August 21, 2019 - The CISG2019 program on the island of Hvar is here! Get inspired by traditional cocktails in Stari Grad from August 21 to 22, 2019. 

CISG2019 is an opportunity for all participants to open their horizons and learn from the best in the cocktail industry. Networking and collaboration, a knowledgeable approach to work by bartenders educated in London, a world-class center for craft cocktails and their application to Dalmatian traditional drinks, herbs and spices are just some of what you can experience this week.

The masterclasses are free for anyone interested, though you must register on Facebook at Bon Vivant Croatia or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The pop-up tasting party will be held on the largest beachfront terrace in Stari Grad, at Bon vivant restaurant (Riva 32).

You can find the full program below.

August 21, 2019, from 11h to 14 h:

Masterclasses

Chris Edwardes - What makes a great bartender

Misha Lewicki – Pelinkovac in classic and modern cocktails

Marino Karinja -

19h to 02h:

Pop up bar at Bon vivant, Riva 32

Bon vivant bar – Stari Grad

Lampeduza bar – Stari Grad

Bar solutions – Split

PGW - Poljska

August 22, 2019, from 12h to 15h:

Tasting of local wines, products, spices, and UNESCO protected food

Stari Grab plain - HORA

Register via Facebook - Bon Vivant Croatia or by mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (pay to Hora at a discount as a festival participant)

19h to 02h:

Pop up bar at Bon vivant, Riva 32

Bon vivant bar – Stari Grad

Lampeduza bar – Stari Grad

Bar solutions – Split

PGW - Poljska

You can find more about the event here.

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

August 18, 2019 - Palace Elisabeth, the first 5-star hotel on Hvar will open its doors on September 1 for a soft opening - the new flagship hotel of Suncani Hvar.

I have been following the story of Suncani Hvar Hotels ever since I moved to the island permanently back in 2003. As the biggest employer on the island with the most hotels in the main tourist town, they have always been an important part of Hvar's tourism story. The takeover by ORCO Group and the big renovations of 2006 certainly helped raise standards in the post-war era, but the real change and addition of quality is happening now. 

Three years ago, I was a guest at the opening on the first millennial hotel on the Dalmatian coast, Pharos bayhill hvar. As I wrote at the time, I was struck by the sense of achievement and team spirit of those who had managed to transform this two-star hotel into a funky 4-star equivalent, the latest investment in the Suncani Hvar brand. 

Upgrades in quality and luxury followed in both Hotel Adriana and Hotel Amfora, but the next big project was perhaps the most ambitious yet. Not only the first 5-star hotel but one oozing history and heritage right in the heart of the town. Hotel Palace, a 2-star hotel with the most gorgeous heritage details, had been screaming out for a refurb for years. 

And her time has come. 

As previously written, the 5-star Palace Elisabeth hvar heritage hotel has already announced that it is open for bookings from September 1. An article in Jutarnji List today (which I encourage you to read if only for the gorgeous photos of Palace Elisabeth) provides an even better update. Suncani Hvar has received the final documentation required and so no more bureaucratic delays, and Hvar's first 5-star hotel will have a soft opening within 2 weeks (sadly not quite as soon as tomorrow as Jutarnji had reported).  

It has been quite a journey with a significant investment of 100 million kuna in total, as the hotel's previous 78 rooms were turned into 45 more luxury and spacious accommodation units. 

The hotel is located on the same spot where organised tourism in Europe began back in 1868 with the founding of the Hvar Health Society. The Society catered to the needs of the sick aristocracy from the Austro-Hungarian aristocracy, who found the temperate and excellent Hvar climate very much to their taste. The island was known as the 'Austrian Madeira' and Empress Elisabeth 'Sisi' provided the funds for the first hotel which opened in 1899. 

The opening of the hotel comes just months after the reopening of the oldest public theatre in Europe after extensive renovation spanning almost 20 years. Built in 1612, the Hvar Public Theatre is located right across the square from Palace Elisabeth, making the hotel's terrace the only place in the world where you can enjoy a cokctail on the terrace of the site of the oldest organised tourism in Europe, before strolling across the largest square in Dalmatia to take in a performance at the oldest public theatre in Europe. And then back to Palace Elisabeth for dinner. 

