Works have begun in the extreme south of Dalmatia, just before the Montenegrin border. Prevlaka fortress, the renovation works on which have been being awaited for some considerable time now, have finally started. Prevlaka fortress, which sadly sat neglected and delapidated for years, will be renovated and eventually turned into no less than a naval museum.

As Morski writes on the 3rd of January, 2019, thanks to the Society of Friends of Dubrovnik Antiquities, Prevlaka fortress will get a new lease of life and a sense of purpose. The raising of the scaffolding and the beginning of the works on the renovation of the almost entirely abandoned Austro-Hungarian fortress of Prevlaka have finally been announced.

''It's clear that 2019 will be the same as it has been throughout many past years for the Society of Friends of Dubrovnik Antiquities, fruitful and careful attention due to the wish to preserve our heritage for generations to come,'' said Niko Kapetanić, President of the aforementioned Dubrovnik-based society, who expressed his satisfaction at the start of the works on the reconstruction of Prevlaka fortress, located at the southernmost point of Croatia, almost right on the border with Montenegro, and from which the coastline of Montenegro can be seen.

To briefly recall, this area of extreme southern Dalmatia was under the jurisdiction of the Republic of Croatia until quite recently, and the state left Prevlaka fortress in the hands of Croatia's southernmost municipality, the Municipality of Konavle. Together with the Society of Friends of Dubrovnik Antiquities, the municipality will eventually open a museum dedicated to the Austro-Hungarian Navy in the fortress, with special emphasis placed on the Croatian component.

This isn't something that is particularly cheap to oversee and do, and according to some of the best experts on such matters in the world, ranging from naval uniforms to historic weaopons, to parts of old ships, the final result will be a complete cross section of the former Austro-Hungarian Navy. The plan is also for Prevlaka fortress to house an aquarium displaying an array of Adriatic fish, a souvenir shop, a lookout point, and an accompanying catering facility.

These plans have been revealed by Kapetanić, who didn't really want to speculate on what the price would or could be, but added that it would surely be tens of millions of kuna.

Back in September 2017, Minister of State Property Goran Marić pointed out that while Konavle might well geographically be at the very edge of Croatia, it doesn't mean that it also needs to be at the very edge in terms of relations with the state.

''It's in our interest to bring this project to life and that this [piece of state] property doesn't fall. We like the project that is intended for this property,'' Marić said.

Make sure to stay up to date on Prevlaka's progress and much more by following our dedicated lifestyle page.

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.

December 28, 2018 - The latest news from around Croatia’s airports for new flights to Croatia, with updates from Zagreb, Dubrovnik, Split, and Zadar. 

Flights to Croatia: Going to Zagreb?

Canadian airline Air Transat will boost its Zagreb-Toronto (Pearson International Airport) service for the 2019 summer. In addition to this year’s two flights a week, an additional third flight will be introduced - and the route will now operate on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. This service will run from May 15 to October 30, 2019. The new Friday reinforcement will work from June 21 to September 13, 2019. The Airbus A330-200 will be used on all flights.

You can read more on AvioRadar. 

Flights to Croatia: Going to Dubrovnik?

The new Austrian carrier Anisec Luftfahrt flying under the marketing name LEVEL will operate four times a week on the Dubrovnik-Vienna route, just as it did this year. While the airline’s first announcements for the 2019 summer had no mention of Saturday operations on this route, it turns out there will not be a reduction in traffic on this line. 

This service will, therefore, operate four times a week, on Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday. There is one change, however, and that is that this line will operate using the smaller Airbus A320 aircraft, instead of this year’s Airbus A321. The Airbus A320 will fly one to three times per week on selected flights, as the type of aircraft changes on individual flights during the week. 

You can read more on AvioRadar. 

Flights to Croatia: Going to Split?

Germany's low-cost carrier Eurowings will boost connections between Split and Austria for the 2019 summer. The route between Split and Salzburg will see another weekly connection, with operations on Tuesday and Sunday from June 2 to October 22, 2019. Eurowings will use an Airbus A319. 

