Snow looks good on you, Imotski.

As part of the second edition of the "Meet Your Country" project, the Croatian Tourist Guides Association and partners will organize free guided tours in many cities across Croatia. The free guided tours will take place on the International Day of Recognition in Croatia, Sunday, January 13, 2019, at noon, reports HRTurizam on January 9, 2019. 

The guided tours are intended firstly for locals to get to know their city better and become ambassadors of Croatian tourism, but, of course, to all other visitors and tourists too.

“We wanted to highlight the importance of protected land sites in the country and the Ordinance on the List of Protected Locations (which is still under construction), which are the only places in Croatia which will be presented exclusively by tourist guides who have been educated in the Republic of Croatia,” said Kristina Niuć Prka, the president of the Croatian Tourist Guides Association, adding that the initiative this year includes 58 cities.

The list of cities and municipalities where free guided tours will be organized are Trogir, Split, Solin, Klis, Sinj, Trilj, Dubrovnik, Korčula, Šibenik, Drniš, Zadar, Rab, Opatija, Vepribac, Lovran, RIjeka, Krk, Vrbnik, Trsat, Labin, Rovinj, Pula, Vodnjan, Pazin, Buje, Poreč, Karlovac, Zagreb , Varaždin, Slavonski brod, Lipik, Osijek, Vukovar, Vinkovci, Otočac, Plitvice, Đakovo, Buzet, Roč, Hum, Motovun, Viškovo, Imotski, Cres, Novalja, Krapisnke Toplice, Jastrebarsko, Pag, Bakar, Daruvar, Hrvatska Kostajnica, Nin, Kastav, and Sisak.

In Croatia, there are a total of 555 local self-government units, namely 428 municipalities and 127 cities, making it interesting that not all cities and tourist boards are participating in this action. 

“Meet Your Country” is an excellent tourist story and a significant segment in the mosaic of Croatia’s tourism story which the country cannot continue to neglect. It is the people that make up the best cities, thus the locals are tourism and the best ambassadors of Croatian tourism. The local population gives a rhythm and pulse to the destination, and visitors want to be introduced to the city by locals through their culture, lifestyle, customs, and stories because it is precisely the essence of tourism.

In conclusion, getting acquainted with your city and transforming citizens into ambassadors of Croatian tourism is crucial for the development of tourism. Get out there and learn more about your city this Sunday! You can find out more about where you're meeting in your city here. 

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

Thanks to the winter cyclone that passed through the Adriatic last night, much of Dalmatia is covered in snow. 

January 9, 2019 - As part of the project "Meet Your Country" organized by the Croatian Tourist Guides Association, on the occasion of the International Day of the Republic of Croatia, the Sinj Tourist Board and the Association of Tourist Guides of Sinj "Osinium" are organizing a free tour of Sinj.

More than 55 cities throughout Croatia will participate in the action, and the start of the tour in all cities will be at the same time, 12 pm. 

The tour of Sinj begins from the Alkar racecourse. All participants will have the opportunity to learn more about the city, the prominent people who have influenced its development, numerous public sculptures, the Franciscan classical gymnasium, the Tripalo palace, the Kamčak fortress, the church of the Miraculous Lady of Sinj, the votive church of the City fortress, the miraculous defense of Sinj in 1715, and the significance of the Sinj Alka, the knights tournament under UNESCO protection. 

All citizens of Sinj and the Cetina region, as well as all guests, are invited to join the free tour of Sinj!

You can confirm your participation by contacting the mobile phone: 099/4500305 or by mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

To learn more about Inland Dalmatia, follow TCN's dedicated page. 

Photos by Ivan Alebić and Željko Zrnčić

Is the exceptional development of tourism in the Imotski region really an important factor in the development of this area, or is it just a trend, which, in turn, has been triggered by the arrival of many guests and the improvement of living conditions, primarily holiday home rentals?

This is a doubt many people from Imotski encounter, especially after the latest results of last year's tourist season. And they are fascinating.

Let’s remember that not so long ago in 2006, over two thousand overnight stays were recorded in the entire Imotski region, of which 30 percent were by foreign guests - and only 12 years later, according to the data from e-Visitor, the Imotski region recorded 9,917 arrivals with 73,830 overnight stays. This is an increase of 22.6 percent in arrivals, and 27 percent in overnight stays compared to 2017, reports Slobodna Dalmacija on January 6, 2019. 