The hotel has a rich crew of highly qualified staff from a number of countries, and it will be run by Deni Ohlsen-Dukic. Ohlsen-Dukic is an experienced hotelier, whose experience is largely with Hyatt Hotels, for whom he worked in Chicago, New York and Seoul, before running the Galle Face Hotel in Colombo in Sri Lanka for two years. He joined the Suncani Hvar team in February this year, and TCN will have an interview with Ohlsen-Dukic soon after the opening on September 1. 

Exciting times for Hvar and a good season for the island so far. It has done much to return the narrative to its roots of heritage and an elite destination after a dalliance with party tourism. 

To learn more about Palace Elisabeth, check out the official website. 

August 16, 2019 - As more details emerge about the fatal monoxide poisoning on a Croatian charter boat, more questions need to be asked about industry regulation. 

It started out as a story about an alleged bad plate of mussels which led to the death of one Italian tourist and poisoned five others, two of whom (children) remain in intensive care.

The official investigation on the cause of death and illness quickly shifted the focus away from the restaurant and onto MY Atlantia, the charter boat the Italian group had chartered for almost 12,000 euro for a week of sailing around Dalmatia. It appears that the cause of death and illness was carbon monoxide poisoning due to an improperly installed generator on August 8, from which deadly fumes leaked into the boat's cabins. The owner, a 23-year-old from Omis and the Atlantia's 27-year-old captain, have been arrested. 

Omis is in shock at the tragedy, and various people I spoke to talked of a very ordinary, hard-working family, whose only son bought Atlantia at the beginning of the year for this, his first season. And while it is natural that the focus will be on the events leading up to this tragedy, questions are already being raised not only about how such a thing could happen, but how likely it is that other such tragedies could occur. The Atlantia tragedy has focused attention on this issue, but various industry insiders have contacted me to say how they are sadly not surprised that something like this has happened, as regulation and controls are not what they perhaps should be. 

I wrote an article last night called Hvar Tragedy: TripAdvisor 2018 Complaint of Noxious Fumes in Atlantia Cabin.

I contacted the poster, asking for more information and received a reply this morning, which surprised me. And then concerned me even more. 

Hello Paul

Our situation was different but still the boat was in terrible shape. I am a boater and have a 65ft yacht so I do know something about the mechanical side of things.

During our trip the AC was not running, so the generator they had was off most of the time. I would think that if this happened at night the generator was running and the exhaust fumes were leaking in.

In our case the grey water holding tank was getting full and the water would actually back up into the aft cabin. This was terribly smelly but not a CO issue. The boat was in bad mechanical shape, just not maintained well. From my experience it would need a minimum of about 50,000USD in maintenance at the time just to patch things up.

The boat did have a bit of an old boat smell, also at some anchorages everyone was running the generators so even if your window was open it would stink like exhaust. I can understand that it could easily happen that you would dismiss the exhaust smell inside the cabin. I am just speculating here anyway.

The generator they had when we were there did not work correctly, so it must have been fixed. Whoever did this work probably dropped the ball with the venting of the exhaust.

Also, in retrospect I wonder why a CO sensor is not required on any commercial vessel. I know over here in Canada we are required to have them.

So it would appear that the noxious fumes of last year in the cabins came from a different source, but the answer got me thinking about the level of checks and controls. Croatian nautical tourism is growing rapidly, and my sailing friends tell me that more and more people with less and less experience are jumping on the bandwagon, with profit seemingly the most important factor. A snapshot of a view from an experienced sailor who has spent years working on the boats on the Croatian coast is just one excerpt from my increasingly busy inbox:

The larger story is poor regulations. Boat registries hardly do their job, you can normally pay and they check basics like the amount of fire extinguishers, not important systems like engines etc.

There are also new captains taking over these large yachts and gulets with ZERO experience. I've actually been saying since the beginning of the season that I am surprised there haven't been more serious incidents, what happened is the worst possible scenario.

Everything in the system has been made to make it as easy as possible for boats to get registered and people to get their Captain's license to fill the increase in nautical tourism. With zero experience and zero respect for basic seamanship.

