August 28, 2022 - The secret is out, Croatia is a beautiful country with untouched nature, delicious food, and some of the friendliest people. This kingdom of accidental tourism is still relatively new on the world vacation scene, but it is coming up quickly and aggressively. Whether that is family or active holidays, luxury escapes or hot girl summers, the demand has been incredible. The question is, can we take it? Is Croatia equipped to deal with the massive influx of vacationers? Not that it's all on us - are our guests too self-entitled to care? UNESCO heritage site rules don't seem to bother influencers.

The popularity and the fame that come with becoming known as one of the top world tourist countries come with some significant numbers. Numbers, of course, are people, and people, unfortunately, are not always very nice. TCN has been covering the tourist season 2022 extensively, and though it has not always been the best news, credit where credit's due - the institutions have been working together to implement strategies and rules to try and keep the rowdy crowds under control. Now, many problems remain, as witnessed in some of the scenes from Split, and not all strategies have immediate effect. 

To enjoy and share a tourist gem such as Croatia, while managing it all in a smart way is not an easy task. Unfortunately for some, not all experiences can be exclusive, and the effort needs to go both ways (effort very loosely defined here). Let's not be oblivious to the fact that Croatia needs good marketing just as much as tired holidaymakers and excited adventurers need Croatia. After the rise of social media, influencer marketing on Instagram has become a valuable tool for destinations and tourist boards, as well as hospitality providers. The relationship between the businesses is often based on an exchange of services, with, e.g., hotels offering free luxury accommodation for marketing content on social media. The problem arises with the fact that social media influencers need to become big before they can start making a living from their influencer business. Now, since the market is already so saturated, they will often go out of their way to seem more interesting, fun, a little bit daring, whatever it takes to be noticed. 

Like any sought-after market, Croatia has had its share of such encounters. More recently, we've had the pleasure of viewing and enjoying the adventures of Sabina Särkkä and Julia Toivola, the interesting friends of the Finnish PM. A few particularly lucky crew and passengers on a random Jadrolinija ferry even had access to some exclusive content. Both of them, alongside others from their group, have been publicly sharing on her Instagram all about their summer in Croatia, stay in Hvar, sailing the islands, swimming, partying, and just enjoying life. We are grateful for her enthusiasm, especially the ferry mentioned above. The question for the Croatian authorities, though, is what makes them special?

Screenshots: Sabina Sarkka and Julia Toivola Instagram stories, highlights CROATIA SAILING and Croatia sail, still active on their profiles

As Index writes, in their Instagram stories, both Sabina and Julia publicly shared videos of their group swimming in the Blue Cave in Biševo, where swimming is strictly prohibited to preserve the wildlife. The Blue Cave, a UNESCO Heritage site is famous for its unique colour which is a phenomenon that occurs around specific times of the day when the sun hits the inside of the cave in just the right way to highlight its anatomy and reflect the most beautiful blue of the Adriatic Sea. Visits to the cave are only possible with paid tickets, and don't last long due to the demand and the crowds keen to witness the beauty every day. In Sabina and Julia's videos, where the location was clearly marked, it looked like the group of friends not only enjoyed the visit in private, but also the opportunity to soak in the beauty in a way in which simple folk would not, by taking a little swim right in the middle of the Blue Cave. Whether or not they were fined for it we don't know, but in a world where the only thing we ask of you is to respect our environment to preserve it for both me and you, please, don't be like the above-mentioned influencers. It's not that hard.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated Lifestyle section.

August 24, 2020 - Another illogical move in Croatia. The Croatian National Tourism Board blocked Croatian photographers on Instagram who promote the beauties of Croatia.

After Index.hr received a couple of messages from Croatian photographers, they started to dig.

"It is awful to block people who work on the promotion of Croatia," one of the blocked photographers complains to Index.hr. The Croatian Tourist Board said that they blocked only those who "steal", "falsely present themselves," and "with whom they are in court". As Index.hr has investigated, most of the CNTB's accusations do not stand. Index.hr was convinced by the fact that after their inquiry about the photographers, some profiles were unblocked.

