July 29, 2021 -  For a very long time, the island of Pag's chief tourist attraction has been loud, late-night parties at Zrće beach. Now, as the events of the past year and a half forced the tourist sector to give up their rinse-and-repeat method of operating, Pag has finally seized upon the many opportunities of its unique landscape. Enter Pag Outdoor Summer, aimed at transforming Pag into a destination ideal for an adventurous vacation. A look at the Pag Island transformation. 

Pag is slowly but surely reinventing itself as a multifaceted destination. In the past few years, Moon Island, as it's been nicknamed due to its vast barren landscape, has been going through a touristic renaissance.

Perhaps taking note of the example set by the island of Hvar, Pag is taking its place in the world as a luxury tourism destination with its UNESCO-protected intangible heritage (Pag lace), award-winning Camping Village Šimuni,  champion cheeses, and the star-studded cast of regular visitors, such as Zlatko Dalić, Luka Modrić, and Dejan Lovren, who owns a four-star hotel in the town of Novalja.

Or maybe the tourist directors have simply learnt the importance of clear and optimistic communication from Boškinac, Croatia's latestMichelin star restaurant and boutique hotel, which has been fully booked all throughout the season of 2020 when even the most popular destinations suffered losses.

When I was a child, all of Pag's riches - the cheese, the lace, the salt - even the 1600 years old olive gardens of Lun were poorly advertized to potential markets. Just like a treasure, they have been kept from the world, but not because they were considered too precious to share. It was because there was no one with the skills and knowledge of how to utilize them. Thus, the island was left to the winds of chance (and since Pag gets the front row seat when it comes to the effects of the Bura wind, this was an intended pun).

Though it left a large portion of the island bare of much vegetation, the Bura wind provided unique conditions for a number of activities: from the production of the famous Pag cheese to posing as a set for film crews in search of unusual locations - the opportunities which were luckily recognized and seized.

Last year, when maintaining good health became more important than ever, the people in charge finally came up with a plan for turning Pag's understated natural beauties into a tourist product.

Finally, the times were changing. Pag Outdoor Weekend was born.

What is particularly encouraging about this project, as I have found out through my research, is the fact that the plan of making Pag  an active tourism destination actually started years ago with the collaboration of Pag's six tourist boards. Thus, five years ago, the predecessor of Pag Outdoor - Pag Island Trail & Trekk race - colloquially known as Life on Mars, as a tribute to Pag's distinctive terrain - was presented to the world. 

In 2021, the tourist boards decided to take a step further with the creation of Pag Outdoor Summer, a project which will try to extend the season and diversify the tourist offer. 

The project is based on four main activities: biking, hiking, cycling, and kayaking. Nothing was left to chance. Long before the first tourists arrived, the first phase of building, marking, and tidying a comprehensive infrastructure of trails infrastructure had been finished, ably supported by a financial injection by the Ministry of Tourism.

Accompanied by professional guides and mountaineers, tourists are invited to take part in free hiking, cycling, and walking tours all across the island. The routes carry attractive names sure to pique your interest: The Embrace of Stone and Wind (a cycling tour to Pag's windmills), The Sunny Hour Tour above the Vlašići settlement, known for its sand beaches and for the dreamers who fancy walking under the starry skies - The Night of the Full Moon tour, which ends on a beach overlooking the town of Pag just in time to catch the first glimmering rays of the Sun at dawn. (Be sure to check the photo gallery below.)

So far, the public reaction has been more than positive. Although Pag has long been known as a great hiking destination among nature lovers, never before has there been an organized attempt to market it to the wider public. Though only the area around Novalja can boast green Mediterranean forests, all across the island, Pag's mountain trails are bathed in the scent of lavender, sage, and precious immortelle - and if you start your trek in Pag, you'll be greeted by a nature reserve Dubrava -Hanzine, which translated to English means 'a forest of oaks'. Yes, on an island where few evergreens survive, there are endemic species of deciduous trees!