Numbers, numbers, numbers. Our old friend, the Croatian tourism strategy. Numbers over quality experience. 

I am no sailor, my sailing knowledge is limited, and it is in nobody's interests to sensationalise the story, but surely it is in everyone's interests to do a thorough investigation into current practices, put safety not profit at the top of the agenda, and make sure that such incidents never happen again?

TCN will invest some effort to researching this topic further in the public interest. If you have a story, expert comment, or something constructive to add (no rants of unhappy customers, please), we would to hear from you on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Subject Sailing. Contributions will be anonymous if required

August 15, 2019 - With one death and two children still in intensive care from monoxide poisoning on the charter boat MY Atlantia, TripAdvisor speaks about noxious cabin fumes on the same boat in 2018. 

A very emotional day for the three Italian adult survivors of the tragic events on the charter boat MY Atlantia today, as they returned to the boat on Hvar to pick up their belongings after they were helicoptered to Split with what investigators have concluded was carbon monoxide poisoning from a leak on the boat into the cabins. There are photos in the Croatian media, but I personally feel they are a little intrusive, so no link from me. 

The 23-year-old owner and 27-year-old captain have been arrested. And while there are many questions being asked about how something like this could have happened (the faulty unit was apparently installed on August 8), this is not the first time that there have been complaints about noxious fumes in the cabins of MY Atlantia. A TripAdvisor post of 2018 had a very negative experience:

So, let’s talk about the boat. From what we found out the ownership changed a couple of years ago and as a boat owner the vessel has been totally neglected on the maintenance side. The grey water tanks backed up two times and filled the cabins with noxious fumes almost makes you throw up. The grey water tank needs to be flushed or changed as it is totally full of sludge. The toilet flushing was not working in two of the cabins; the impellers need to be changed.

It is VERY important to note that Atlantia was under different ownership last summer, and the current owner commented as such in the comments below this post, promising the following:

MY ATLANTIA has a new owner since 2019 and we're very sorry to that you have had such experience with Atlantia.

We have taken the following steps to provide our guests an amazing holidays;

MY ATLANTIA for the 2019 season has a new crew , very good refreshments on interior and exterior was made furthermore all technical details was improve.

Interestingly, the charter company refunded the clients $700 after they complained about their experience. 

While the focus is quite rightly on the current situation and how it could have happened, perhaps this tragedy will be the catalyst for more attention to be paid to ensuring something like this can't happen again. The fact that the same boat was giving noxious fumes to other sailors last year when the boat had different owners hardly fills one with confidence. 

Sailing in Croatia has been booming in recent years, as more people discover the beauty of summer on the Adriatic. The explosion of new businesses and more boats and crew has been rapid, perhaps without all the appropriate checks and balances along the way. 

A little like Croatia's tourism strategy in general, more attention to the strategy and details of the sailing industry would do wonders for reassuring safety and providing a better sailing experience. 

August 15, 2019 - Two arrests are made regarding the tragedy on Hvar, as the official investigation confirms the cause as carbon monoxide poisoning on the victim's charter yacht. 

As previously reported on TCN, 57-year-old Italian tourist Eugenio Vinci was found dead on a charter boat off Hvar two days ago, while five other passengers were helicoptered to Split Airport with severe poisoning. 

Initial reports that the death and illness were related to a meal of mussels in a popular Hvar restaurant were quickly discounted, and the focus of the investigation turned to the boat they had chartered, which Croatian media has named as MS Atlantia from Omis. Built in 1992, the wooden boat sleeps 11 and is available for charter for 11,900 euro a week. 

The official investigation has now concluded that the cause of death and illness was due to carbon monoxide poisoning from a leak from a generator which was installed in the engine room on August 8. This leak led to the poisoning of the passengers in their cabins.

Two people have been arrested in relation to the death and the poisoning, the 23-year-old owner of the boat, and the 27-year-old captain. They face up to 8 years in prison if found guilty.

The quick response of the Hvar emergency services ensured that the five sick tourists were transferred to Split hospital by helicopter, and they were undergoing treatment in intensive care less than an hour after Atlantia docked on the Hvar riva. Such quick intervention undoubtedly saved lives, and the three adults who were transferred are all now in a stable condition, while the two children remain critical. 

