August 10, 2021 - Croatia continues to be one of the Mediterranean's safest destinations, says Tourism Minister Nikolina Brnjac. 

According to the eVisitor system, there are currently around one million and 20,000 tourists in Croatia. Last year, at this time, 820 thousand tourists stayed in the country, and in the record 2019, one million and one hundred thousand.

Tourists are still mostly foreign guests, about 860 thousand. They come mostly from Germany, Slovenia, Poland, Austria, and the Czech Republic.

When it comes to the most popular destinations - they are still Rovinj, Vir, Medulin, Porec, Umag, and Mali Lošinj. 

Tourism Minister Nikolina Brnjac was a guest of RTL Danas on Monday.

"Certainly, we expected a good season, but we are delighted with the numbers so far," said Brnjac.

The record 2019 is everyone's goal.

"As for the indicators for both July and August, we are really approaching these values, but in terms of the value of fiscalized bills, we are even above 2019. The epidemiological picture is the Safe Stay project and education and responsibilities of our tourism sector, and we believe that we will continue to be one of the safest destinations in the Mediterranean," said Brnjac.

"At the initiative of the Prime Minister, a meeting will be held with the tourism sector, which will be attended by some members of the Government, presidents of the largest tourism companies and the National Association of Caterers, but unfortunately we cannot take everyone to the meeting, and I apologize to them, and they are included in our advice for the recovery and development of tourism and have been with us since the first day of the Safe Stay project. Therefore, we will show synergy," said Brnjac.

Bar owners are looking for longer working hours because they claim to live off the season.

"I understand their request, but we must be aware that these epidemiological measures have led to results and that we are the safest destination in the Mediterranean today, so if we are smart, I think we can have an excellent tourist year," Brnjac told RTL.

We are in the heart of the season.

"Bookings are outstanding, and we can expect a good year, but we have to be smart and calm and continue to go in that direction and start preparing for the new tourist year," said Brnjac.

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

ZAGREB, 19 July 2021 - The Terme Sveti Martin hotel in Međimurje is the first hotel in Croatia to receive the EU Ecolabel after it met the relevant 22 criteria about general management, energy efficiency, the use of renewable resources, rational water consumption, reduced waste, and proper waste management.

Tourism Minister Nikolina Brnjac presented the EU Ecolabel to the hotel's director Igor Nekić at a ceremony held on Monday in the hotel located in the town of Sveti Martin na Muri, the ministry said on Monday.

The EU Ecolabel is approved by the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development for products and services that motivate innovations and contribute to the aim of the EU's climate neutrality by 2050 and the circular economy.

Congratulating the hotel on that important step towards sustainable business and a sustainable destination, Minister Brnjac recalled that market surveys around the world have shown that guests no longer look for massive tourism but that they prefer sustainable and ecologically aware destinations that provide an authentic experience and an active vacation and services providing health tourism which comprehends spas and wellness treatments.

She said that the government encourages and invests in developing green and sustainable tourism through its National Recovery and Resilience Plan and the Multiannual Financial Framework.

The Terme Sveti Martin comprises the hotel, apartments, a wellness center, and other amenities. There are more than 200 people employed in this establishment.

For more on travel in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

July 10, 2021 - From the Ministry of Tourism and Sports, Minister Brnjac joins other government authorities who ask the population to be responsible and careful in the current favorable epidemiological situation.

Večernji list reports that as announced on Saturday by the Ministry of Tourism and Sports, Minister Nikolina Brnjac held a meeting in Dubrovnik yesterday with representatives of regional and local self-government and representatives of the tourism sector on the county report on the implementation of measures in the tourism sector to make the tourist season more successful and safe.

The importance of vaccination was emphasized at the meeting in order to maintain a favorable epidemiological situation. Namely, in the city of Dubrovnik, about 75 percent of tourist workers have been vaccinated so far. Additional activities were also discussed, as well as current measures at the county level and restrictions on holding various events.

"We have before us the striking weekends of this summer season where the largest number of tourists awaits us and the period when we need to be even more careful and responsible in order to maintain a favorable epidemiological situation," said Minister Brnjac.