If you continue hiking further up, the stony greys of the mountains will contrast with the deep blues of the sea surrounding Pag Bay, and the relief carvings the persistent Bura wind has created in the rocks are sure to awaken your imagination.

Pag is the northern Adriatic's best-kept secret - don't miss a chance to discover it.

An overview of trails covered by Pag Outdoor:

 camera: Elvis Šmit

video editing: Alan Crljenko

 And this is how it looks in practice:

credit: Fran Bukša

credit: Alan Crljenkio

credit: Elvis Šmit

credit: Alan Crljenko

credit: Fran Bukša

credit: Alan Crljenko

credit: Alan Crljenko

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February 5, 2021 - The Pag Outdoor project brings active tourism on the island to life. 

HRTurizam reports that the island of Pag's tourist boards, in cooperation with partners, launched the outdoor project Pag Outdoor Summer Weekend last summer, or active events held with licensed and experienced trainers in various forms of active tourism.

Thus, on weekends during July and August, a handful of outdoor events are organized throughout the island, such as cycling, Nordic walking, trail running, sea kayaking, stand up paddleboarding, windsurfing, running, walking, and quad riding.

The project, which was first held last year, was positioned as the best complete outdoor project in a destination. The synergy of all tourist boards on the island of Pag has also shown the importance of branding the whole island as one destination. 

Today, the entire Pag Outdoor project is being raised to a much higher level - with excellent branding of Pag's entire outdoor story.

The event is connected by 4 outdoor activities (bike, trail, climbing, kayaking), but positions them in the absolutely unique Pag natural environment, thus developing tourism on the island in several directions.

In time, the calendar season will extend to at least eight months, just as it will simultaneously give additional content to develop several activities on the island, especially those related to hospitality, gastronomy, and specific agriculture.

The Pag Outdoor project's success is the result of a joint association of the island's tourist boards in Novalja, Pag, Kolan, Povljana, and Stara Novalja on the development of the project, followed by the support of the Ministry of Tourism and Sports. Funds were welcome to enrich the spring activities and the introduction of bike standards before the start of the season.

The approved funds also enabled the graphic design of the logo for each segment of the outdoors, which was necessary to continue the promotion and branding of the Pag outdoor project.

In addition to the specific colors associated with the activities, there is a common and strong emphasis on the togetherness of the islands within the project. In this way, Pag joins the best Croatian communities in which the outdoors brings excellent results. Along with Istria, which has a vital role, almost all Kvarner islands have excellent outdoor programs - above all, Krk and Cres, Rab, or Brač in Dalmatia.

“The Pag outdoor project's visual identity showed all the peculiarities of the island with an emphasis on the rarity of Pag, respecting the standards of the regional tourist boards. The fact that this is the only island located in two counties, all its colors show how colorful and distinctive the island of Pag is. What used to be an obstacle in certain situations was turned into a comparative advantage in a graphically interesting and attractive way. I emphasize that the key to the success of the Pag outdoor project was to unite and create a unique destination for the whole island, which we are all very proud of," said Marina Sciran Rizner, project coordinator and director of the Novalja Tourist Board, and added that the project was realized with the efforts of all stakeholders, but also the advice and assistance of numerous external partners, with special emphasis on top outdoor professional Martin Čotar.

"Five years ago, we adopted a common visual destination of the island of Pag, we synergistically present our tourist offer at fairs, and now we have taken big steps into the outdoor future of the island by connecting Pag, bike and trail paths, climbing areas and kayaking at sea."

Last year, the planned project activities were carried out, such as the analysis of the existing trails on the island of Pag, the guidelines for the development of bike and trail paths were defined, and the visual identity of Pag Outdoor was created.

HRTurizam adds that it will take at least another three years for this project to fully come to life and give maximum indisputable results.

Then, Pag Outdoor will surely be one of the most exciting Croatian outdoor platforms. Through this project, Pag will become one of the most desirable Croatian destinations for an increasing number of outdoor fans who can have all levels of excitement - from family gatherings with nature to very demanding adrenaline competitions.

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