May 14, 2020 - The third session of the Istria County Tourism Committee was held through a conference call on Tuesday. In addition to the permanent members, it was attended by the Chief of the Istria County Civil Protection Headquarters Dino Kozlevac and the Director of the Istria Institute of Public Health Dr. Aleksandar Stojanovic.

HRTurizam reports that the director of the Istrian Institute of Public Health, Dr. Stojanović, provided information on the epidemiological situation in Istria County, stating that there is no circulation of the virus, and that there had been no positive findings of COVID-19 in Istria for 23 days. However, according to new information over the last two days, two cases of coronavirus infection appeared in Istria. Both cases are related to the flight from Frankfurt to Zagreb, and 19 samples of swabs are currently being examined in the County because of the suspicion of the coronavirus.

Stojanović also referred to two documents that arrived at the Institute for review last week, and these are proposals for epidemiological actions in the ports of nautical tourism - marinas, or travel agencies. Both documents have been agreed with epidemiologists and are ready for submission to the competent ministries and the Central Committee of the Republic of Croatia. During this week, a leaflet will be reviewed, adapting tourist animation to the rules of the Headquarters, as well as a proposal for a protocol of opening water parks.

The issue of readiness of hospital facilities in case of possible infection in guests was also raised, to which Dr. Stojanović said that OB Pula is ready, and currently, there is not a single patient with the coronavirus at the Department of Infectious Diseases. Chief of the Headquarters Kozlevac, on the other hand, commented on the entry of foreign citizens into the Republic of Croatia. According to him, citizens from the EU and third countries such as BiH and Serbia are currently allowed to enter, on 5 grounds:

1.) if you own real estate in Croatia, 2.) if you have a registered company or economic activity whose foreign citizen is the owner or member of the management, 3.) at the invitation of a business entity from the Republic of Croatia for a business interview, 4.) if you are attending a funeral or 5). if you are visiting a sick person.

Also, Kozlevac emphasized that when entering the Republic of Croatia, there are no longer any health measures, such as self-isolation, and that tourist arrivals are currently not possible. MEP Valter Flego added that the European Commission would come up with a more concrete proposal to open the borders (which you can find here). Former MEP Ivan Jakovčić commented on a large survey conducted among Germans and Austrians, which showed that 75% of them want to go on holiday, and of which as many as 65% want to come to Croatia.

The session also discussed the possibilities for the arrival of guests by air, especially in the case of flights of low-cost airlines, which the Croatian National Tourist Board deals with, while the Istria County Tourist Board is in charge of communication with easyJet, said Denis Ivosevic. Furthermore, there was talk about measures to act on the beaches, and it was said that controls would be performed primarily by the State Inspectorate, and then the municipal security guards and the beach concessionaires themselves, with patrols by the police and the Civil Protection Headquarters.

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May 5, 2020 - At the 2nd session of the Istria County Tourism Committee, held Monday through a full conference call, members discussed the epidemiological situation in Istria and future activities after the borders open, as well as expectations for the 2020 tourist year.

HRTurizam reports that at the very beginning, the Acting Prefect and the President of the Committee, Fabrizio Radin, emphasized that they had asked the National Civil Protection Headquarters when the borders would open, that is, the date and conditions of the eventual border opening of the Republic of Croatia to other European countries.

"We have received a reply that the topic of the eventual opening of internal borders within the EU will be on the table of tomorrow's summit, which will be held in Brussels. At that meeting, guidelines and indicative dates for the opening of borders should be defined," said the prefect of Radin.

Following the protection measures for hotels and camps, those for nautical, private accommodation and travel agencies are being developed. 

The session was also attended by the Director of the Institute of Public Health of Istria County, Dr. Aleksandar Stojanovic, who commented on the epidemiological situation in Istria, as well as the proposals for protection measures for camps and hotels.

"Since the beginning of the pandemic, we have had 87 COVID-19 positive people, and as you can hear, a few days ago, the last patient in Istria County was cured, or he was discharged from the Pula General Hospital. As of Thursday, we have no more positive patients in Istria County. At the moment, we have about 1300 people in self-isolation, 200 of whom are contacts of positive people, while others have received an epidemiological measure of self-isolation because they crossed the border," said Dr. Stojanovic.

Regarding the proposals for protection measures and operational procedures drawn up by the Croatian Camping Union and the Croatian Tourism Entrepreneurs Association, Dr Stojanovic said that they are professionally based and mostly cover potential risks. The measures will be presented after an agreement with the National Headquarters and the Ministry of Tourism.

It was agreed at the session that a proposal for measures for nautical tourism, private accommodation and travel agencies would be drafted by next week, in cooperation with the above sectors and ZZJZIŽ.

Regarding the expectations of the tourist year, it was emphasized that everything depends on the date the borders open for both Croatia and the main markets, i.e., Slovenia, Austria, Germany Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Furthermore, from Monday, May 11, hotels and campsites would operate, with all their facilities, which will open gradually, depending on the opening of state borders, or market demand.

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April 28, 2020 - At its first session on Monday, which was held through a conference call, the Istria County Tourism Committee stated that the priority is to prepare Istria for opening the borders and the arrival of guests.

Index.hr reports that members of the Committee unanimously stated that an agreement was needed between the public health system, i.e., the epidemiological and tourism experts, which should enable the protection of health and realizing part of the tourist year. As stressed at the session, tourism stakeholders are in the final stages of preparing their business in new circumstances, but expect the epidemiologists' instructions so that they can start opening facilities from May 11 and welcome foreign guests after the borders open.

In support of this, the Committee adopted four conclusions, the most important of which is the need to define epidemiological conditions under which tourism and catering activities (hotels, camps, family accommodation, restaurants, marinas) can be performed, with all its contents, and with the coordination of the Civil Protection Headquarters and tourism professionals.

The second conclusion relates to inquiries made to the National Civil Protection Headquarters on opening borders, that is, the date and conditions for opening borders of the Republic of Croatia.

"If it is not possible to define the exact date of border openings yet, then we will request at least a date when this information can be expected. Also, for the necessary preparations, information on opening borders of the most important markets for Istria County, such as Slovenia, Austria, and Germany, is necessary," said members of the Istria Tourism Committee.

The third conclusion relates to preparing a promotional campaign that would target the most significant markets for Istria County and would further promote Istria as an auto-destination, while the fourth conclusion relates to cooperation with Istrian units of local self-government, which refers to defining specific measures for the use of beaches, squares and other public spaces, which have been places of mass gatherings of guests in recent years.

To actively monitor the further development of the epidemiological situation and achieve maximum results in the realization of this year's tourist season, it was agreed that the Committee would meet at least once a week, Istria County said.

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