is the biggest possible anti-advertising," says Ruskovic. She thinks it's good if the animated film is intended for the youngest, but she also wonders if the children even know who Orlando is?'

The long-time leader of the Croatian Tourist Board and former Minister of Tourism Niko Bulic believes that 'the animated film tells the story and now is the time to attack and attract attention'.

"We are here, we are safe, we are beautiful, come! I would go the other way around, with stronger messages, invitations, emphasizing the beauties of Dubrovnik. Like other countries, go with a direct message," believes Bulic, who sees the biggest problem is the fact that the tourist bourds have been left without an inflow of money, and there has been no reaction from the Government. For example, he states that in 1999, the government approved special funds for the promotion of Croatia due to the action of NATO forces in Kosovo.

"We should have reacted in March and prepared an action that would be a direct call saying we will be ready, come. Direct promotion, and not stories that are for a nice time," says Bulic.

Although he did not see the cartoon, the former first man of the Dubrovnik Summer Festival and Marin Drzic Theater, Petar Miso Mihocevic, points out ‘if it is expertly judged that such a campaign makes sense, if it is well marketed and the target audience is known, it certainly makes sense because animations are a serious thing, and they are awarded Oscars'.

"It can be a real way of presentation that is not documented by anything or already overused photos, recordings, videos. Unfortunately, we only sell beauty and never content. This is some new content," Mihocevic says and concludes:

"The beauty of the City is increasingly marred by the surrounding Neum architecture so that it will get lost in that awful ugliness. It may be better to draw it in the future than to show the real picture."

The cartoon would not attract long-term tourist guide Fran Haklička to the City:

"It is too much, the text is too much, and the animation should not have been done in any way. It ends with ‘we knew then and we know now’ - what is that saying? Dubrovnik has always been wise and modest, and that is not in that film. It is terrible to show the beauty of Dubrovnik by a drawing for 100 thousand kuna," Haklička complains.

PR expert Kresimir Macan says that we are happy to have this Dream City serve as a backdrop, but we also have an advertisement in which that City is not seen.

"The ad says: come see something you won't see in the ad. We will see how the people for whom this advertisement is intended will react. In this way, I would advertise a cat in a bag that has nothing to show, and Dubrovnik has a lot to show. The story is good, but it should have been real," says Macan and wonders if this film creates emotion at all?

"Were the viewers able to connect and say 'wow, this is beautiful!'? The question is, can you say that with a cartoon? The previous video of the City of Dubrovnik was impressive. I was delighted with the power of the speedboat coming out of the port, and you want to enter Porat at that moment. It is a detail in the direction and emotion that the previous video achieves. There are a lot of moments that draw you to the City. Here the message may have been conveyed but the atmosphere desired was not created. Although, I like the story because it’s a great link to quarantine," Macan says.

Who will want to come to Dubrovnik based on the video, Macan doesn't know either.

Maybe the idea was that Dubrovnik is so famous, so it doesn't have to be advertised with photos. There are a lot of assumptions. 

After this, Dubrovnik will receive another cartoon, which will promote the 'Respect the City' campaign. 

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

July 2, 2020 - The semifinal round of the Croatian Water Polo Championships kicked off on Wednesday in Dubrovnik and Zagreb. Jug met Solaris, while Mladost met Jadran. 

Dubrovnik's Jug AO and Zagreb's Mladost achieved victories in the first matches of the semifinals of the Croatian Championship on Wednesday, July 1, 2020.

The famous Dubrovnik side topped Solaris Sibenik 17-6 at the Gruz swimming pool, while Mladost was better than Jadran Split 13-12 at the Mladost outdoor swimming pool along the Sava.

Interestingly, Solaris took a 2-0 lead, but Jug equalized to 2-2 by the end of the first quarter, and then won the second and third quarters 10-2. The Dubrovnik side was convincing in the last period with 5-2, for the final score of 17-6.

Jug AO was led to victory by Obradovic, who scored six goals, and Fatovic, who scored three goals. Solaris, on the other hand, had six players who scored one goal each. The second match of this semifinal meeting will be played on Friday, July 3, in Sibenik.

In the second semifinal match on Wednesday, Jadran met Mladost in Zagreb. 

Mladost led 4-0 lead, and at the beginning of the last quarter, they were up by five goals (10-5). However, a rocky ending gave the Zagreb club a narrow victory. Jadran managed a score of 7-3 in the last quarter, threatening Mladost's secure celebration.