Last year, 260 accommodation facilities were registered in the area of Imotski, most of which were holiday homes. In the same period in 2017, there were 173, which means that 90 new objects appeared in just one year. The best news yet is that in 2019, the region expects to reach 300.

The Imotski region has only two hotels and several accommodations, while the rest is made up of private vacation homes, either old or newly built, with a very impressive infrastructure, including swimming pools, gyms, children's playgrounds and marked trails for recreation.

If you ask any of the local self-government leaders in the eight municipalities and the City of Imotski about their priority in the coming period, all of them will highlight the improvement of infrastructure for the development of tourism.

All of this contributed to Inland Dalmatia’s prestigious award last year. It is no surprise that the Croatian Tourist Board recognized that the Imotski area plays a significant role in the development of rural tourism and, most importantly, collects excellent guest reviews on accommodation conditions, the ecology of the environment, and hospitality. 

The strategic document "Tourism Development Strategy of Imotski Region by 2025" was completed, which was developed by the Institute for Tourism at the Ministry of Tourism. Tourist deputies forecast this year to increase the number of overnight stays by 25 percent compared to 2018. And when all of this is added up, then it can be said that the Imotski region and people of Imotski have embarked on a new step in global top-level development, which is tourism.

“Of course we are satisfied with these results, and the approaches of people who provide services. But next year we will show where we are because every year there are new trends in this form of tourism, which we now offer. Will the guests be satisfied enough with the peace, pools, and walks or will new clients seek new content?

Therefore, we also have to keep up with the trends in the offer, so we have emphasized implementing cycling paths. Cycling tourism is now at the top of the tourist offer in the world, and we have beautiful destinations where these trails can be arranged.

We plan to create about 400 kilometers of cycling paths this year and have our renters certified as cycling friendly, which will surely be a delight to our guests.

Then the construction of themed trails in archaeological tourism, because the Imotski region has a lot of these sites, and a string of signals to OPGs, winemakers, and healthy food producers, so that tourists can feel the charm of the Imotski region,” said Luka Kolovrat, director of the Imotksi Tourist Board. 

All in all, what is currently happening in the Imotski region when it comes to tourism goes along with the assumption that tourism should be one of the main determinants of development.

But tourism, without the improvement of the traffic infrastructure (the fast road Imotski - Zagvozd motorway), without a systematic approach to the development of agriculture and the production of healthy food, for which the fields of Imotski has some capacities, will not be enough for the development of this region.

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

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 4th of January, 2018, for the whole area of ​​the town of Trilj, only eight building permits were issued for the construction of family homes in 2018.

Trilj, a town and municipality located in inland Dalmatia boasts 26 settlements which extend to 267 square kilometres, and in which 9,109, just inhabitants lived according to the 2011 census. This number is certainly significantly lower due to Croatia's ongoing demographic crisis and migration from all over Croatia which continues on today.

This worrying information set alarm bells ringing for Trilj's mayor, Ivan Šipic. While the Čaporice work zone and the 3LJ project both continue to try to secure as many new jobs as possible for Trilj's residents, and a number of other moves and investments are attempting to reverse the increasingly unfavourable demographic trends facing not only Trilj but the entire country, the notion of there never having been a smaller number of permits issued for the construction of family homes clearly shook the mayor.

Owing to this, an idea has been arrived to in order to encourage more people to request permits build houses. Šipić proposed, and the town council unanimously accepted, that in Trilj's budget for 2019, the amount of 300,000 kuna has been allocated to stimulate the construction of family houses, Slobodna Dalmacija writes.

"Many Trilj locals have plots, but for building permits they have to allocate at least 15,000 kuna. For many of our fellow citizens, that's a very large amount and even bigger brake when it comes to the decision on getting involved in construction, and as mayor, I've decided that all Trilj locals who want to build family houses will get their building permits free of charge,'' stated Mayor Šipić. Priority will be given to young married couples who choose to live with their families.

Make sure to stay up to date with our dedicated lifestyle and politics pages for more on Croatia's demographic crisis and the measures being proposed and adopted in order to combat it. If it's just inland Dalmatia you're interested in, follow our dedicated inland Dalmatia page.

