The anti-epidemic measures might be slowly being released, but the Croatian nautical tourism sector is seeking not only further relaxations, but clearer definitions of certain rules and protocols.

As Novac writes on the 8th of May, 2020, the Association of Marinas of the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK) welcomed the amendment to the Decision banning entry into seaports and inland ports in the Republic of Croatia, which, among other things, will sllow for the entry of yachts with a hull length of more than 24 metres into Croatian nautical ports or ports open to public traffic, as well as all vessels sailing under the Croatian flag.

Considering the fact that a significant part of Croatian nautical tourism consists of boats and yachts which are less than 24 metres, especially those that are not exclusively Croatian-owned, the Association of Marinas of HGK appeals for their inclusion in the amendment and calls for the further definition of a clear protocol for accepting vessels in Croatia's ports.

"Without clear measures for accepting ships, it will be almost impossible for Croatian marinas to receive guests and provide services. That's why we've drafted a protocol and sent it to the Croatian Institute of Public Health and the competent Ministries of Maritime Affairs and Tourism, and we're waiting for the latest instructions so that we can start providing reception services for guests in marinas. Given the potential of the nautical sector, we believe that the final proposal should be determined as soon as possible,'' said the president of the Association of Marinas of HGK, Sean Lisjak, adding that some of Croatian nautical tourism's competing destinations, such as Montenegro, have already made progress in this regard.

The competent ministry has recognised Croatian nautical tourism as the first activity that could restart in regard to the country's tourism-related activities. Therefore, we hope that Croatian nautical tourism will finally and officially be classified in the tourism segment and that the Croatian Government will respect our set of measures to help the sector out, which was something that was proposed back at the end of March,'' said Lisjak.

Once again, the aforementioned association discussed the expectation of exemption of marinas from the payment of both the fixed and the variable part(s) of the concession fee for the use of maritime property/domain, which was the topic of the last meeting with the state secretaries of the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and the Ministry of Tourism.

It was also concluded that in this crisis that it was evident that the long-standing appeal for the inclusion of marinas in the Croatian tourism sector must continue to be emphasised, as they were not accepted for tourism support, unlike other activities in the sector under these difficult, coronavirus-induced circumstances.

A special topic was the relationship with charters and other tenants. The HGK's charter association also supports the marinas' request for the exemption of the payment of concession fees.

"The water is starting to come up around our necks, the payment deadlines are piling up, the charterers can't pay them, and the marinas are waiting for measures [to address this issue] from the state. We're all on hold,'' stated Pasko Klisovic.

Charter companies have also sent a proposal for epidemiological measures to the CNIPH through the Croatian Chamber of Commerce, and some will start working with domestic guests as soon as passes (propusnice) are no longer needed.

"We hope they'll accept our proposals and publish the recommendations for this as soon as possible," added Klisovic.

"We asked through the Croatian Chamber of Commerce for inclusion in the CRO card scheme even before the coronavirus epidemic, and recently we talked to the Ministry of Tourism again about this topic and we were met with a great level of understanding," noted Klisovic.

The aforementioned association says that some guests may replace their vacation in an apartment this year with a vacation on a boat that provides them with social distance and all the conditions that epidemiologists recommend. Therefore, they urge that their proposals be urgently accepted and that the start-up of marinas and charter companies be given the green light as soon as possible, especially since the fixed operating costs are extremely high and they cannot afford to miss out on business opportunities.

They conclude that positive information about the opening of Croatia's borders and the Croatian nautical tourism as a safe destination and safe way of holidaying would be the best promotion and invitation to guests.

Make sure to follow our lifestyle and travel pages for more on Croatian nautical tourism.

The President of the Republic of Croatia, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, attended the opening ceremony of the 21st Biograd Boat Show.

As Morski writes on the 17th of October, 2019, speaking at the grand opening of the largest exhibition of vessels in Central and Eastern Europe, President Grabar-Kitarović emphasised that the Biograd Boat Show is a manifestation that has grown into one of the leading nautical fairs in Europe over the last twenty years, and has thus become a recognisable nautical, tourist and economic event.

''Fair events like this promote a very important segment of our tourist offer - nautical tourism, they enrich the tourist offer and extend the tourist season, which is one of the main goals of our tourism policy,'' she added.

The president also assessed this indispensable segment of the overall Croatian tourist offer. She believes that we must support its development for a number of reasons. Along those same lines, she stated that nautical tourism attracts tourists who boast a higher paying power, who, through higher consumption, contribute more strongly to the economy, which enables the tourist season to be extended, and its development gives an additional impetus to the development of Croatian shipbuilding.

It also gives an image of prestige to Croatian tourism, which is why it is of interest to the most demanding tourists, putting Croatia side by side with some of the world's most impressive and developed tourist destinations.