Mladost was led to victory by Cuk, who scored four goals, while Harkov scored three goals, and Milos and Bukic scored two goals each. Setka was the best for Jadran with four goals, and Krapic followed with three goals to be the most efficient among the visiting team.

The second semifinal match is on Saturday in Split.

Recall, two victories are needed in the semifinal round to secure a spot in the final. Thus, a third semifinal game is theoretically possible.

Source: HRT

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

July 1, 2020 - The latest news from around Croatia’s airports for flights to Croatia with updates from Split, Dubrovnik, and Zadar.

Croatian Aviation reports that Dubrovnik and Split airports are recording more airline announcements for July this year, as the flight schedule of three airlines, Iberia, Windrose and Finnair, has been announced. 

Spain's Iberia will return to Dubrovnik Airport with a regular flight from Madrid. The company will launch the Madrid-Dubrovnik route from Friday, July 3, with flights every Friday, Saturday and Sunday. A319 / 320/321 aircraft have been announced on the route.

For the latest travel info, bookmark our main travel info article, which is updated daily. 

Read the Croatian Travel Update in your language - now available in 24 languages

Join the Total Croatia Travel INFO Viber community.

In last year's summer flight schedule, the line operated daily, and for September this year, even A330 aircraft was announced on the route, with which this company operates on intercontinental routes.

Iberia lines to Zagreb, Split and Zadar are not on sale for July.

Ukrainian airline Windrose Airlines has announced the resumption of regular traffic on the Kyiv-Split route. The line will be in operation as early as Sunday, July 5, with one flight per week, every Sunday. As of July 23, the second flight of the week, on Thursdays, is on sale. We remind you that this company will soon operate to Pula, while the line to Zagreb has been postponed until the winter flight schedule.

Finnair announced the introduction of direct flights from Helsinki to Dubrovnik and Split.

The Helsinki-Dubrovnik line is on sale from July 27, and flights are announced once a week, on Saturdays. From August 3, the line will operate twice a week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays, until the end of the summer flight schedule, i.e., on October 25.

The Helsinki-Split line is on sale from the same date as the line to Dubrovnik, and from the beginning of August, there will also be two weeks of flights on this line, every Wednesday and Saturday.

Last summer, Finnair flew to Split as many as 6 times a week, while Helsinki was connected to Dubrovnik every day, and on Fridays with as many as two daily flights.

Furthermore, Avio Radar reports that on June 29, Lauda began operations on the Vienna-Zadar route, which did not run last year. This route will run twice a week, on Mondays and Fridays, with the third flight in September, on Wednesdays. 

This is the first announced new regular line for this year that has started operating. The second new line for this year was the Vienna-Dubrovnik route, which is currently not on offer at all. 

Lauda will fly to Split from Sunday, July 5, from Stuttgart. This line will run once a week, on Sundays, which is two flights less than last year. 

June 27, 2020 - The latest news from around Croatia’s airports for flights to Croatia with updates from Dubrovnik and Rijeka.

Croatian Aviation reports that flydubai announced it is resuming its seasonal line between Dubrovnik and Dubai, while LOT, in its great expansion, confirmed the introduction of the Rijeka - Warsaw line.

flydubai, a low-budget Emirates company, has confirmed the return of its seasonal line between Dubrovnik and Dubai. The company plans to introduce the line from mid-July.

For the latest travel info, bookmark our main travel info article, which is updated daily. 

Read the Croatian Travel Update in your language - now available in 24 languages

Join the Total Croatia Travel INFO Viber community.

From Thursday, July 16, flydubai will operate on the Dubai - Dubrovnik - Dubai line twice a week, every Thursday and Sunday, on a B737-800 aircraft. Given that there is currently no direct connection between Dubrovnik Airport and any of the previously planned airlines for this season, by which Asian tourists could come to Croatia to a greater extent (Qatar, Turkish), the start of traffic on the line to Dubai is certainly good - and important news.

LOT has announced changes related to its flight schedule to Croatia, and in addition to launching routes from Warsaw to Zadar, Split and Dubrovnik, the company will introduce as many as 13 completely new routes to Croatian cities. The latest announcement is the introduction of the Warsaw-Rijeka line.

This is an entirely new LOT line from Warsaw to Croatia, and Rijeka will be connected to the Polish capital once a week, every Sunday, from July 5. E195 aircraft with a capacity of 112 passengers will operate on the route.

Furthermore, Ex Yu Aviation reports that Croatia Airlines will launch a seasonal charter service from Brac to Linz via Graz once a week, aiming to bring Austrian tourists to the Croatian island.