According to her, the measures implemented so far have contributed to additional interest and the establishment of numerous airlines in Dubrovnik and have enabled the Dubrovnik-Neretva County to have significantly better tourist results in this part of the year, ie almost 70 percent more overnight stays than at the same time last year.

''But we are just at the beginning, it is up to all of us to continue to maintain these trends to ensure a successful future for tourism'', added Brnjac.

Brnjac pointed out that the Government of the Republic of Croatia will continue with measures to help the affected sectors, including tourism, referring to the Public Call of the Ministry of Tourism and Sports for support to travel agencies and travel organizers, for which HRK 36 million has been provided.

According to data from the eVisitor system, Dubrovnik-Neretva County has been visited by 187,000 tourists since the beginning of the year, who realized 894,000 overnight stays, which is an increase of 47 percent in arrivals and 68 percent in overnight stays compared to the same period last year.

Guests from Poland (125,000) and Slovenia (87,000) spent the most nights. Tourism is of great importance for the Dubrovnik-Neretva County and when it comes to its impact on the entire economic county, and especially the city of Dubrovnik.

Namely, according to the data of the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) from 2019, in the city of Dubrovnik, the direct contribution of tourism to GDP is 17.8 percent, with 95 percent of total consumption being foreign tourists.

In addition to Minister Brnjac, the meeting was attended by Dubrovnik-Neretva County Prefect Nikola Dobroslavić, Dubrovnik Deputy Mayor Jelka Tepšić, Dubrovnik-Neretva County Civil Protection Headquarters Director Joško Cebal, County Public Health Institute Director Mato Lakić, County Tourist Board Director Vladimir Bakić and director of the Dubrovnik Tourist Board Ana Hrnić, director of Dubrovnik Airport Frano Luetić, member of the board of Adriatic Luxury Hotels Antun Jakobušić, director of Hotel Valamar Lacroma Vlaho Sabljić and director of Hotel Aminess Lume Žarko Pecotić.

During her stay in Dubrovnik-Neretva County, Minister Brnjac will today participate in the fourteenth annual international conference Dubrovnik Forum entitled "(Post) -Pandemic Geopolitics - Together in a World Apart" and in the opening ceremony of the 72nd Dubrovnik Summer Festival.

Of 4,105 tests performed for coronavirus in Croatia in the last 24 hours, 110 or 2.7% have turned out to be positive, the national COVID-19 crisis management team stated on Thursday.

For all you need to know about coronavirus specific to Croatia, including travel, border, and quarantine rules, as well as the locations of vaccination points and testing centers across the country, make sure to bookmark our dedicated COVID-19 section and select your preferred language.

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

July the 3rd, 2021 - Even without the controversial ''covid passports'' which have only become available relatively recently, Croatian tourism growth is encouraging to say the least. With 50 percent better results for Croatian tourism growth in the first six months of 2021, things appear to be looking up.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Marija Crnjak writes, despite the announcements of the fourth wave of the pandemic potentially approaching, the interest of tourists for holidays in Croatia is failing to wane, and the results from the first half of this year confirm that the vaccination programme has increased optimism. During the first six months of 2021, there were 2.6 million arrivals and 11.8 million overnight stays realised in Croatia, which is 54 percent more arrivals and 53 percent more overnight stays than in the same period last year. At the same time, foreign tourists realised 9.1 million overnight stays, while domestic tourists realised 2.7 million overnight stays.

German tourists are the most numerous

The largest number of overnight stays was realised by foreign guests from Germany (2.4 million), Slovenia (1.5 million), Austria (987,000), Poland (866,000) and the Czech Republic (681,000).

According to the type of accommodation, most overnight stays were realised in household/private facilities, hotels and camps, the Ministry of Tourism reported yesterday.