The president said that the fair shows the importance we attach to the development of Croatian nautical tourism, but also to the small Croatian shipbuilding industry, which in addition to our overall tourism sector make an important contribution to the overall economic development of Croatia.

''Among the exhibitors, I'm particularly pleased with the numerous Croatian shipbuilders and manufacturers of marine equipment, and with my presence today I'd like to support this segment of Croatian industry,'' she said.

She added that it was important to more effectively connect and stimulate all supporting tourism industries and thereby strengthen the entire Croatian economy, President Grabar-Kitarović expressed her belief that the Biograd Boat Show is a manifestation that will result in such a synergistic effect.

Make sure to follow our dedicated travel page for more.

The season in the marinas, which goes on for as long as the weather is nice when it comes to Croatian nautical tourism, has remained at the level of last year, which was excellent.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Marija Crnjak writes on the 15th of September, 2019, unlike Croatian "terrestrial" accommodation, nautical tourism didn't experience any particular slumps this season. Plus, the number of overnight stays achieved in the nautical tourism sector is higher than in all other segments of Croatian accommodation, and the number of charters, or the number of vessels available for rent and the transporting passengers, has increased.

The impression from Croatian marinas this year is that their season, which, as previously mentioned, goes on for as long as the weather conditions allow, has remained at the level of last year's season, which was excellent.

"On the eve of the season, we were cautious because of the announcement of the return of our competitors from Greece and Turkey to the market, but we're pleased that the peak season is over," said Sean Lisjak, president of the marina association of the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK), while awaiting the official results from Croatian marinas.

Everyone who had the impression that sea traffic on the Croatian Adriatic was increasing this year was right, statistics confirm. In the registers of the Ministry of Maritime Affairs, Transport and Infrastructure, in the period until the end of August, a total of 750 vessels (both cargo and passenger), 126,000 various purpose boats and 3,100 motor yachts were recorded in Croatian waters. An average of 60,000 foreign yachts and boats sailing to Croatian ports is still to be added, the aforementioned ministry has noted.

By the beginning of September 2019, a total of 353.7 thousand boats were registered in the area of ​​supervision of all eight harbour master's in Croatia, an increase of 2.17 percent over the previous year and about 0.13 percent more newly registered yachts. When it comes to Croatian nautical tourism, the number of boats for charter this year increased by 7.5 percent, from last year's 8,256 up to an encouraging 8908 boats, while the number of passenger boats slightly decreased, down to 2,208.

There were 3,115 yachts on the Croatian Adriatic, of which 2,328 were chartered, which is an increase of about 150 yachts.

Most boats were rented in the Split region, and their number increased by two hundred boats this summer (2,513 in total), followed by the Zadar area, where a hundred or so more boats were rented this summer (1,619). This year, 1,352 boats were rented in the area of ​​the habour master's office in Rijeka, followed by the Šibenik and the Istrian regions, while the least boats were rented around Dubrovnik, although there has been an increase of about 100 vessels (706 in total).

Croatia is known as the world's largest charter destination, which is a label that will stick and continues this year with this continued growth in traffic.

According to the ministry, by mid-August, a total of 2,850 yacht and boat rental companies were registered on the Croatian market.

The increase in nautical traffic was also recorded by the Croatian National Tourist Board (HTZ), whose eCrew boat registration system showed a three percent increase in arrivals by the beginning of September and an eight percent increase in terms of overnight stays.

Make sure to follow our dedicated lifestyle and travel pages for much more. If you're interested in sailing in Croatia, give Total Croatia Sailing a follow.

As Morski writes on the 4th of September, 2019, for the third year in a row, the Croatian National Tourist Board (HTZ) has been implementing the project "Croatia, Full of Islands to Discover", which aims to promote nautical tourism as a tourist product, ie, to position Croatia as an attractive and quality nautical destination.

As part of the project, twelve well-known bloggers, YouTubers and journalists from across Europe and from outside of it, (United Kingdom, Germany, France, Sweden, Norway, Hungary, Switzerland and Japan) will discover the gorgeous islands of the Šibenik archipelago from September the 7th to September the 11th.

''This is a successful project that has had great promotional effects in its previous issues. For this reason, we've continued its implementation, and this time the localities of the Šibenik archipelago are the focus. Nautical tourism is one of the main Croatian image products that emphasises the most beautiful thing that Croatia has, as well as what was confirmed by the results achieved this year in the nautical charter segment, where we recorded almost three million overnight stays, which marks growth of three percent compared to the same period last year,'' stated the director of the Croatian National Tourist Board, Kristjan Staniči, adding that the promotion of nautical tourism is also carried out through Croatia's appearances at specialised fairs and through marketing and PR campaigns.

