January 6, 2023 - Croatia National Tourist Board Director Kristjan Stanicic gives a wide-ranging interview on the direction of Croatian tourism - with some ideas sounding rather familiar... 

My lawyer thinks I am a little strange, but I am really excited about next week. 

For, more than 2.5 years after I got the first lawsuit of my life for an article I did not write, on a portal I do not own, which quoted me (nobody else got sued, there was no request for retraction, and the article is still live in its original format - you can read it here) - and after quite the journey, which you can read about in my mini-blog series, Diary of a Croatian Lawsuit, the judge has announced that there will be a verdict next week in the case. 

On Friday the 13th, that luckiest of dates. 

What could possibly go wrong?

I actually don't even mind if I lose at this point. It has been a lot of fun so far, and even if I do lose in Croatia, where justice has a more arbitrary feel, I am 200% confident that the European Courts in Strasbourg will be able to smell a SLAPP lawsuit from some distance. That will probably occur in the year 2063, if any of us are still alive, and if the Croatian National Tourist Board wants to continue until then, then so be it. 

I will confess that I have been impressed by the amount of paperwork the case has produced, and what level of lengths the prosecution legal team has gone to, in order to press their case, including impressive screenshots of my Facebook page to prove to whomever it mattered how unpopular I was. One folder with my name on it had so much paper in it that I wondered how many trees in the Amazon had been sacrificed for it. 

But one thing was clear - they were taking a LOT of interest in my words, which some might find intimidating, but I am actually encouraged. For it seems that by reading some of my thoughts, they are actually starting to implement some of my ideas, while at the same time suing me. Quite special

And then I came across this quite extraordinary interview of self-congatulation by the Director of the national tourist board the other day, the man whose organisation is suing me, and a man I have never met (this despite us both giving evidence in a courtoom for over 2 hours with only 6 people in the room). Lots of new initiatives, some of them very familiar. 

It is also an interview with some quite astonishing assertions, which goes some way, perhaps, to show why the national tourist board is so disconnected from the realities of tourism today. Let's put in the word 'allegedly' and 'at least in my opinion', just in case someone wants to take exception to my sentence and send me another blue letter.  

Back in June 2019, less than a year after the 2018 World Cup, I wrote an editorial called Branding Croatia for the Future: 5 Gifts and Trends to Focus On, which provoked a lot of discussion. Looking at Croatia through my foreign non-tourist-expert eyes, it seemed that Croatia was missing a trick or five. The article began:

It is seven years since the late Anthony Bourdain told the world about Croatia and its 'world-class food, world-class wine, world-class cheese.' Seven years later, Dalmatia still has no wine road, and gourmet tourism - despite its huge potential - is bringing in peanuts compared to destinations with much less to offer. 

And it is almost a year since probably the greatest gift of all time, much more even than Game of Thrones, as the tiny country which dared to dream won tens of millions of hearts during the World Cup and its aftermath. It was left to a small country with no football pedigree whatsoever that has never even been to the World Cup, to take advantage. Visit Rwanda's innovative partnership with Premier League giants Arsenal will include, among other things, exposure on the Arsenal shirt more than 35 million times a day. 

The fact that tiny Rwanda, a country I used to live in and know well, managed to take advantage of the football opportunity at a time when Croatia's footballing status was at an all-time high after the heroics in Russia, was particularly galling. If ever there was an opportunity to build on sporting success, this was it. And yet, it was Rwanda who made the moves, as you can read about in Lessons from Rwanda: Promoting Tourism Through Football, African-Style. 

Looking at Google Trends for information about interest in Croatia, especially with the hindsight of data from the 2022 World Cup and, to a lesser extent, the 2021 Euro Championships, it does not take a genius to see where the main interest and promotion opportunity for Croatia came from, as I wrote in November, 2018 in Where is Croatia? Why Football and Tourism Should Be Branded Together.

Interest in Croatia was insane, with Mediatoolkit reporting at the time of more than 60 BILLION mentions of the tiny country that dared to dream. And, as you can see from the Google Trends chart above, then everything died until the footballers came back to play in another tournament, as I wrote in Remember the World Cup? Google Trends on How Croatia Took Advantage (Not) in July, 2019. 

Time passed, as it does in Croatia. The footballing heroics were once again repeated, with Croatia once again coming home with a World Cup medal, this time from Qatar. More than 4 years after this - and after missing the golden opportunity of 2018 and Moscow, this week's interview in Novi List went like this:

How much did this World Cup do for tourism?

We will see the first results when we complete some more analyses. However, the fact is that this World Cup contributed a lot to increasing the visibility of Croatia again. I will remind you that when we won silver in Russia in 2018, Croatia jumped from 32nd to 27th place within a month or two.