You can read more on AvioRadar. 

British Airways has also boosted operations on their Split-London service. In addition to their Split-London (Heathrow) line, the airline is adding a second seasonal flight for the 2019 summer to London City Airport. The first arrival is scheduled for June 21, 2019. The route will operate three flights a week, on Monday, Thursday, and Friday, until September 6, 2019. The new line will fly on the Embraer ERJ-190 aircraft. 

But that’s not all.

British Airways will also boost operations on their existing Split-London (Heathrow) service, adding two new flights a week on this route. The current five flights a week on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday will be boosted by a new flight on Tuesday and a second on Sunday. The route will be operated by the Airbus A319, Airbus A320, and the Airbus A321. The second line will work from April 28 to October 25, 2019. 

You can read more on AvioRadar.

Flights to Croatia: Going to Zadar?

Irish low-cost airline RyanAir has introduced yet another new line to Zadar for next summer, making it the 22nd line for the coastal city. The new seasonal connection will be to Eindhoven, beginning operations on April 1, 2019. The new route will operate twice a week, on Monday and Thursday, on a Boeing 737-800. 

At the same time, the Dutch low-cost airline Transavia introduced a new line from Zadar to the Netherlands, connecting Zadar and Rotterdam on Wednesday and Saturday. 

You can read more on AvioRadar.

To read more about traveling to Croatia, following TCN's dedicated page. 

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

December 19, 2018 — In the Northern hemisphere, the winter solstice occurs every year between December 20th and December 23rd, and it is the shortest and thus the darkest day of the year.

This year's winter solstice (or suncostaj in Croatian) falls on Friday, December 21st, and according to Zvjezdarnica, here in Croatia, the sun will rise at 7.36 AM and set at 4.12 PM.

The term solstice has its roots in the Latin word solstitium, which literally translates to "when the Sun stops; stands still." This is because, on this day, as seen from the Earth, the Sun reaches its southern-most position and seems to stand still at the Tropic of Capricorn until it turns around, i.e. reverses its direction.

Throughout history, to mark the beginning of a new year and welcome nature's springtime rebirth, many ancient civilizations celebrated the winter solstice with a number of different feasts, fasts, and fires.

These pre-Christian traditions, many of which have roots in European paganism, have survived to this day and are nowadays interwoven with the Christian beliefs and culture even in modern-day Croatia.

One such folklore tradition is the so-called koledarenje, a term denoting colinde or winter solstice songs — a type of Christmas caroling widespread throughout the Balkans, especially among Indo-European nations. In Croatia, this tradition is particularly emblematic of Primorje, Istria, Lika, and Dalmatia.

The term koledarenje comes from the old Slavic word koleda (lit. new year) while probably the most known Croatian koledari are the ones from Dubrovnik.

Koledarenje is one of the oldest customs in Croatia, and the traditional period to sing these carols is from St Thomas's Day on December 21st, until the morning of Christmas Day.

Here is the video of Dubrovnik's youngest koledari. Ironically, while our president named Kolinda apparently can't sing to save her life, these Dubrovnik children sure can.

If you happen to be in the area, and in the mood for celebrating the 2018 winter solstice, don't miss the Dubrovnik Winter Festival.

Stay tuned for more related content by following TCN's dedicated page.

As most of us are aware, American Airlines will operate a brand new summer route between Philadelphia and Dubrovnik in 2019. The new seasonal service, which will begin on June 7, 2019, is destined for success, reports Ex Yu Aviation on December 18, 2018. 

"We are pleased about the advanced bookings we have already received to Dubrovnik and we are looking forward to serving our customers on this new and exciting route. We will, in due course, consider prolonging the flying season to the coastal city. We always review the performance of our new routes and ensure we have the right schedule for our customers," said American Airlines.

Dubrovnik Airport is also excited about the anticipated success of the new American Airlines route, which should also influence even more traffic to the States. 