The tour program includes a tour of the national parks of Krk and Kornati, the islands of Murter, the City of Šibenik and Prvić Luka, and as part of the tour of some of the locations, attractive localities, customs and the wide gastronomic offer of this part of Croatia will be presented. The promotion is focused on news reports in newspapers and magazines and posts on blogs and social networks like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube, where participants of this unique experience will share their impressions with their numerous readers and followers.

This year's program includes, among others, journalist Eleanor Rudd, a contributor to the UK-based Metro.co.uk, with more than 54 million readers monthly. Croatia's glorious coast will also be sailed along by French journalist and photographer Gregory Gerault, who will describe his experiences in a report in the daily Le Télégramme and Le Monde du Camping-Car. Among the attendees is the American YouTuber with a British address, Evan Edinger, watched by almost 700,000 followers on his YouTube channels dedicated to general topics and travel, as well as Hungarian YouTuber Fruzsina Viszkok, who is active on the social networks Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, where she's followed by around 480,000 fans .

The project "Croatia, Full of Islands to Discover" is a continuation of the promotional activities carried out by HTZ this year with the aim of further promoting Croatia's nautical tourism product, and the desire for an even stronger market positioning of Croatia as an ideal nautical destination.

Make sure to follow our dedicated travel page for much more.

A stunning vessel leaves the Istrian town of Pula.

Just recently we reported on the rising popularity of expensive mega/super yachts in Croatia. Croatia managed to gain placement among very elite company, even surpassing the glorious Monaco in terms of how many such vessels had been recorded along the Croatian coast.

While the country continues to (rather successfully) position itself on the nautical tourism map, some destinations, such as Dubrovnik, have their hands full fighting mass tourism from giant cruise ships. 

One such amazing vessel, which is worth a massive 200 million euros and is set to have a very different fate to Croatia's cruisers, was filmed leaving the popular City of Pula in Istria recently. 

The impressive vessel was launched just after the first strike announcement from the enfeebled Pula shipyard, Uljanik, on the last day of January 2018, and was last in the series of three spectacular prototypes at Uljanik.

As Glas Istre/Chiara Bilic writes on the 27th of July, 2019, after a two hour delay, the Scenic Eclipse polar cruiser finally sailed out of Pula Harbour at around 20:00 on the 27th of July, 2019. Followed by the sounds of sirens, this luxury polar cruiser set off on its journey to its destination in Reykjavik, Iceland, from which it will embark on its first voyage with travellers aboard.

Make sure to follow our dedicated lifestyle page for much more on what's going on in Pula, Istria, and beyond. This vessel won't be sailing in Croatia, but if you're interested in what it's like to sail in Croatia and explore this country's beautiful coastline and 1000+ islands, give Total Croatia Sailing a follow.

Sailing in Croatia is of course popular, and there's no better way to get to know the country's 1000+ islands, both inhabited and otherwise, than on board a boat.

While yachts are aplenty along the Croatian coast, particularly in Dalmatia, there is a growing number of luxury super yachts emerging along with Croatia's attempts to successfully brand itself as a nautical tourism destination.

It seems that the country's attempts have more than paid off, as Novac/Filip Pavic writes on the 22nd of July, 2019, an expensive fleet of luxury super-yachts have entered Croatia during the month of July, as Bloomberg reports. According to their calculations, in the last five days there were 55 of them along the Croatian coast, which is double the number when compared to last month.

When looking at comparisons, in the same month last year in Croatia, 42 super-yachts dropped their anchors, meaning there were thirteen less than have been recorded in July 2019. These are luxury motor boats between 24 and 180 metres in length, most of which are equipped with swimming pools, smaller speedboats, and some even with helicopters.

Of the 55 mega yachts we can currently count floating on the Croatian Adriatic, most of them are located in the Split and Dubrovnik areas.

According to Bloomberg, with this figure, Croatia has successfully jumped into the elite society of European nautical destinations.

Croatia has even managed to cut past the famous Monaco, which in recorded only 32 such yachts in July, seeing it end up in fifth place behind Italy, France, Greece, and Spain. Neighbouring Italy is difficult to overtake indeed because in July, it attracted as many as 203 super yachts in its waters. Over the Atlantic in the United States, 142 such yachts have been recorded.

Greece, which is experiencing a major tourism reconstruction, has also grown in the segment of nautical tourism and in July it recorded 134 super yachts in the Ionian and Aegean seas, marking twenty more than there were in June. Rather unexpectedly, the number of such vessels in Spain declined. Of the 123 luxury yachts recorded in Spanish waters in June, their number fell to 92 this month.

Follow our dedicated travel page for much more. Interested in sailing in Croatia yourself? Check out Total Croatia Sailing.