We stopped measuring the showing of our famous video with Luka Modrić and other athletes, there were over 80 million views. Football is the most watched, the most important secondary thing in the world, it has a huge impact on recognition, visibility, strengthening the strength of the tourist country's brand.

So, to be clear - Croatia jumped from 32 to 27 based on the success of the football team. If the team had gone out in the first round, then presumably that would not have happened. Would that success have happened without the tourist board, who had nothing to do with it? Absolutely. 

Secondly, it is interesting to note that the tourist board is waiting to complete analysis on this year's World Cup. Did they do any analysis in 2018? If yes, were there any conclusions, and then any concrete actions?

The promotional video mentioned I know very well (I am the author of The Tiny Country that Dared to Dream text) and I interviewed the agency who made it in The Story Behind Croatia's Award-Winning World Cup Promo Video by BBDO. 

Although the video has only had 1.1 million views on YouTube, it has been watched, according to the director, more than 80 million times - you can see it below. Interestingly, as with almost all national tourist board videos, comments are turned off so there is no opportunity for would-be tourists to engage. And with no link to any website, nowhere for viewers to go if they want to know more. Basic stuff. 

But it is great to see the esteemed director talking about strengthening the brand through sport. Is there something concrete to this, or does it just mean applauding the sports stars who do the tourist board's work pro bono?

One of the other five gifts I mentioned in that 2019 editorial was medical tourism, where Croatia competes on the global stage in several areas, including St Catherine's Specialty Hospital, one of the Leading Hospitals of the World, and the first in Europe to offer pharmacogenetic testing, in partnership with Mayo Clinic. On the subject of health tourism:

As far as health tourism is concerned, Opatija is number 1 in that tradition and in everything that has been done. The Kvarner Health Tourism Cluster is doing a very good job and when we connect all these destinations we can seriously talk about year-round tourism.

It is great that the esteemed director recognises the work of the Kvarner Health Tourism Cluster, he is not alone. 

At the 2019 International Medical Travel Journal Awads conference in Berlin, where Ognjen Bagatin was named owner of the best international cosmetic surgery clinic in the world, a conference that was attended by the national tourist boards of most attending countries. Croatia was represented by just 5 people, two from Bagatin, two from the Kvarner Health Tourism Cluster, and one fat blogger with two lawsuits hanging over him. That Kvarner has a bigger brand than Croatia for medical tourism in the industry is beyond question. Here is what branding expert Iland Geva said in a TCN interview at the recent Crikvenica International Health Tourism conference - organised by Kvarner Health Tourism Cluster.

You are a global branding expert. Tell us about the branding of Croatia as a medical tourism destination. It almost seems that the organizers of CIHT, the Kvarner Health Tourism Cluster, has a bigger brand in the industry than Croatia itself.

Shall I be politically correct, or truthful? Yes, the Kvarner cluster is doing a better job than the rest of the country. Enough said.

So while it is great to cheer Modric and Kvarner, as well as finally recognise the opportunity, are there any concrete steps apart from cheering? 

Digital Nomads is a topic I have been writing on since May 2019, and one which made my life of 5 in that Branding Croatia editorial. My last ever meeting with the national tourist board, in March 2020, including a proposal to turn Trogir into Croatia's first nomad-friendly town. While they liked the idea, the national tourist board declined, stating that there was a tax issue with nomads which meant that they could not support the proposal. 

After I then introduced the concept to Jan de Jong and worked with him to make the nomad visa a reality, and after co-organising the first digital nomad in conference in Croatia in October, 2020, Dubrovnik for Digital Nomads, followed by the Dubrovnik Digital Nomads in Residence Program and Zagreb Digital Nomad Week, it was great (and I mean that sincerely) to see the Croatian National Tourist Board announce a partnership with the fabulous Digital Nomad Association Croatia. The lawsuits were the elephant in the room, particularly at the last nomad conference I was involved in organising  - Work. Place. Culture. in Dubrovnik. There was a wonderful situation where CNTB sponsored the opening evening, which resulted in the Head of CNTB Global PR greeting me and others as the evening's host, before flying back to Zagreb the next morrning to testify against me in court.

I wish both parties a successful partnership in this exciting opportunity for Croatia - the latest gift. 

But this is the Kingdom of Accidental Tourism (applauding the likes of Modric and co is a case in point), and two parts of this epic interview really made me smile. 

In fact, this had me falling out of my chair:

One of those contents that we may already be a little bored with, but it is certainly golf. In no way to break the deadlock, we are aware that, for example, the south of Portugal and Spain are working on golf during the winter season. Climatically, we are very similar.