"American Airlines chose Dubrovnik for several reasons. They have recognized us as a quality destination and our airport worked very hard during the negotiating process in order to secure these flights. Initially, this will be a seasonal service which will be maintained three times per week,” General Manager of Dubrovnik Airport, Frano Luetić, said previously, with the hope that there would be even more flights on this route in the coming years. 

And why did the world’s largest airline opt for Dubrovnik over Zagreb and Split? Due to its popularity, of course! 

"We are always looking at new opportunities to grow our network to ensure we offer service to where our customers wish to go." The new service should be popular among both leisure travelers and VFR (Visiting Friends and Relatives), said the airline. 

American Airlines will begin operations to Dubrovnik with the 209-seat Boeing 767-300ER.

"At present, the B767 is the right aircraft for this route, however, we are always evaluating our network to ensure we are maximizing our assets and meeting customer demand. We are excited to serve the picturesque city of Dubrovnik and we are looking forward to serving our customers in both Croatia and the US, thanks to our expansive network of connections", they said.

In the future, however, American Airlines will use the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, as the airline confirmed the B767-300ERs would retire in 2021.

To read more about flights to Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page. 

December 19, 2018 - Break Time. Because it's all you need this holiday season.

December 18, 2018 - After the announcements of EasyJet and Ryanair expanding their operations in Croatia, other airlines have decided to scale back. A look at flights to Croatia in 2019.

Namely, AvioRadar has reported that Estonian national airline Nordica will no longer fly the Rijeka-Tallinn route for the 2019 summer. The airline will, however, maintain the Split-Tallinn route, which flies three times a week, on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays. The Sunday flights will operate from April 14 to October 20, 2019, while the Tuesday and Thursday flights will serve passengers during the peak season - from June 25 to August 27, 2019. 

Nordica will fly using the Canadair CRJ-900, operated by Polish carrier LOT. 

Furthermore, AvioRadar reports that British low-cost carrier Flybe no longer maintains any routes to Croatia. Both the Dubrovnik-London and Zadar-London lines from Southend Airport have stopped traffic after just two seasons. The carrier operated two flights between Dubrovnik and London last season, and one flight between Zadar and London. 

Flybe has canceled many flights to European destinations from Southend for next summer thanks to fierce competition. Namely, EasyJet has boosted its Southend line in the summer and picked up new routes to Dubrovnik and Pula. 

This is not the first time Flybe has withdrawn operations from Croatia. Recall, several years ago, the airline flew from Birmingham and Southhampton to Dubrovnik and Split, and from Exeter to Dubrovnik, mostly with one flight per week. Flybe also operated charter lines from Norwich to Dubrovnik and Split, and from Humberside to Dubrovnik. All of these lines, however, were abolished, with no new airlines replacing them. 

Last but not least, AvioRadar reports that the new low-cost carrier Anisec Luftfahrt, flying under the marketing name LEVEL, has reduced traffic on its only line to Croatia. The airline only began operating to Croatia in July with a flight between Vienna and Dubrovnik, though they did not fly to Dubrovnik until August 12, 2018. The airline operated four flights per week, on Mondays, Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays. 

In their summer 2019 flight announcement, LEVEL will drop one of their weekly flights and fly only on Tuesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays from Vienna to the 'Pearl of the Adriatic'. LEVEL will operate from June 18 to September 8, 2019, stopping traffic a month and a half earlier than this year. 

LEVEL will fly to Dubrovnik on the Airbus A321 aircraft. 

To read more about flights to Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page. 

Just hours after British low-cost carrier EasyJet announced four new routes to Croatia for next summer, including connections between Dubrovnik and Berlin (Tegel), Pula and Amsterdam, Pula and Geneva, and Zadar and London (Gatwick), another line was introduced - Dubrovnik to Nantes, reports AvioRadar on December 13, 2018. 