Dalmatia woke up to negative temperatures on Friday. According to Pljusak.com, at 6 am in Knin this morning, temperatures measured -2.2 degrees Celsius, Drniš measured -2.7 degrees Celsius, and Šibenik measured -1.3, reports Slobodna Dalmacija on January 4, 2019. 

The coastal town of Primošten measured -1.6 degrees at 7 am this morning, while Sinj was -3.1, Klis was -2.3, and the Mosor Observatory measured -5.8 degrees Celsius. The coldest temperatures were measured at Sveti Jure on Biokovo, where it was a crippling -15.3 degrees Celsius at 6 am. 

The Dalmatian capital wasn't nearly as chilly, as temperatures measured 0.2 degrees Celsius according to DHMZ. Zrnovnica and Solin measured 0.4, Ploče 0.5 degrees, Makarska 0.7, Lastovo 0.9, and Omiš, Hvar and Dubrovnik measured the warmest, at 1.3 degrees.

The bura came back with a vengeance this week and will continue to wreak havoc on the northern Adriatic. Fortunately, we’ll have fewer problems than Thursday. The afternoon will boast sunshine though there is there a slight possibility of mild precipitation later today. The mountains will be quite cold in the evening with occasional snow and strong winds, so it is best to postpone any trip to the late afternoon. 

Snow will fall in the interior of Dalmatia, especially in the evening and morning, though the day will pass mostly without precipitation and with partially sunny skies. The middle of the Adriatic is still sunny, though still relatively cold, with strong and stormy bura winds. Once again, the winds are weaker than Thursday. The sea will be quite wavy and choppy.

The south will be equally windy and cold, though mostly sunny. The islands and Konavle should see some rainfall. 

Saturday morning will be even colder on land, with the daily temperature not reaching above 0°C. The north and northwest winds will weaken on Saturday. There will be some snow over the weekend and some sleet. Traffic cautions will be necessary at the beginning of next week.

On Saturday the Adriatic will continue to feature winter conditions, with some temperatures in the minus, with the potential of some snow. On Sunday, however, temperatures will be a little higher, though they come with stronger bura winds which will gust into Monday. 

The Croatian Autoclub has warned drivers of trucks and semis that there is currently no open road for them between the interior and Dalmatia. Rijeka and Istria are open for all vehicles only on the A6 Rijeka-Zagreb motorway.

Because of the winds, HAK announced that the section of the A1 motorway between Sveti Rok and Maslenica, as well as the state road Maslenica-Zaton Obrovački, is open only for passenger cars, while traffic could be prohibited for  buses, vehicles with caravans and motorcycles (I group of vehicles) on the Franjo Tudjman bridge in Dubrovnik and the Adriatic highway between Senj and Karlobag. Between Karlobag and Sv. Marija Magdalena is an additional ban on cargo vehicles and vehicles with an overhead freight area (I and II group vehicles).

The ferry line Dubrovnik-Lopud-Suđurađ, catamaran lines Vis-Split, Ubli-Vela Luka-Hvar-Split and Pula-Mali Lošinj-Zadar, and Zadar-Preko have interupptions. 

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

January 3, 2019 - According to the data from eVisitor, which contains tourist traffic realized in commercial and non-commercial facilities, the Sinj Tourist Board has provided a review of the tourist results for Sinj, Dicmo, Hrvace, and Otok in 2018. 

Based on the data, Sinj, Dicmo, Hrvace, and Otok recorded the following tourist traffic from 1 January to 31 December 2018: in 95 accommodation facilities (1 hotel and 94 private accommodation facilities: apartments, villas and holiday homes) there were 15,427 guests, who realized 40,267 overnights. This is an increase compared to the same period last year by as much as 14.07% in arrivals, and 19.21% in overnight stays.

The most significant number of arrivals and overnight stays was realized in the city of Sinj, with 13,341 visitors and a total of 24,106 overnight stays. According to the structure of the guests, the largest number of overnight stays were made by domestic guests (10,276), and foreign guests mostly came from Germany (9,031, up 53%) followed by Korea (3,416, up 112%) France (1,512, up by 21%), the UK (1,220, up by 32%), Austria (1,183, up by 125%), Belgium (1,007, up by 59%), then Denmark, Poland, Norway, Italy, Romania and Sweden.

In the Dicmo Municipality, there were 1,195 arrivals with 10,782 nights, in the Municipality of Hrvace there were 744 arrivals with 4,147 overnights, and the Municipality of Otok recorded 147 arrivals with 1,232 overnight stays.