We are similar, but with the difference that there are very mild winters, which means that you can play golf all year round. We can use it in some southern destinations, islands, even Istria. But nothing happens overnight. There is a lot of talk about golf, it has been worked on for many years.

There is a lot of talk about golf, it has been worked on for many years!?! Long-time followers of TCN may be familiar with the quite exceptional efforts from our tourism gurus in promoting golf. Who else remembers the legendary Jack Nicklaus and the 200 million euro signature course in Istria in 2006, complete with personal welcome from the then Prime Minister, Ivo Sanader (Whatever Happened to Jack Nicklaus' Croatian Golf Course, Approved by PM Sanader?)? Hopefully the first permit will be coming soon.

There is a lot of talk about golf, it has been worked on for many years. If memory serves me well, golf became a cornerstone of the strategic tourist direction as far back as 1998. What I do know is that in the 7-year strategic plan from 2013-2020 for Croatian tourism, the plan was to build no less than THIRTY golf courses in Croatia. Number of golf courses started in that time (or since) - zero. Indeed, the only developments in the golf scene during the last decade that I can see are a lawsuit of half a billion dollars against the Republic of Croatia from an Israeli investor over a golf course which will not be above Dubrovnik, and the Croatian National Tourist Board somehow promoting an 18-hole golf course located in central Zagreb, until I politely pointed it out in Tourism Quiz of the Summer: How Many Golf Courses Will Croatia Have Next Week? 

(Screenshot from www.croatia.hr promotion of the Dolina Kardinala gold course... in Central Zagreb!)

The golf course in question is actually a short drive out of the capital. 

Or was... 

No longer in function, it seems to me to be something of a symbol of the Croatian golf initiative which 'has been worked on for many years.' Take a look at the ghost town of one of the few (four) golf courses in the country, despite a quarter of a century of official efforts to bring all these wondrous golf courses to Croatia.

And while we are on the subject of the 2013-2020 strategic plan for Croatian tourism which delivered only a fraction of what was promised, has anyone seen the plan for 2021-2027?

Not yet, as it is not yet finalised. And so the Kingdom of Accidental Tourism has been floating without a strategy for three years now. 

Has anyone noticed?

My other favourite part of the interview was the self-congatulations on the success of a tourism initiative which has been panned by many in the industry, who refuse to take part in it - Croatian Tourism Month. According to the esteemed Director:

Are there any packages being prepared that would facilitate the arrival of our tourists to the Adriatic?

We expanded the Croatian Tourism Week to the Croatian Tourism Month and I must say that we have had excellent results in the past two years. We are already thinking about changing the dates, of course we will do an analysis and survey in the tourism sector itself. We see that our summer season is moving more and more into autumn and that our capacities are well filled in October as well. I don't want to prejudge some new terms, we will of course communicate that in time, but this action showed good potential and the result we achieved.

Another thing we tried to do through our promotional activities is to relativize rural areas. For two years, we had the campaign "Experience locals, discover rural Croatia" and I must say that even today we have calls in HTZ of thanks from small renters, OPGs, people whom our tourists and visitors have discovered in the past two years and who now and return.

I am not sure if he really meant relativise rural areas, or revitalise, but the thing that made me snort with this answer - and I have seen it a lot - is how a project is deemed successful just because the esteemed Director declares it so. 

Croatian Tourism Week and Croatian Tourism Month were great ideas, so poorly executed and at completely the wrong time of year for continental tourism that very few tourism businesses signed up. 

This is the same project, remember, where the only food to buy in several counties was popcorn at a 35% discount last year -  Gourmet Croatia: 35% Off Popcorn the Only Offer in Kingdom of Accidental Tourism.

They must have sold a lot of popcorn, as this 'successful' project was back in 2022, but with even less on offer - Ajme Meni! Shocking Truth of Amazing Official 'Croatian Tourism Month' Project.

And don't get me started on the promo video which included a Norwegian train... 

So yes, quite a success and lots to look forward to. Let's hope the sportsmen continue to overachieve, the Kvarner Health Tourism Cluster to fly the medical tourism flag, and for SLAPP lawsuits to silence curious writers who have the audacity to question the official narrative.

At least the digital nomad initiative seems to be moving in the right direction finally.

Friday the 13th, The Verdict, a new chapter in my Croatian journey. Vindication of free speech or the start of the long journey to Strasbourg. Whichever it is to be, you will hear about it on TCN first. 