"We're extremely satisfied with the results of the 2021 tourist year so far and the announcements for the months ahead. At the moment, 425,000 tourists are staying in Croatia, which is about 100,000 more than at the same time last year. In the coming weeks, the peak of the season awaits us, and we must all be aware that the precondition for the further continuation of such results is a favourable epidemiological situation in Croatia. The recognisability of Croatia as a safe destination for which tourists choose our country gives us the opportunity for better financial results and the continued development of tourism, and thus faster economic recovery,'' said Minister of Tourism and Sport, Nikolina Brnjac.

As it is known, Covid certificates came into force throughout the EU and in Croatia as of the 1st of July, combined with new measures that will be more relaxed for the holders of these certificates, and will enable people with EU digital certificates to participate in various events without limiting the number of participants or time spent.

Direct flights as a further Croatian tourism growth boost

As has previously been written, the situation with freedom of travel within the EU is likely not going to be quite as previously expected or hope due to the penetration of the Delta strain virus into some countries such as Portugal. At the same time, a lot is expected from direct flights from the USA to Croatia.

The two major US airlines, United Airlines and Delta Air Lines, are launching their routes from New York to Dubrovnik this week.

For more, follow our travel section.

June the 19th, 2021 - Tourism Minister Brnjac has taken to Twitter to tweet that 200,000 tourists were staying in Croatia as of the 18th of this month, which is a fantastic sign for things to come as the very height of the summer tourist season rapidly approaches.

The current favourable epidemiological situation across Croatia and across most of Europe as the vaccination process picks up its pace and warm weather returns has allowed for a significant drop in coronavirus infection rates and the return of some sort of normality that we took so much for granted before the pandemic struck back in early 2020.

As such, more and more foreign tourists are arriving in Croatia, ready for some vitamin D and a swim in the glorious Croatian Adriatic sea after over a year of lockdowns and uncertainty surrounding travel, especially travel for leisure and tourism.

Croatian Tourism Minister Nikolina Brnjac took to social media to state that 200,000 tourists are holidaying in Croatia, and as things make a slow but steady return to semi normality, we might get a summer that looks something like it usually would have done in pre-pandemic times.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, Minister Brnjac's recent tweet reads: "According to the first data from the eVisitor system, the number of 200,000 tourists in one day was exceeded today (the 18th of June). Namely, there are currently 213,000 tourists in Croatia, of which 183,000 are foreign tourists and 30,000 local tourists.''

"This is a confirmation that tourists see Croatia as a safe destination for their stay and holiday. We have created all of the preconditions for that, and compliance with the epidemiological measures is still crucial in order to maintain this favourable epidemiological situation and to achieve a successful season,'' she added.

For all you need to know about coronavirus specific to Croatia, including travel, border and quarantine rules, as well as the locations of vaccination points and testing centres across the country, make sure to bookmark our dedicated COVID-19 section and select your preferred language.

For travel to and within Croatia, click here.

ZAGREB, 15 June, 2021 - Croatian Tourism Minister Nikolina Brnjac met with Bavaria's Deputy Premier and Minister of Economic Affairs, Regional Development and Energy, Hubert Aiwanger, in Munich on Monday to discuss ways of increasing cooperation in the tourism sector.

Brnjac said that Croatia and Bavaria would continue exchanging experience and best practice in the digitalisation of tourism services and the development of cultural and rural tourism, her ministry announced in a press release.

"Croatia and Bavaria put emphasis on the development of sustainable tourism, and their cooperation in many areas of common interest has been going on for about 50 years within the Bavarian-Croatian Commission," Brnjac said.

She noted that half of German tourists visiting Croatia come from Bavaria, which is why it is very important for Croatia to convey the information on the activities that are being undertaken so that Croatia is recognised as a pleasant and safe destination.

Bavaria supports Croatia's Schengen membership bid

Aiwanger said there was a lot of space for cooperation between Croatia and Bavaria in the tourism sector, emphasising that Bavaria supported Croatia's accession to the Schengen area next year as an important precondition for facilitating movement of tourists.

The working meeting was also attended by the deputy president of the ADAC motoring association for tourism and finance, Karlheinz Jungbeck.