This is an ongoing story, and we will report more on it as news comes in. 

You can follow the latest on this, and all the other TCN news stories, in our TCN news section. 

August 14, 2019 - As the investigation into the death of an Italian tourist focuses on carbon monoxide poisoning on his chartered boat, spare a thought for the fantastic Hvar emergency response which undoubtedly helped save the lives of others. 

It is the top story in Croatia, and one which is evolving rapidly. 

As previously reported on TCN, 57-year-old Italian tourist Eugenio Vinci was found dead on his charter boat yesterday, with five other passengers also seriously ill. 

Initial reports pinpointed a well-known Hvar restaurant as the possible cause after it emerged that the group had dined there and ate mussels. This theory was soon discounted as it emerged that only two of the party had eaten the mussels while all six had fallen ill, Vinci fatally. The police and Hvar health inspectors closed the restaurant as a precaution, but gave it a clean bill of health after a thorough inspection, and the restaurant reopened last night. 

The current theory of what happened is that the victims suffered from carbon monoxide poisoning due to a leak on the boat they had chartered. The boat is currently on the Hvar riva and being investigated by police. Interestingly, Italian criminal police have also arrived on Hvar to take part in the investigation. A sign, perhaps, that there may be more to this story?

One aspect of this story which has not been touched upon so far, but is more than worthy of a mention, is the extremely quick emergency response of the Hvar emergency services. 

There is no hospital on the island, but yesterday's events showed that in time of true need, the response can be magnificent. Here is what happened yesterday:

Emergency call from the boat to Hvar Port Authority was at 10.10 am.

The Hvar Port Authority called the Hvar emergency services Police to come to the riva because they was a situation with a dead person on a yacht.
 
Within 30 minutes the Hvar emergency services had arranged for a helicopter transfer and there were two flights from helipad north of Hvar town carrying five sick passengers. The Hvar fire department in that time secured the helipad.
 
Total transfer time from the boat to the hospital in Split was less than one hour.

The two children remain in intensive care, and our thoughts are with them, while the three adults are now out of danger, thanks to both the excellent hospital care by Split's dedicated medical team and the outstanding emergency response. 

We will update this story as we get more, but a big thanks to all Hvar's emergency workers for the great job you do. 

August 14, 2019 - More details emerge about yesterday's fatal tragedy off Hvar, as the investigation moves from the restaurant to the chartered yacht.

As reported on TCN yesterday, a tourist was found dead on a boat and five other people were helicoptered to Split with a serious bout of what was initially suspected as food poisoning. 

While the full story is yet to emerge, more details are available. The dead man has been named as 57-year-old Italian businessman, Eugenio Vinci. 

Five other people from the boat were helicoptered to hospital, including two children, where they underwent emergency treatment for poisoning. The adults are now out of danger, but the two children remain in intensive care. 

A press conference later this morning will bring an update on the health situation.

Initial reports linked the death and illnesses with a meal of mussels at a leading Hvar restaurant. The story seemed a convenient explanation of the tragedy, but it immediately gave rise to certain questions. Only two of the guests had mussels at the meal and yet six became ill. The group apparently left the restaurant at 21:30, setting sail from Hvar the following morning, and it was only at 10am that the distress call came when Vinci's body was discovered. 

As a precaution, Hvar health inspectors and police closed the restaurant in question, only to give it a clean bill of health. The restaurant reopened last night. 

Attention is now turning to the charter boat, based in Omis, with both Croatian and Italian media focused on possible carbon monoxide poisoning from a leak from the boat's generator. The media report that Vinci lost consciousness from the fumes in the toilet and banged his head as he fell. 

This is an evolving story, and we will bring you more on the tragedy later today as more details emerge. 

UPDATE TO THIS STORY

August 13, 2019 - Details are still emerging about the death of a 64-year-old tourist who was found dead on a yacht off Hvar this morning.

The top story in the Croatian media today is of the tragedy on Hvar of a tourist who was found dead on a yacht. Initial reports suggested that this was related to food poisoning and a plate of mussels in a Hvar restaurant, a theory which seemed credible given that five others dining with the dead man - including two children - were helicoptered to Split for emergency treatment. You can read the latest in the Croatian media here.