If you want to get up to speed with the cases of the only blogger/journalist to be sued by the Croatian National Tourism Board in 2020, scroll down to the bottom for Diary of a Croatian Lawsuit, now in its fourth calendar year.  

You can read the full interview with the Croatian National Tourist Board Director in Novi List here.

****

What is it like to live in Croatia? An expat for 20 years, you can follow my series, 20 Ways Croatia Changed Me in 20 Years, starting at the beginning - Business and Dalmatia.

Follow Paul Bradbury on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to the Paul Bradbury Croatia & Balkan Expert YouTube channel.

Croatia, a Survival Kit for Foreigners is now available on Amazon in paperback and on Kindle.

September the 8th, 2022 - The new CNTB campaign is focused primarily on boosting continental Croatian tourism, with so many sights and experiences to be enjoyed far away from the coastline.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the Croatian Tourist Board (HTZ) and the Ministry of Tourism and Sport have launched the second part of this year's CNTB campaign which focuses on the rural parts of the country with the aim of generating stronger tourist traffic during the post-season. This new CNTB campaign is primarily promoting Lika and Senj, Posavina and Pozega, Podunavlje and Konavle in the extreme south of the country, the CNTB reported.

"Th new CNTB  campaign puts Croatian rural destinations in the foreground, as well as Croatian guests, with whom we're discovering the charm and beauty of continental regions through creative materials. Croatia offers much more than sunshine and the sea, and our task is to bring that wealth closer to both domestic and foreign tourists," said CNTB director Kristjan Stanicic.

He also emphasised his satisfaction with the results of the CNTB campaign so far, which, according to him, has been confirmed by the increase in tourist traffic in the continental counties of the country where - excluding the City of Zagreb - around 1.7 million overnight stays have been achieved so far this year, equal to an impressive 40 percent more than last year.

The Minister of Tourism and Sport, Nikolina Brnjac, noted that the goal of sustainable tourism development across Croatia is the stronger use of the continental part of the country's rich potential and year-round tourism.

"The rural areas of Croatia offer tourists all year round a lot of content, a handful of which we show in this new campaign, from activities in nature, enjoying an authentic gastronomic offer to exploring historical attractions and getting better acquainted with the culture and lives of the local population. Such content is increasingly attracting modern tourists, as evidenced by the fact that in the current part of the year, the tourist traffic in continental Croatian counties has reached 95 percent of the numbers realised back during the same period in 2019,'' said Minister Brnjac.

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

March the 18th, 2022 - A tender is being announced by the Croatian National Tourist Board (HTZ/CNTB) for six new representation directors who will be placed to work their terms abroad.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Marija Crnjak writes, a tender is being announced for the selection and appointment of directors of Croatian National Tourist Board representative offices in six markets, given that the contracts of the current directors in the markets of Austria, the Czech Republic, China, Hungary, Slovenia and Sweden will expire at the end of June this year.

The decision to announce the tender was made recently at the Tourist Council of the Croatian National Tourist Board, chaired by the Minister of Tourism and Sport, Nikolina Brnjac, in the presence of the director of the Croatian National Tourist Board, Kristjan Stanicic.

"Despite the fact that the geopolitical situation for the tourism sector has brought with it uncertainty and modified the original plans for 2022's tourism, we're continuing to work intensively to adjust our activities to maintain our status as a responsible and desirable tourist destination. In addition to the message of destination responsibility and flexibility of reservations, we're also sending out a message of environmental, economic and social sustainability to our emitting markets. The decisions made at the recently held session of the Tourist Council will enable us to adequately respond to the challenges currently facing tourism, and also maintain Croatia's position as one of the most successful destinations in the Mediterranean,'' said Minister Brnjac.

"In addition to the coronavirus pandemic, which has strongly affected the travel sector over the last two years, the situation in Ukraine is now having an impact on overall trends. As a negative consequence, the Croatian tourism sector is currently noticing a trend of the slowing down of bookings and reservations, but there have been major cancellations, nor a decline in general interest in travel. Our goal is to maintain Croatia's market visibility and its quality relationships with partners, and we want to position the country as a safe and well-prepared destination that attracts its guests with an attractive and top quality offer. The decisions of the Tourist Council are aimed at achieving those goals,'' said Stanicic.

The members of the council also adopted decisions on announcing the Call/Invitation for expressions of interest for the implementation of marketing cooperation with the organisers of top events for the year 2022, and the Call/Invitation for expressions of interest for the implementation of marketing cooperation with top Croatian athletes in 2022.

The goal of cooperation with the organisers of top events is to raise people's general level of awareness of the Republic of Croatia as an attractive year-round tourist destination with a diverse tourist offer, which will have a positive impact on increasing tourist traffic and general consumption. Additional visibility of the national tourist brand will be ensured through cooperation with Croatian athletes through the implementation of various promotional activities on communication and advertising channels.