Brnjac and Jungbeck discussed preparations for the summer tourist season as well as expectations and plans for future development. Brnjac said that the cooperation with ADAC, which has 22 million members, ensured the greater visibility of Croatia on the German market, adding that today's meeting set a framework for future institutional cooperation.

According to ADAC, there is a growing interest in visiting Croatia, notably in the camping segment. This year ADAC included 134 Croatian campsites on its list of the best European campsites, the same number as in 2019, and 13 of the campsites were rated as ADAC Superplatz 2021.

About 42,000 Germans are currently vacationing in Croatia, mostly in Istria. Last year German tourists generated 1.6 million arrivals and 12.7 overnight stays, which was 60 percent of overnight stays made in 2019 when a record 21.2 million overnight stays were generated by German visitors. Last year, the 12.7 million overnight stays made by German tourists accounted for 23 percent of total overnight stays in Croatia.

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

ZAGREB, 10 May 2021 - Tourism Minister Nikolina Brnjac said on Monday the National Recovery and Resilience Plan's goal regarding tourism was to increase the sector's resilience and sustainability through green and digital transition.

Speaking in Rovinj about the development of sustainable, innovative, and resilient tourism as part of the national plan, she said another goal was to contribute to tourism's recovery from the crisis caused by the pandemic and to increase tourism's added value and indirect effects on other industries.

Investments in tourism's environmental, economic and social sustainability safeguard resources and build tourism for the long term because, she said, "in the future, we wish to be an even more successful tourist destination."

Brnjac said the national plan ensured the necessary funds "and it's up to us to carry out reforms and strategically steer the development of this important sector." She added that reforming the sector and investments were the prerequisites for utilizing the HRK 2.2 billion earmarked in the national plan for tourism until 2026.

She said the funds would be available to all tourist enterprises, both on the coast and on the continent, and that they would be awarded based on public calls, with 60% intended for direct investments in the private sector.

The rest, she added, is intended for investments in the public tourist infrastructure, but may also be used by private enterprises as part of public-private partnerships.

Tourism reform and investments are aligned with the government's strategic policies, the national reform program, and the national development strategy, Brnjac said, adding that the reform included drafting a sustainable tourism strategy until 2030, a sustainable tourism plan, and a strategic environmental impact estimate.

For more, follow our dedicated politics section.

May the 9th, 2021 - Croatian Tourism Minister Brnjac has stated that she feels that Croatia has done all it can to send out the message to its emitting markets that it is taking the pandemic seriously and that all epidemiological rules are being fully respected.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, Nikolina Brnjac said that she believes that the Republic of Croatia has successfully met all of the preconditions for tourists eager for a holiday following a terrible 2020 to recognise the country as safe for precisely that purpose.

The summer tourist season could be better than last year for Croatian, Tourism Minister Brnjac told Vecernji list on Saturday.

"The good news is coming from Germany, Poland, Italy, the Czech Republic and the Netherlands… which shows that Croatia is high on the list of priorities for their residents when choosing a holiday destination," said the minister, commenting on forecasts that tourist traffic in 2021 could reach about 60 percent of pre-pandemic, record 2019.

In the latest European Commission (EC) report, she added, Croatia has climbed up and is now among the top 10 most desirable European tourist destinations for travellers this summer.

"This is certainly supported by the announcements of as many as 180 airlines from Croatia's emitting markets. Especially good news about new airlines is the latest from New York to Dubrovnik. This is a sign that everyone is seriously counting on coming to Croatia this summer. If the epidemiological situation in Croatia and on our emitting markets is favourable, with all the activities we're carrying out, I believe that we can achieve a better season than the one we had last year,'' Tourism Minister Brnjac stated.

"The borders are open, the Safe Stay in Croatia project has more and more users every day, we've defined more than 300 points for testing tourists in tourist centres/destinations, which can be found at www.safestayincroatia.hr. We're co-financing antigen tests for tourists, we've started vaccinating Croatian tourist workers, we'll have special epidemiological data for the islands, and we have launched the Experience local campaign, with which we want to attract domestic tourists as well.

