ZAGREB, November 20, 2020- Tourism and Sport Minister Nikolina Brnjac proposed on Friday in an online meeting the establishment of a joint working group for tourism to Italian Culture and Tourism Minister Dario Franceschini, the Ministry of Tourism and Sport (MINTS) has said.

Minister Brnjac and Culture and Media Minister Nina Obuljen Korzinek held an online bilateral meeting with Franceschini, ahead of the fourth plenary session of the Coordinating Committee of Croatian and Italian Ministers, the ministry said in a press release.

Brnjac said that during Croatia's presidency of the Council of the EU a quality discussion had been initiated between member states in the tourism sector, and the need to find a joint plan for overcoming the crisis had been identified.

In the difficult circumstances that hit tourism this year, it is especially important to exchange experiences on the use of EU funds, encourage private-public partnerships and interregional and cross-sectoral cooperation to ensure recovery and resilience, as well as further development and growth of the tourism sector, the Croatian tourism minister said.

She also said that the initiative to better position tourism within the EU, which Croatia had presented in 2018, had attracted great interest and support of Italy and other EU member states.

According to her, Croatia is open to presenting and promoting itself together with Italy in third markets, as well as to sharing knowledge and experience on the technological, legislative and organisational aspects of Croatia's award-winning eVisitor system.

The ministers also agreed that education in tourism was key to strengthening and further developing the sector, and that the exchange of knowledge and good practices in the training of tourism and hospitality staff was very useful for both sides, MINTS said.

September 28, 2020 – The tail end of 2020's unparalleled summer offers opportunity for pause, contemplation and appreciation, as it's loyal and not luxury guests that have saved this year's Croatia tourist season.

In this day and age, things always have to get better. There's no room to sit still. Life without improvement is deemed a failure. Nowhere is this more true than the Croatia tourist season.

The numbers of overnight stays in the Croatia tourist season sometimes seem to be the only measure by which its success is judged. Year after year, the numbers must rise. Any decrease is unthinkable. At the same time, hungry eyes still want more. Some want to reposition themselves. A new class of guest is wanted, from faraway nations. They must be of a better quality. They must stay longer, in more expensive dwellings. They must spend more.

Incredible initiatives are undertaken to turn this want into a reality. But, at the end of the 2020 Croatia tourist season, perhaps it's time to pause and reflect. For this year, it is undoubtedly loyalty and not luxury that's saved the Croatia tourist season.

In the year the coronavirus pandemic hit, arrivals by charter plane and cruise ship were seriously curtailed. So much for the flying visits of premium guests from far-flung lands. Instead, the tourists who came were from much closer to Croatia.

The English language that most on the coast are so familiar with was this year useless. On the beaches of Istria and northern Dalmatia, it was Slovenian, Polish, Czech, German, Slovakian and Italian that was heard. The packed bars of Makarska echoed with the familiar call of 'Đe si, bolan?' (where are you, bro? - in Bosnian dialect). Many of those who came drove to Croatia. And many do so every year.

© Jeremy Segrott

Sighs and light-hearted jokes about some of these guests persist in some places. “That family come every year, but they only ever order one pizza to share between the four of them.” The choice of footwear of some German-speaking and Czech visitors frequently draws chuckles, in particular, the classic sock and sandal combo. But, just where would the 2020 Croatia tourist season have been without the 60,000 Czech and Slovak visitors who this year arrived by train?

Just two days ago, Jutarnji reported on phenomenal numbers of Polish visitors this year. Would anyone else really have taken the place of the returning family of four sharing a pizza? Just what would the season in Makarska have looked like without bolan?

Croatians are famously very appreciative hosts. On the ground, there's no doubt that such loyal guests are warmly welcomed and thanked each year by accommodation renters, restaurateurs and others. They greet returning visitors with smiles of familiarity and reserve for them their favourite place. In September 2020, gratitude to such guests was echoed by The Croatian National Tourist Board as they launched a new campaign 'Thank you', directed at the tourists who this year chose Croatia.

Perhaps it is time to ensure that this gratitude extends into any grand new initiatives for growth in the Croatia tourist season? Such loyal guests should not be taken for granted, nor forgotten.

Initiative within the Croatia tourist sector is vital. The unlocking of continental Croatia's potential is simply a must. That too of the Dalmatian hinterland and inland Istria. The exploitation of world-class Croatian assets such as nature, agriculture and health and wellness services are also perfectly on-point. The desire to attract a better class of bigger-spending visitor to luxury holidays on the Croatian coast should surely be a lower priority. After all, eyes that covet can all too frequently fail to appreciate that for which they should already be thankful.