For more, check out our lifestyle section.

February the 22nd, 2022 - The new and updated version of the frequently-praised Croatian eVisitor system has been created as part of the much wider Croatian Digital Tourism project.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, as part of the Croatian Digital Tourism project, which is being carried out by the Ministry of Tourism and Sport and co-financed by the European Union (EU) within the Competitiveness and Cohesion Operational Programme 2014-2020 from the European Regional Development Fund, a new and upgraded version of the Croatian eVisitor system was created, which is intended for the registration of tourist traffic and for the calculation and control of tourist tax collection.

"One of the segments of the Croatian Digital Tourism project is the upgrade of the award-winning Croatian eVisitor system in order to be even more efficient and better adapted to the needs of its users. New functionalities have been introduced that will improve business processes, so it will no longer be necessary to physically go to the tourist board to register a non-commercial facility (cottage), and communication between landlords and tourist boards has been improved. Ultimately, the Croatian Digital Tourism project will create a complete digital story, a set of innovative tools to facilitate the business of stakeholders in the tourism system.

The Croatian Digital Tourism Project, along with the Croatian eVisitor system, envisages the development and improvement of public e-services in tourism through TURegistar - a Central Register for Hospitality and Tourism Services, TUStart - Registration of activities and business start-ups in the field of tourism and hospitality, TURiznicu - an allocation system available support in tourism and Croatia.hr - Tourist Information Portal,'' said the Minister of Tourism and Sport, Nikolina Brnjac.

The Croatian eVisitor system has positioned the country at the very top of the world in terms of innovative technological solutions when it comes to tourism, and the most significant innovations include a completely new design that is in line with the design of the wider Croatian Digital Tourism project. Additionally, it has been made possible to display basic information about tourist membership fees, download payment slips for said tourist membership fees, and it is now easier to edit and post pictures of accommodation facilities on the Croatia.hr portal.

"The Croatian eVisitor system is a domestic product that makes this country unique in comparison with the rest of the world. The fact that this is an exceptional technological solution has been confirmed with the winning of an award from the World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), which this project won in the category of innovation in research and technology. Now we've further upgraded and improved the system, functions have been introduced that will further contribute to the ongoing development of the Croatian tourism sector, while for many users the system will be an even more powerful tool in developing tourist offers, ie defining their marketing and promotional activities,'' explained CNTB director Kristjan Stanicic.

Additional connections with other systems and institutions are planned, such as the Joint Land Registry and Cadastre Information System, the State Inspectorate, the OIB system, etc, while the connection with the Central Tourist Register will significantly change the current process of the registration of commercial facilities. On top of that, the business of tourist boards, private renters and other users of the Croatian eVisitor system will be greatly facilitated and improved.

For more, check out our travel section.

ZAGREB, 18 Dec, 2021- The Croatian Tourism Board's (HTZ) revenue in 2022 is expected to amount to HRK 311 million, 9% more than in 2021, and it will focus all its activities to further enhance Croatia's status as the most desirable and safest Mediterranean destination and ensure 90% of the tourism turnover of 2019. 

This was said by HTZ director Kristjan Staničić, who also noted that these goals are to be achieved by intensive marketing activities and PR campaigns, designed to suit individual markets.

Promotional campaigns will focus on boating and cycling tourism, gastronomy and wine tourism, natural attractions and active and medical tourism, he stressed in an interview with Hina.

In 2022 the HTZ's activities will focus, apart from the national market, on the traditionally close, neighbouring markets like Germany, Slovenia, Austria, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Italy and others. As for remote markets, emphasis will be put on the US market.

Next year the HTZ plans to open new offices, including in Ukraine and Spain. Also planned for next year is a new strategic marketing and operational plan as a long-term framework defining communication strategies and guidelines for affirming Croatia as a high-quality destination, Staničić said.

Epidemiological situation, clear protocols, quality products

Asked about the coronavirus pandemic and the related restrictions, which also affect the travel sector, and about plans for 2022 in that regard, Staničić said that all goals set can be achieved, on the condition the epidemiological situation is favourable and there are clear protocols for cross-border travel and a high level of health protection in destinations, with a sufficient number of testing centres, as well as quality and attractive tourism products.

For more on lifestyle, follow TCN's dedicated page.

For more about Croatia, CLICK HERE.

ZAGREB, 6 March, 2021 - The brand awareness of Croatian tourism destinations on foreign markets has increased by 50% in the last seven years, the Croatian National Tourist Board (HTZ) director Kristjan Staničić has said in an interview with Hina.