We're ready for the season, and the epidemiological situation is crucial to that,'' Tourism Minister Brnjac stated.

For more, follow our travel section.

ZAGREB, 31 March, 2021 - Tourism and Sports Minister Nikolina Brnjac said on Wednesday that clear entry criteria for Croatia were being prepared according to European Commission recommendations for travel across borders, which will probably be - recovered from COVID-19, vaccination or a PCR or antigen test.

Asked by reporters ahead of an inner cabinet meeting what she thinks of the measures by the national COVID response team and how the deteriorated epidemiological situation is being reflected on tourism and bookings, Minister Brnjac said that as soon as the European Commission released its draft recommendations on travel restrictions, Croatia immediately started working on clear criteria for entry into Croatia.

The Commission recently proposed a regulation on creating a Digital Green Certificate which should enable safe travel within the European Union during the pandemic. The certificate should be proof that a person has been vaccinated against COVID-19, has received a negative test result or recovered from COVID-19.

Brnjac added that this requires technical preparations which are already being worked on in the Interior Ministry and the Croatian Institute for Public Health so that, as soon as the regulation enters into force, it can be integrated in the system.

That is important because of the epidemiological situation, which is why at the end of 2020 we launched safe protocols and the "Safe stay in Croatia" label, she said.

"We have previously warned that the most important thing is for Croatia to be in the 'green' zone and we asked local tourist boards to recommend testing stations for tourists... We need to achieve flow of both tourists and tests," said Brnjac.

Asked how the current situation is being reflected on bookings, Brnjac said that she is in constant contact with partners on the markets and that there has been an increase in enquiries, mostly about whether Croatia is in the "green" and about the vaccination of tourism workers which, she added, could be conducted in May and June as "vaccines are coming."

"There are fewer bookings than in previous years, even for Easter, but more are expected... from the end of May and in June, for which there is more interest by tourists, and that is why we should have the best epidemiological situation possible," she said. 

Asked about aid for travel agencies which are required to refund deposits for cancelled travel arrangements, yet don't have the funds to do so, Brnjac said "they can get loans and return what they owe, with state guarantees for up to 100 per cent of the loans that are earmarked for SMEs and 90% for (those earmarked for) large companies."

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

March 25, 2021 - Both the Croatian Ministry of Tourism and Sports and Croatian tourist boards recognised the development of health tourism as a high priority for Croatia.

To discuss the development of health tourism in Croatia, a branch that is becoming one of the more important Croatian tourist products, Croatian Tourism and Sports minister Nikolina Brnjac met with Kvarner Tourist Board director Irena Peršić Živadinov, Kvarner Health Tourism cluster president Vladimir Možetič, and Zagreb Tourist Board director Martina Bienenfeld. As life expectancy and healthy lifestyle trends increase, the value of health tourism grows. The novel coronavirus only made that growth even more rapid.

"Over 80,000 tourists in 2020 visited Kvarner (well-known for Lošinj Island and its hospital for respiratory issues) for health services. Today, many people are recovering from the consequences of the novel coronavirus there," said the Kvarner Tourist Board director Živadinov.  

"We have all the advantages for further development of health tourism: a good reputation of health services, qualified staff, natural richness of thermal sources, good climate, and long tradition of tourism," said minister Brnjac. Her goal is to pull Croatia out of the perception of a country only good for the summer season.

Croatia offers health services in wellness and medicine tourism. Health tourism is most associated with the regions of Kvarner, Istria, northern Croatia, and Zagreb, but the goal is to include other regions that have the potential for health tourism and to achieve the goals of a strategy that needs to be accomplished by 2030.

Martina Bienenfeld said that the Zagreb Tourist Board is working on the City's recognition as the centre of medical excellence. She pointed out good traffic connections, a mixture of the Mediterranean and mid-Europe climate, as well as good prices of health services as great advantages of Croatia's capital to the international clientele.

The Health Care Bill and Services in Tourism Bill now allow hospitality and health tourism services in hospitals and medical centres. These legal changes are also significant in attracting further investments in the field.

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