© Oddman47

Lead image adapted from an original photograph by © Marco Verch

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August 16, 2020 - Italian TV reports shocking disregard for social distancing as young Italians go wild on Pag

Italian TV have aired shocking footage showing their young countrymen on holiday. The report, aired on the TG1 segment of Rai Uno TV shows hundreds of island holidaymakers packed into nightclubs as young Italians go wild on Pag. They display a wanton disregard for any social distancing.

One young Italian lady is interviewed and claims there is no more Coronavirus. Another, a male, says he'll get tested upon returning home, although he's not worried because he is young. Perhaps his elderly relatives should be more worried?

Young italians go wild on Pag

After a slow start to the season, scenes from the report appear to show the famous nightlife of Pag now in full swing. With so many holidaymakers from Italy currently enjoying the island, its clubs and the alcohol they serve, it appears it would be a struggle for the venues themselves to enforce social distancing regulations. But, the holidaymakers do not appear keen to take on the responsibility for themselves.

While it makes a change for judgemental TV reports from the Croatian holiday season for once not to feature British youths, this is hardly a matter for amusement; Italy was one of the first European countries hit hard by COVID-19. It took a sustained and painful effort to bring the number of infections down. Italians at home must be watching such scenes with horror. They are terrified of the virus re-emerging at the uncontrollable level seen earlier this year. Already 30 young people who had been on holiday in Croatia this year returned home with Coronavirus infections.

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August 14, 2020 - Italy's restriction on travelers returning from Croatia has already proven to be a big blow to Croatian tourism. 

Italy yesterday restricted all travelers returning from Croatia, Greece, Malta and Spain. Namely, travelers need to prove that they have been tested in the last 72 hours and that they are negative for the coronavirus. If they can’t, they have to commit to being tested within 48 hours in Italy. This new measure, of course, is no friend of Croatian tourism. 

Index.hr reports that the news caused concern among Italian tourists who are canceling their trips to Croatia.

"This is a decision made yesterday, so we are already recording the cancellations of the reservations themselves," camp director Massimo Piutti told Nova TV.

"We've been receiving calls all morning from Italian tourists who are upset about this decision. However, they still show interest in Croatia and want to come to Croatia," says Viviana Vukelic, director of the Croatian National Tourist Board in Italy.

And for those who are already there, the decision of their government is not clear.

Overnight holidays have become more complicated for Italian tourists who are vacationing in Croatia, and there are currently about 46,000 of them.

"I'm surprised because I think we have too many cases in Italy. I don't know now exactly how it is in Croatia, but I think you have had relatively few cases compared to Italy," one Italian woman told Nova TV.

Boris Zgomba, president of the Association of Travel Agencies at the Croatian Chamber of Commerce, says he does not understand why Italy implemented such a move.

About 30,000 Italian tourists are currently vacationing in Istria and Kvarner, which is two-thirds of their total number in the country. They are worried about the new information, but they don't know anything yet.

"We don't know anything yet. We don't understand, if we don't get tested, will anything happen to us? Is it my responsibility, will I report to the hospital? At least they should have told us that before, not now that we're here for three days now," one tourist told HRT.

The Chief of the Civil Protection Headquarters of Istria County, Dino Kozlevac, said that the decision was disappointing. 

"I don't think we are so bad in epidemiological terms, especially since they know which regions in Croatia are more vulnerable, which have fewer cases. Istria is a completely safe region for them, both Primorje-Gorski Kotar and most of the entire coast. Therefore, it saddens us because it will complicate the whole situation around tourism and is definitely not good," said Kozlevac for HRT's show Regionalni Dnevnik, adding that there must be some other reasons for that decision.

"I guess it is a tourist decision. Croatia is a hit this season; there is a lot of tourism, we are fighting the virus in parallel, successfully, less successfully, successfully again. Therefore, there will probably be some reason," said Kozlevac.

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Croatia just had a record tourist season, but in order to achieve this development strategy until 2020, every year should be a record year. On the one hand we have a chance to attract plenty of tourists as the fear of terrorism has shied many away from places like Greece, Turkey, and Egypt, but on the other hand, each of our outbound markets has its own characteristics, with their political or economic crises playing a large part in their good will. Germans are wary of migrants, earthquakes have shaken Italy, and Russians are troubled by an economic crisis. What makes the most sense is that the Austrians have, most importantly, a “safety destination”, while the French and the British are to announce a new air service next summer ... On the upside, the forecasts are looking good, and that has been confirmed by representatives of the Croatian Tourist Board throughout Europe.