I spoke to various local sources in Hvar Town this afternoon to see if I could get any more information, and it appears that while the restaurant has been closed as a precaution by health inspectors, there is another area of investigation ongoing - the air conditioning system on the yacht after the hospital patients reported smelling petrol. 

According to the sources I spoke to, the restaurant in question had last been inspected a week ago. On the night in question, only two of the six apparently ate the mussels, and the party left the restaurant at 21:30 and retired to their yacht. The boat left Hvar in the morning only to return to port when the man was found dead and the other diners feeling sick. Ambulances and police were on hand to meet the boat, and the sick tourists were quickly transferred to Split. 

Clearly, there is a lot more to this story, and we will bring you the latest as we get it. 

August 11, 2019 - The luxury tourism sector in Croatia is having a great season, with agencies such as Hvar Tours using innovative ways to show the very best of the country. 

It took me quite some time when writing about tourism on the island of Hvar to realise that most of the best stories never reach the public domain. Indeed, the island has a reputation for being very egalitarian and a place where celebrities can relax and be left alone. And unless you are a British prince falling drunkenly into a nightclub swimming pool, celebrity visits generally go unreported, certainly until the famous guests have left. 

I learned part of the extent of this when I met Dagmar Meneghello on Palmizana for the first time during which we had a wonderful chat about 50 years of Palmizana and all the famous people who had visited. She had a strict rule of no paparazzi in the restaurant and only very rarely - and with full consent - did news of their visit come out, and always after their departure. 

There has been an increase in innovation, originality and attention to detail from some Croatian agencies in recent years, among them Hvar Tours on the island of the same name. Locally run and with an intimate knowledge of what is possible on Hvar, Hvar Tours has arguably the most diverse range of tours on Hvar, from speedboat wine tastings in caves and romantic sunset dinners in award-winning olive groves to the only Blue Cave Tour which also takes in the majesty of Secret Inland Vis on the same day. 

And they know exactly where the very best spots on the island are for their VVIP guests to enjoy the best views on the island in total privacy and seclusion, surrounded by Hvar's pristine nature. 

And a cocktail-shaking waiter with a full range of chilled refreshments for the enjoyment of the VVIP guests. 

Welcome to the first pop up bar on the top of the island of Hvar. I take mine shaken but not stirred. 

For more luxury tourism innovation from Hvar Tours, check out their standard offer and then contact them with your specific needs. 

August 11, 2019 - A major step forward in tourist information on Hvar, as Plan Hvar is launched with the aid of EU funding. 

Tourist information has come a long way since I started Total Hvar way back in 2011.

Back then, it was almost unheard of to see events promoted in anything but Croatian. Quite how tourists were supposed to know what was going on did not seem to be important. 

And then there was the timing of the announcements - usually some posters put on various notice boards only locals would know about, followed by a Facebook announcement half an hour before the event began. My all-time favourite was a post from the Jelsa Tourist Board several years ago, which stated that that evening's concert had been cancelled due to bad weather. The fact that it had never been announced left many locals wondering what the tourist board was talking about. 

But progress has been made. Bilingual event calendars are now the norm, not the exception. And a major step forward in event information management has just been announced on Hvar with the launch of Plan Hvar, a new platform in English and Croatia which aggregates all the events happening on the island. Great news!

It is something that I tried to do on Total Hvar, and perhaps I might have succeeded if I chosen the intelligent route taken by PlatFORma and their partners - seeking EU funding. 

According to the Plan Hvar website, the project has taken 18 months and was subfinanced by the EU European Social Fund to the tune of 769,766.14 kuna. Partners in the project are PlatFORma Hvar, Grad Hvar, Dramski studio mladih Hvar, Festival mediteranskog filma Split, Gradska knjižnica i čitaonica Hvar, Lag Škoji, Udruga Pjover.

The calendar can be searched by village and by category, and each event has its own page with contact details and information about the event. There is also an option to add your own event. 

It all sounds promising and will certainly improve the event information flow for tourists and locals alike. 

Check out the Plan Hvar website here.