The Croatian National Tourist Board has more than 10,000 posts and more than 378,000 followers on its official Instagram profile. Most of the photos are actually from other profiles, and the photos are signed with a link to the original profile where they were posted. The promotion of Croatia should be important for the CNTB, and for those who publish photos to get a larger number of views, and thus followers. However, the CNTB, as Index.hr finds out, blocked part of the photographers and did not download or share their content on the official Instagram profile of the CNTB.

Blocking a profile on Instagram means disabling a blocked profile from accessing your profile and preventing it from seeing posts. Also, blocking on Instagram prevents sending messages, tagging in pictures, and any communication between the profile that blocked and the one that is blocked.

By blocking the photographers, the CNTB also prevented the CNTB from tagging their photos, as well as any communication on Instagram.

"We try, we do their job, and they block us."

“We try so hard and instead of giving us a hand because we work globally, they block us all,” one of the blocked photographers complained. But none of them understand why this is being done. "It's frivolous and childish and no one benefits from it. We can watch CNTB announcements through other profiles, and other people can still enjoy promoting Croatia as a beautiful country on our profiles," another photographer complains.

The Croatian National Tourist Board claims that they have extremely successful cooperation with a large number of relevant, successful, proven and internationally recognized photographers and that they do not have any photographers blocked on their profiles.

CNTB: The problem is copyright and misrepresentation

"So far, we have had a successful collaboration with photographers on our social networks, but, unfortunately, we were forced to terminate our collaboration with one photographer due to the question of valid copyright over the photo that she published as her own and confirmed in writing. Namely, a third person appeared as the author of the disputed photo, and a court proceeding related to copyright is in progress," the CNTB told Index.hr, without specifying who it was.

The CNTB, in response to an Index inquiry, said that each author the posts themselves contact and ask permission to post the photo. Index.hr asked the CNTB why they block the profiles of some photographers.

"They use false information"

"These profiles used 'false information', or they were presented as official profiles 'in charge of promoting Croatia in the world. We are responsible for marketing Croatia overseas as a leading holiday and business tourism destination' and used author's texts and content of the Croatian National Tourist Board without consent and approval, which violated the copyright (of the texts). We reported this via Facebook for false presentation or use of the content without permission, which was later downloaded by Facebook / Instagram," says the CNTB's response.

Index.hr sent an additional query, stating that they unblocked some profiles after Index.hr first query was not answered.

As Index.hr checked, their misrepresentation answer was correct, but only for one page. This is the Instagram profile of Croatia, which is presented on social networks, specifically Facebook, as the "Croatian Tourist Board". The CNTB presented Index.hr with reports against that site.

For other profiles, for which Index.hr sent them inquiries, they did not give them any evidence.

Timotej: We should support each other and work for each other

The Timotej profile belongs to a Croatian photographer who was born in England, and who did not want to introduce himself by his full name and surname. His profile has more than 58,000 followers, and his photos promote the beauties of Croatia.

The CNTB says they cannot comment on why the site was blocked because "court proceedings are ongoing". In an interview with Index, Timotej says that he would certainly be informed about some kind of court proceedings, but he doesn't know it exists.

"All these beautiful Instagram profiles that post beautiful photos from Croatia are blocked by the Croatian National Tourist Board instead of supporting each other and working together. This is not a contest for the number of followers but our goal is to show the world the most beautiful places in Croatia and make people fall in love with Croatia," Timotej said to Index.hr.

Andrea Miličević: It is bad to block people who work on the promotion of Croatia

Andrea Miličević is behind the Instagram profile croatia_photography, which has almost 80,000 followers. Her profile was also blocked by the CNTB. She tells Index.hr that she has never received any notification of the reasons why she was blocked and has been blocked for five years.

"I honestly didn't try to find an answer. Underneath every photo that is not mine is the author, so there are no copyright infringements. In fact, people are extremely happy when a photo is published to them. I get inquiries about accommodation, trips every day it is extremely bad to block people who work on the promotion of Croatia," Miličević said.

Index.hr asked the CNTB to explain precisely why croatia_photography was blocked, but they did not respond.

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