The enhancement of the recognisability of the Croatian tourist industry is one of the targets of the last Croatian tourism strategic marketing plan and Staničić announces the preparation of the new plan for the 2021-2025 period this autumn.

Findings of the regular annual Brand Tracking survey conducted in late 2020 by the HTZ on ten European markets among 5,000 respondents aged 18 to 65 show that the brand awareness of Croatian tourist destinations increased from 3.3 in 2013 to 5.0 in 2020.

The respondents eligible for the survey were persons who had spent at least two nights on holidays abroad before the survey and who planned to travel abroad in the following five years.

In the survey, Croatia was compared to its Mediterranean peers -- Spain, Greece, Turkey and Italy, -- and our country fares best in terms of the preserved scenery and the value for money criterion.

The findings show that Croatia was also associated with terms such as security and family-friendly destination.

Staničić points out that Croatia was to the lowest degree associated with mass tourism, which he finds as a positive thing.

February 27, 2021 – Croatian National Tourist Board director Kristjan Staničić stated in a recent interview for Glas Istre that we must continue to be very disciplined with measures, and by the beginning of the tourist season, we should vaccinate as many people as possible.

After months of Europe in lockdown and uncertainty that lasted throughout the winter, the start of mass vaccination has restored some optimism that the pandemic will soon be defeated. With optimism, thinking about the little things that enrich life like travel and vacations came back too.

The beginning of February brought the first significant wave of reservations for tourist accommodation in Istria, mostly guests from the German market. In the region where most of the revenue comes from this activity, all news about plans and announcements for next summer are eagerly awaited.

Glas Istre's journalists talked to the Croatian National Tourist Board (CNTB) director Kristjan Staničić about this topic and the expectations for the upcoming season. Announcing a series of promotional activities of the CNTB in the essential markets, Staničić confirms that this recently reawakened optimism for a solid tourist season is definitely not without grounds.

"We are in constant and direct contact with the markets through our representative offices and partners. According to the information we have, interest in travel exists, and with the intensification of vaccination throughout Europe, it is growing even more. The result is certain accommodation reservations for the upcoming season, which have also intensified recently. However, these figures are, of course, much lower than in previous, so to speak, 'normal' years.

Given the current situation, it is to be expected that the tourist season will begin in late May or early June. This means that, given the situation and the epidemic that prevails in all European countries, we have moved a little towards the summer months. But one should be optimistic, and two messages should be sent to the public.

The first is that we must continue to be very disciplined in implementing all measures because this is effective and results in a decline in the number of infected people. This means that it is mainly up to us what kind of picture we will have and how we will enter the season.

The second message is related to the importance of vaccination against COVID-19 and the tendency to vaccinate as many people as possible by the beginning of the tourist season because then it will mean that the pandemic will come within some reasonable framework that allows us to start tourist traffic," said Staničić.

What can individual tourist regions expect from the upcoming season, and how will they be promoted?

When we look at the regions, it is certain that Istria and Kvarner, but also the northern tourist regions, have a particular advantage because they are closer to key markets such as neighboring Italy, Slovenia, Hungary, but also a slightly wider environment of Austria, Germany, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic. But, of course, we also carry out activities in other markets. It is extremely important for us how we will rehabilitate our southern regions, primarily the Split or Dubrovnik area, which is dependent on air traffic.

Therefore, we are active in, for example, the market of Great Britain, Scandinavia, but also other markets. However, our great advantage over the competition is the proximity of the main markets, i.e., the fact that we are primarily a car destination and 83 percent of tourists come to Croatia by car. In that sense, we will conduct the most important marketing campaigns that will start, depending on the situation, sometime in the spring.

What needs to be emphasized is that we will primarily run marketing campaigns in 11 markets and that each campaign will be tailored to each country's specifics.

When we talk about promotion in a pandemic, many classic channels have fallen into the background. How does tourism promotion actually work in the conditions of the "new normal"?

Of course, the coronavirus has accelerated certain processes, primarily in the direction of digitalization. Last year and the year before, we started promoting it more intensively through digital communication channels, which proved to be very effective. We have been present in the digital space all along. From the last tourist season until today, we have implemented several marketing campaigns on digital communication channels and social networks.

I will only mention the last one, which we started earlier this year. The campaign's name was "Croatia full of new beginnings," and over 30 million people have seen it in the past month and a half. We have many impressions, and more than two million people even went a step further and were interested in specific reservations. So digital communication channels are certainly one of the most important tools we use in this period in the promotion and so it will be in the future.