Yet another new line for the ‘Pearl of the Adriatic’, EasyJet will operate between Dubrovnik and Nantes with three flights weekly, on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, from June 24 to August 30, 2019. 

This will be the first EasyJet line for Croatia from Nantes, in the northwest of France, though it is the 18th line from Dubrovnik and the fourth connecting Dubrovnik and France. Either the Airbus A319 or the Airbus A320 will be used for this service.

These 2019 announcements, however, are all a part of EasyJet’s plans to expand their operations in Croatia, which should see over one million seats on sale going to and from Croatia next year. The plans also place particular focus on Pula, reports Ex Yu Aviation on December 14, 2018. 

"With more than fifty services operating in Croatia, EasyJet is committed to providing Croatian clients with affordable trips, offering them a broad network of connections with major European cities. Pula is very trendy both with young people who want to go to the various festivals of Croatia, but also with more mature people as well, and we expect all our new routes to be especially popular with passengers,” said EasyJet’s UK Country Manager, Ali Gayward. 

"This announcement of our expansion highlights our commitment to providing affordable routes to summer holiday destinations. We’re sure that they will prove extremely popular for those looking for a summer break or visiting friends and family,” Sophie Dekkers, EasyJet's UK Country Director, added. 

The new EasyJet routes are also in direct completion with airlines such as Croatia Airlines (which flies between Amsterdam and Pula) and Swiss International Air Lines (which operates between Geneva and Dubrovnik). The new Nantes route for EasyJet, which flies to the Pearl of the Adriatic, will compete against Volotea and TUIfly Belgium, while the Dubrovnik-Berlin (Tegel) route faces off with Eurowings. 

In 2019, EasyJet will operate over 3,100 flights to Croatia during the peak season - July and August.

To learn more about EasyJet in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page. 

Dubrovnik Airport will end 2018 with a record-breaking 2.54 million passengers, which is 9.5 percent more than last year. Next year, the airport expects to increase the number of passengers by 4.6 percent, said Frano Luetić, Dubrovnik Airport Managing Director, reports Poslovni.hr on December 15, 2018. 

At a press conference on Friday, Luetić said that this year's revenue is expected to be 415.3 million kuna or 16.3 percent more than last year, and it is estimated that the net profit will amount to 72 million kuna and is in line with the gain for the past year. The expected operating profit is 170 million kuna, which is an increase of 14 percent compared to last year.

"The year was a bit intense and turbulent, but our plan to grow by 10 percent has almost come to fruition. We have always had double-digit growth, and this year it is above the international average, and we are proud of that," Luetić said.

Luetić recalled that this year, as part of the "Dubrovnik Airport Development" project, worth 225 million euro (of which 158.3 million euro came from EU funds), a new passenger terminal was built, enabling “the comfortable travel of passengers through the airport, and the reconstruction of maneuvering areas”. 

He also highlighted works on the reconstruction of the runway tracks, which saw 1200 meters completed by the tourist season. The central part of the runway was reconstructed after the season and traffic normalized on December 10th. Work on the track will continue and is expected to be completed by March 15, 2019.

According to the announcements, Dubrovnik Airport expects the most significant growth from Western and Central Europe, especially the United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Poland, and the Czech Republic.

However, as the most crucial event, Luetić pointed out the arrival of the world's largest carrier - American Airlines. 

"After 28 years, Croatia and the US - Dubrovnik and Philadelphia will be connected for the first time. American Airlines is the largest company in the world, employs more than 150,000 people, has 950 aircraft, and will connect Dubrovnik three times a week from June to the end of September with the Boeing 767 aircraft which has business and economy class,” Luetić said.

Among others, he stressed that the FlyDubai aircraft would continue to fly to Dubrovnik Airport, and the arrival of the largest European low-cost carrier Ryanair will be announced, which will connect Dubrovnik twice a week to Dublin.

In 2019, Dubrovnik Airport will see between 65 and 70 active airlines. 

To read more about Dubrovnik, follow TCN's dedicated page.