March 17, 2021 - As the final arrangements are being finalized to celebrate Saint Patrick's Day one more year in several countries around the globe, here is everything you need to know about how one of the world’s most popular holidays will be celebrated in Croatia.

Each 17th of March, the Irish population and the Irish diaspora around the world commemorate the death of St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, and the arrival of Christianity there. The holiday has evolved over time to become a worldwide display and celebration of Irish culture, through colorful parades, special foods, dancing, drinking, and very importantly, a whole lot of GREEN.

Although there will be no mass parades and celebrations this year due to the COVID-19 situation, Tourism Ireland is ensuring that this important day can be celebrated safely all around the world. As a matter of fact, they’re proud to announce that a record has been set in their 12th annual ‘‘Global Greening’’ initiative here in Croatia, both in municipalities and the number of sites participating. Thus elevating the number of municipalities to nine (9), and the sites across the country to fourteen (14). Next, we will share the details of the celebrations that will be held in each of them:

• Zagreb: the Croatian capital is going ‘‘green’’ for the fifth time this year. Among the sites that will change their colors will be the Zagreb fountains, the Museum of Contemporary Arts, the Klović Palace Gallery, and the Meštrović Pavilion.

• Rijeka: also remains a strong supporter of the ‘‘Global Greening’’: Trsat Castle, the ‘‘Molo Longo’’ port cranes, and the fountain in the Adriatic Square will once again link Croatia and Ireland.

• Split: the Dalmatian city will light up its fountain in front of Prokurative.

• Dubrovnik: for the very first time, the ‘‘Pearl of the Adriatic’’ will include the Small Onofrio Fountain in the celebration.

• Zadar: this year, its ‘‘greening’’ will be moved to the ‘‘Greetings to the Sun’’ installation.

• Pula: the Istrian city is also changing its contribution this year - the roundabout at the entrance to the city will show its citizens and visitors that the city celebrates its Irish link.

• Varaždin: the northern city is back for a second time, as the Croatian National Theatre will be the city’s ‘‘green representative’’ this year.

• Hvar: it is one of the two Croatian newcomers to the initiative, and its Fortica will be quite a sight in their first year celebrating St. Patrick's Day.

• Oriovac: the other first-time participant and the only Slavonian municipality taking part, will green its Turkish fountain.

When will you be able to witness the greenings of the fourteen sites across the country? On St. Patrick’s Day, Wednesday, 17 March at 19:00! Be sure to be there at nightfall with your camera, and the right company!

More information on the 12th annual Global Greening initiative can be found at Tourism Ireland’s site. 
For additional information regarding the Global Greening in Croatia, feel free to contact Bernard Vrban, Public Affairs Officer, at +385 (0)91 627 8934 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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

ZAGREB, October 18, 2020 - Before we decide on an important step in life, we first Google it, and in short, this is the principle on which a new scientific discipline is based: digital migration - a model for monitoring emigration through social networks.

As reported by Dalmatinski portal, the result of extensive studies completely coincides with the official data on migration, and they also provide much more information on the trends according to which more exoduses from Croatia await us.

Bewerbung, or job application in German, was searched as often this year as in Croatian.

The new scientific discipline of digital demography predicts migration trends based on what is being searched. Ireland is no longer "in", but the coronavirus and the lifting of employment restrictions in some countries, such as Austria, are bringing new trends.

"Those counties that are geographically closest to Austria, such as Međimurje or Karlovac, are most often searched for in Austria, in general, living conditions in Austria, which is again a strong indication of a new wave of emigration, probably this time to Austria", said Tado Jurić. professor of history at the Croatian Catholic University.

Even though the search engine is not lying, few have admitted to us that they have googled outside of Croatia while looking for a job.

Every fifth job seeker in Croatia is looking for a job abroad, of which 80 percent of them googled jobs in Germany.

Ten days after major corruption scandals, job searches outside of Croatia intensified, and it is not only the unemployed who are looking for a job abroad.

"We saw that based on the time when these terms are searched, it is before the working day, somewhere around half past six and around 3 pm", Juric explained.

According to statistics from the German Central Bureau of Statistics, more than 400,000 Croats live and work there, and once they do, Croatian citizens search for language learning and divorce the most.

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.

As Bernard Ivezic/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 16th of April, 2019, in the very first NOA store in Dublin, Ireland, this company from Koprivnica, Croatia, sells mobile phones, televisions and mobile phone accessories all under their own brand.

Croatia's successful Hangar18 company from Koprivnica, which has developed its very own brand of mobile phones, NOA, which has a market share in the domestic field immediately behind giants like Samsung and Apple, has opened its first own NOA store.

The first brand store the company has opened is in the Irish city of Dublin, and this Croatian technology company has stated that it plans a further fifteen such stores in Ireland alone. Additionally, over the next three years, Hangar18 plans to open a total of one hundred of its own NOA stores across Western Europe.

Mario Pintar, Marketing Manager at Hangar18, says this enviably successful Croatian company has changed their approach to developing its sales network. In Eastern markets, with the exception of Croatia, and where they have been operating so far, the company does business via distributors, while in the west, he wants to be in direct contact with the company's customers.

"Customers in Eastern Europe buy mobile phones of up to 150 euros, while in the west, due to the better purchasing power, they're buying more expensive devices, and we see a greater room for growth," explained Pintar. He added that the company's expansion initially started a year ago, and intensive work has been going on on for the past six months.

He didn't want to comment on just how much the company invested, nor did he want offer any comment on much they plan to invest in further expansion. According to data from Business Croatia, Hangar18 saw growth from 242 to 137 million kuna from 2013 to 2017, its exports jumped to an impressive 66.7 million kuna, and its net profit rose from 1.3 to 4.8 million kuna. Mario Pintar says that they already have a warehouse over in Ireland and that they're hiring the first workers for it. He says that on average, the company will require three to four employees per store, and potentially even more for sales and management.

"Our colleague Tihana Magdić has been living in Dublin for a long time, so that's why we started with Ireland. She was promoted to country manager, she's well acquainted with the market, and the shopping centre we first entered was a great partner and it was very easy to arrange everything with them,'' Pintar said.

Pintar explained that in the west, Croatia's Hangar18 will compete in the B category of brands, but as the first choice of those who instead of A brands want the Best Buy mobile.

"What sets us apart is the fact that we give customers the functionality of A brand at a fair price, and then the Noa Premium Care warranty covers the first twelve months for damages such as screen breakages and water damage, and our ''after sales support,'' and we open our authorised NOA service in every country we enter,'' explained Pintar.

He added that after Ireland, Croatia's Hangar18 plans to open stores in other European countries, including the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Spain. However, he noted the fact that they hadn't forgotten about the eastern markets. For example, in Croatia alone, there are fifteen retail outlets where they sell various brands of ICT equipment. "Recently, we've been able to directly export to Russia as a third company from Croatia, which opens opportunities for us in both Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan,'' concluded Hangar18's Pintar.

Make sure to follow our dedicated Made in Croatia and business pages for more on business in Croatia, investment in Croatia, products and services from Croatia and much more.

Click here for the original article by Bernard Ivezic for Poslovni Dnevnik