As for tourism fairs which are also an important form of promotion in certain markets, the most important of them have also been held this year or will be held online like the London and Berlin fairs. We are, of course, present at them with specific presentations and use the opportunity to meet domestic and foreign stakeholders in tourism through virtual platforms.

On this occasion, I would also like to commend our Brand and Production Department within the CNTB, which designed a unique platform and went in the direction of enabling b2b workshops and virtual meetings that we organize in cooperation with our offices, which proved to be very good.

How do you choose the tourist market segments that you are targeting with promotional actions, especially before this season?

The CNTB always plans its promotional activities based on very relevant indicators, analyzes, and market trends. Given the coronavirus pandemic circumstances, we have focused on promoting those products in this segment and, in that sense, the most sought after. Staying outdoors, staying in separate facilities, and even nautical tourism were segments that were very pronounced last year.

Likewise, we have focused on specific products that are attractive to certain niche markets and tourist groups. Digital nomads, for example, are just one such group, but we have such an approach in other campaigns as well, and it has proven to be correct given the effectiveness of the campaigns themselves.

At the end of last year, we also measured our strength of the tourist brand and received the information that in the previous period, despite the coronavirus, we have grown in its recognizability. Two elements came to the fore, namely our natural beauty and attractiveness, and security and proximity to the market, which last year proved to be one of the key elements that made Croatia the number one destination in the Mediterranean.

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.

January 16, 2021 - Which unique COVID protocols are planned for the 2021 tourist season in Croatia? Croatian Tourist Board Director Kristjan Staničić gives us a closer look. 

After the Croatian National Tourist Board launched the communication platform "Croatia Full of Magic" on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter at the end of last year, which will be active for a few more days, a new online campaign, "Croatia Full of New Beginnings," marked #CroatiaWishList2021, will begin in target markets, reports Slobodna Dalmacija.

The beginning of the year is usually a period of travel planning. Still, as the coronavirus pandemic has turned all established patterns of life upside down, it has dealt one of the strongest blows to tourism. Its recovery will largely depend on the development of the pandemic, and in the Mediterranean, workers in the tourism industry agree, a battle will be fought for every guest. The keyword “safety” will play a significant role when choosing a holiday destination.

For example, Turkey, whose huge advertising budget Croatia cannot compete with, is conducting a fierce campaign on digital platforms under the slogan "Safe in Turkey," and on the website "Safe Tourism Go Turkey," it is possible to find everything a tourist needs to stay in that country - from potential accommodation and catering facilities to travel agencies, and transportation, with the indispensable label of safety.

Greece is also at a low start, where the introduction of COVID passports is mentioned. Tourism Minister Haris Theoharis announced that there would be two categories of tourists by the end of the pandemic, those who have not been vaccinated and those who have. For them, he explained, the condition for entering Greece would be neither quarantine nor a negative COVID test, but only a vaccination certificate and the option of mutually recognizing certificates between countries of departure and destination is being considered.

For those tourists who are not vaccinated, Greece plans to expand border control measures, which could affect the flow of guests and ultimately contribute to fewer holidays in the country. Minister Theoharis believes that the vaccination will affect tourist reservations from the countries they are interested in, namely Germany, Great Britain, Italy, and France.

Will Croatia implement special COVID protocols for tourists in 2021? And will Croatia introduce COVID passports? Slobodna Dalmacija asked Kristjan Staničić, director of the Croatian National Tourist Board (CNTB).

"Croatia is a very active member of the European Travel Commission (ETC) at whose last session the emphasis was placed on the importance of the post-pandemic recovery of tourism, i.e., the importance of implementing uniform health and hygiene protocols and promoting tourism and tourism products through joint promotional campaigns. In this context, a large global ETC campaign has been announced this year, and co-branding and transnational campaigns are planned, which will be partly co-financed by the European Union," says Kristjan Staničić, emphasizing that the level of security in Croatia will be further raised through active vaccination of tourism workers, who themselves are aware of how important the safety segment is in these market circumstances.

"The Ministry of Tourism and Sports is also preparing a special safety label that will be available to all tourism service providers if they meet all prescribed epidemiological safety measures and protocols. Namely, an important message to everyone is that the precondition for a successful season will be a high degree of vaccination of the population," adds the Croatian National Tourist Board director.

Thus, he reveals, the CNTB will launch a unique campaign in February that will highlight all the advantages of Croatia as a safe tourist destination through seven specially prepared "safety" videos, which will show all potential guests that Croatia is a well-prepared destination that guarantees a quality and safe stay.