From this data, it is clear that guests in the area of Sinj stayed on average for two days, while the holiday homes in Sinj, Dicmo, Hrvace, and Otok see guests for an average of seven days.

These data are in favor of quality preparations, marketing activities as well as quality tourist offers. The trend of increasing arrivals and overnight stays has contributed to the joint cooperation of all the stakeholders in tourism who, following the trends of supply and demand and the habits of guests who increasingly want to explore the destination they are traveling to (and becoming familiar with its tradition and everything that it can provide), offer an authentic, unique tourist product.

In 2018, the City of Sinj and the Dicmo, Hrvace and Otok Municipalities boasted 95 accommodation facilities, which had 241 accommodation units with a total of 678 permanent beds, which is an increase of 51% in new buildings, 21.72% in accommodation units and 34% in permanent beds. The increase in the opening of new accommodation facilities should also be noted. Thus, there are 12 in the town of Sinj, twelve, five in Hrvace, ten in Dicmo and five accommodation facilities in Otok that were opened this year. 

In addition to the data mentioned above on recorded arrivals and overnight stays in the area of Sinj, we must also highlight the impressive figures of daily arrivals of guests.

The number of daily arrivals is highlighted during the Velika Gospa, where over 150,000 pilgrims visited the area, and the Sinjska Alka Museum, which recorded more than 25,000 visitors.

Forecasts for 2019 are also optimistic as the results of 2018 confirm that Croatia is one of the most popular destinations on the world tourist market, and according to the announcements, this trend continues on both the national and the local level.

To read more about Inland Dalmatia, visit TCN's dedicated page. 

January 3, 2019 - The tourist season has slowly come to an end and the results of another summer top summer have been added in Croatia.

The good news is that there is an increase in the number of arrivals and overnight stays almost everywhere in Croatia, the media cannot stop writing about the record number of tourists, caterers are adding up their earnings, and apartments and hotels are full. But the best part? The Inland Dalmatian town of Trilj also has a reason to celebrate!

According to the data provided by the Trilj Tourist Board, until 31.12.2018, Trilj recorded 22,731 overnight stays, which is 7% more tourist overnights compared to the same period in 2017, and 6,221 arrivals, which is 13% more than in the previous year.

 Out of the total number of arrivals, 77.16 percent were foreign guests, and from the total number of overnight stays, as much as 77.33 percent were foreign visitors.

Furthermore, in 2018, Trilj was the most interesting to the travelers of Germany, the Republic of Korea, France and Belgium, as these countries lead in the ranking of the largest number of guests who stayed the longest in the Trilj area. 

For the fourth year in a row, a brave team from Trnbusi, in the northeastern part of the famous Poljička knežija, welcomed the first day of the New Year by jumping into the rather chilly Cetina - and continuing for a swim, reports Dalmacija Danas on January 1, 2019. 

Namely, two members of the adventure group Lakomi avanturisti took the plunge on Tuesday - and they are Zdravko Rodić-Čakur and Petar Stanić. 

Like every year, these brave adventurers chose Stružica, a beautiful beach on the coast of the Cetina, which welcomes an increasing number of hikers and tourists every summer. This year, the air and river temperature both measured 6 degrees Celsius.

“This tradition came about as one of us; specifically Zdravko Rodić, said in the summer during 40-degree heat that he was so hot he would swim in the dNew Year. Zdravko is the oldest among us and when he says something, we all ‘jump’. After that, we signed the contract, and at the bottom of the contract, in small letters it reads “whoever does not jump pays for the lamb“. If one of us does not jump, he will have to roast it. It is much easier to carry out something in the middle of the summer when it is hot.

Our group is called "Lakomi avanturisti". The great satisfaction of this name comes from what Stipe Božić called us when he saw what we were doing on the Cetina. He specifically saw what we did with truck inner tubes on the Cetina and how we rafted on them without any equipment. Last summer, 10 of us traveled the entire Cetina, all 105 kilometers, on truck inner tubes for seven days,” said Petar Stanić.

There is a justified reason why there were only two Cetina jumpers this year, however. Unlike last year, most of the group decided to spend New Year’s Eve in Kupres - and they did not hide showing their adventurous spirit there, braving the snow in their underpants! You can see the photos here. 

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