The charter services will be operated by Austrian tour operator Gruber Reisen and will begin on Saturday, June 27. The charter service will run until early October.

Ex Yu adds that Croatia Airlines will resume its service between Zagreb and Brac on July 7, running twice a week, on Tuesday and Saturday.

June 26, 2020 - The latest news from around Croatia’s airports for flights to Croatia with updates from Zagreb, Split, Dubrovnik, Pula, and Zadar. 

Croatian Aviation reports that Germany's Lufthansa has announced its flight schedule for July. In June, the company started operating again towards Dubrovnik, Split and Pula, but with a very limited number of weekly flights, and only from Frankfurt.

From July, Lufthansa will increase the number of destinations to which it flies in Croatia, introduce new routes, and intensify weekly operations on existing routes. In addition to flights to Dubrovnik, Split and Pula, the company will again operate to Zadar and Zagreb.

For the latest travel info, bookmark our main travel info article, which is updated daily. 

Read the Croatian Travel Update in your language - now available in 24 languages

Join the Total Croatia Travel INFO Viber community.

Lufthansa will fly again to Zagreb again

From July 1, the Munich - Zagreb line will be introduced three times a week, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

Croatia Airlines, with which Lufthansa has a code-share agreement, is already operating on the route to Munich, as is the case with the route to Frankfurt.

Lines to Split

Lufthansa launched the Frankfurt - Split route in June, but with only one weekly flight. From July 3, this line will be in traffic 3 times a week, every Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Also, Lufthansa is introducing the Munich - Split route, from July 4, with as many as four weeks of flight, every Tuesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Dubrovnik connected with Frankfurt and Munich

As is the case with Split, Lufthansa also operates to Dubrovnik on the Frankfurt - Dubrovnik line, which will operate twice a week (until now once), every Saturday and Sunday, from 5 July.

The Munich - Dubrovnik line is being introduced, from July 1, four times a week, on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays.

Lufthansa to Pula

The existing line Frankfurt - Pula will get another rotation from July 3, and will connect Istria with Frankfurt twice a week, on Fridays and Saturdays.

The Munich-Pula line is also being introduced, from July 5, once a week.

The company is coming to Zadar

The company has not yet flown to Zadar in this year's summer flight schedule, but that will change from July.

From July 4, the Frankfurt - Zadar line will be introduced three times a week, on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays.

From the same date, Munich - Zadar will be introduced once a week, while from July 12, there will be two weeks of flights on the line, every Saturday and Sunday.

The only Lufthansa line to Croatia that is not yet in operation is the one to Rijeka Airport. Namely, in the summer flight schedule, the company operates once a week on the Munich - Rijeka line, but it is not on sale for July this year. Croatia Airlines also operates on the same route, the Croatian national company has not yet announced the start of operations on this route.

Lufthansa will use aircraft of various capacities on all these routes, from the smallest CRJ900 with a capacity of 90 passengers, to the A321 aircraft with a capacity of 200 passengers.

Croatian Aviation also reports that Polish LOT has announced as many as 13 new routes in this year's summer flight schedule from numerous Polish cities to destinations in Croatia.

The company previously announced the return of lines from Warsaw to Zadar, Split and Dubrovnik, but now it has announced a completely new set of lines that have not been in traffic so far.

New lines to Split

Lublin - Split is introduced once a week, every Friday, from July 3,

Katowice - Split is introduced once a week, every Sunday, from July 5,

Poznan - Split is introduced once a week, every Monday, from July 6,

Gdansk - Split is introduced once a week, every Wednesday, from July 8.

On the routes to Split, aircraft type E195 and B737-800 capacity, have been announced.

New lines to Zadar

Gdansk - Zadar is introduced once a week, every Friday, from July 3,

Szczecin - Zadar is introduced once a week, every Thursday, from July 9,

Rzeszow - Zadar is introduced once a week, every Saturday, from July 4,

Krakow - Zadar is introduced once a week, every Tuesday, from July 7,

Bydgoszcz - Zadar is introduced once a week, every Saturday, from July 4.

DashQ400 and E195 aircraft have been announced on the routes to Zadar.

New lines to Dubrovnik

Wroclaw - Dubrovnik is introduced once a week, every Saturday, from July 4,

Gdansk - Dubrovnik is introduced once a week, every Tuesday, from July 7.

Krakow - Dubrovnik is introduced once a week, every Friday, from July 3,

Poznan - Dubrovnik is introduced once a week, every Saturday, from July 5.

E195 aircraft have been announced on the routes to Dubrovnik.