"The campaign will be conducted on our subpage, which is updated daily with all relevant information related to travel in these new circumstances caused by the coronavirus pandemic. We will start implementing the main promotional and invitation campaigns in March, i.e., in the spring when the first major realization of tourist traffic in Croatian destinations is expected," says the Croatian National Tourist Board director.

He believes that this year, especially its first quarter, will be marked by the intensity of epidemiological measures being taken in significant markets to slow down and curb the coronavirus pandemic. Therefore, he explains, we cannot hope to establish more substantial tourist flows. Still, the arrival of spring and periods of nice weather will undoubtedly positively affect the epidemiological situation and travel.

"We expect a distinct last-minute demand, as well as that for safe, and at the same time quickly and easily accessible destinations. There will be greater demand for accommodation that provides additional security, such as holiday homes, accommodation on boats, in camps, and staying outdoors in nature. A positive effect is also expected from the vaccination of the population, which is confirmed, for example, by the data of the tour operator TUI Nordic, which recorded an increase in reservations as soon as the news of the vaccination process was published. In general, this year we expect, measured by overnight stays, achieving about 60 percent of the results from the record 2019, as well as maintaining the position of our country as one of the leading destinations in the Mediterranean," Kristjan Staničić concluded optimistically.

The online campaign "Croatia Full of New Beginnings" will be active until mid-February, focusing on 18 markets.
"The campaign aims to draw attention to Croatia through new beginnings and new beautiful and positive wishes in 2021. Visuals of lesser-known Croatian places will be used, with short and interesting stories as suggestions on what to visit, taste, and how to spend a holiday in Croatia. The focus will be on products such as eno-gastronomy, natural beauty, hiking trails, and nautical tourism. From the end of January, we will start implementing a special promotional campaign to position Croatia as an attractive destination for digital nomads, especially in the US, Canada, Great Britain, Ireland, and Sweden," said the Croatian National Tourist Board.

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.

ZAGREB, September 8, 2020 - Director of the Croatian National Tourist Board (HTZ) Kristjan Stanicic has been appointed vice president of the European Travel Commission (ETC), which is the first time Croatia has a representative in the ETC presidency since becoming a full member in 1997, HTZ said on Tuesday.

The ETC is the most important and oldest international tourism association in Europe, comprising 33 national tourist organisations and associate members such as agencies, service providers in tourism and transport providers.

Stanicic was appointed at the 99th ETC general assembly held online, with Luis Araujo from Portugal appointed as ETC president.

"I thank my European colleagues for their trust, which is also proof of the quality work of the Croatian Tourist Board on the European markets, but also distant markets. This is also credit to Croatian tourism and Croatia, which has confirmed its status as the safest tourist destination in the Mediterranean even in this demanding year," Stanicic said in a press release.

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.

On the occasion of the 64th meeting of the UNWTO Commission in Zagreb, Croatian National Tourist Board director Kristjan Staničić met with UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili with whom he spoke about innovations in tourism, air transport, and themed promotions of tourism products such as gastronomy. They also announced the opening of the Croatian Tourist Board office in Madrid next year, reports HRTurizam on May 29, 2019. 

“I think that now is the right time to open your office in Madrid,” said Pololikashvili, offering all of his support in the office opening process. 

"We plan to open the office in Madrid in January next year, just before the FITUR fair, the largest tourism fair in Spain. Future representation is especially important for UNWTO's headquarters, but also because of the growing number of Spanish tourists who last year made about 290,000 arrivals and more than 640,000 overnight stays, which represents a 13 percent increase compared to 2017,” said the director of the Croatian Tourist Board, Kristjan Staničić, adding that the Spanish market is also crucial because of its connection with South American countries.

The meeting also discussed the flights between Zagreb and Madrid, as well as the overall better connections between Spain and Croatia, but also Croatia and China, which was marked as a strategically important and very potent market for Croatian tourism.

They discussed the special promotion of Croatian gastronomy, within which Pololikashvili invited a Croatian delegation to the 4th Global Conference of UNWTO dedicated to wine tourism, to be held in Chile in early December 2019.

Recall that the newly established offices of the Croatian Tourist Board opened in Shanghai recently, along with HTZ offices established in Seoul and Los Angeles. 

The meeting of the UNWTO Commission for Europe (CEU), which is taking place in Zagreb on 27-30 May, was formally opened on Tuesday morning by Prime Minister Andrej Plenković who described the event as a compliment to Croatia and its tourist trade.

The meeting, which is taking place in Zagreb for the second time, has brought together representatives of more than 40 countries and Zurab Pololikashvili, the Secretary-General of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), who praised Croatia as a good example of the development of the tourism sector and the whole country.

To read more about travel in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page.