March 9, 2023 - The organizers of the PLACE2GO International Tourism Fair decided this year to announce the 10^th edition of the fair in the spirit of giving. In cooperation with the Croatian Tourist Board, they organized a contest in which they are looking for 20 of the most beautiful photos of Croatia, and the best authors will receive travel vouchers.

As stated in today's announcement, Poslovni writes, the award-winning photos will also be shown to more than 200 exhibitors from about 20 countries and to approximately 15,000 visitors expected in Arena Zagreb from March 24 to 26. Photos can be sent from March 4 to 23, and the best ones will be decided by the audience via the social networks of the PLACE2GO fair and the expert jury, which consists of artistic photographer Hrvoje Serdar, the director of the PLACE2GO fair Damjana Domanovac and the chief creative director of the Kofein agency Tomislav Krajacic.

The photo contest called #ljepotaHRVATSKE is looking for photos that show Croatia as a desirable tourist destination, which is recognizable for its natural beauty, architecture, gastronomy, flora and fauna.

"For the first time, we decided to directly involve visitors in the content of the fair. The presentation of Croatia through the lens of visitors is the most authentic way, because the most important thing for a good photo is to be in the right place at the right time. We look forward to seeing hidden parts that are not so well known, details of architecture, interesting people and customs, characteristic of our country.

At the same time, this is a great opportunity for Croatia, which has been ranked highly as a tourist destination for the past few years, not only in Europe, but also in the world, so exhibitors from all over the world will get an insight into Croatia through the eyes of citizens, which is also a good promotion for the upcoming season," explained Damjana Domanovac, organizer of the tourism fair PLACE2GO.

The three photos with the highest number of likes on social networks and the best jury scores will be additionally awarded with valuable vouchers. The winners will be announced on April 5 on the websites place2go.org, place2go.hr and on the Facebook and Instagram PLACE2GO platforms.

"PLACE2GO is the leading tourism fair in the region, which has hosted more than 113,500 visitors over ten years, and around 700 exhibitors from 38 countries and more than 40 sponsors have participated in the fair so far. In addition to domestic and regional exhibitors, visitors will have the opportunity to get to know the newly discovered destination of Albania and exotic Malaysia, and special attention this year is devoted to Algeria, which is also the partner country of this jubilee edition. Entrance for all visitors is free," the organizers announce.

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

April the 2nd, 2022 - The Indian market is enormous and offers a chance that has perhaps yet not been totally exploited by the Croatian tourism sector. In the post-pandemic period, Indian tourists are hungry for travel, and the Place2Go promotion might just put Croatia on their map.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Marija Crnjak writes, after a two-year break due to the global coronavirus pandemic, this spring the International Tourism Fair, Place2Go, is returning to the Zagreb Arena, where thirteen countries will present their local exhibitors, mostly from Croatia's more immediate region, but also from distant areas such as Indonesia, Maldives and India.

Moreover, India is a partner country of the Place2Go fair, which is accompanied by the fortunate circumstance that India opened up to international travel just five days ago, two years since the closure of its borders due to the coronavirus pandemic. A Place2Go promotion could be just what is needed to attract a huge market of people to this country.

Opening a new niche

Croatia may well be able to count on this distant and very important market, with which a new niche of "startup tourism" is opening, the organisers and partners of the fair announced on Thursday. "We're happy that after a two-year break, and several failed attempts to organise this fair, we can finally announce Place2Go, which we managed to organise over the last month, and do the job that used to last ten months before the pandemic struck.

We have equipped ourselves, taken reinforcements, we 'e happy to have our loyal sponsors with us, and things are going well. Additionally, over this period we were at fairs in Belgrade and Ljubljana and we noticed a great interest in Place2Go,'' said the organiser of the fair, Damjana Domanovac, at a recently held press conference.

As usual, the first day of the fair is reserved for B2B meetings and networking with the topics of smart tourism, the green transition and digitalisation, and the weekend will be intended for visitors, for whom admission is free.

The audience will enjoy lectures by bloggers and travel writers, a game with a prize being a trip to the Maldives, as well as a rich entertainment programme. Currently, entry is planned only for those who possess a valid COVID certificate or a negative test, but an interpretation by the Croatian Institute of Public Health is still pending as to whether this will remain mandatory, according to Domanovac.

The Place2Go fair is an opportunity that India wanted to use to further promote a country that has worked hard in the last two years to strengthen its tourism infrastructure, said Indian Ambassador to Croatia Raj Kumar Srivastav.

"I believe that travel restrictions, as well as the coronavirus pandemic, are now behind us, and that provides us with many opportunities for economic cooperation and tourism. Indian tourism over the last two years has been limited to domestic traffic, so Indians are eager for both cross-border guests and to travel abroad themselves. 85 percent of India’s population has been vaccinated against the novel coronavirus. Back in 2019, 70,000 Indians travelled to Croatia, up from 50,000 one year earlier, a significant increase that I expect to continue now. I believe that Croatia will reach its pre-pandemic figures from the Indian market this year, and we'll exceed that next year, if there are no major surprises,'' said Ambassador Srivastav.

Startup tourism

The Indian Ambassador also expects that additional tourist exchange with India will be stimulated by economic cooperation, for example through the India-Croatia Startup Bridge project, which is entering a new phase in early April.

As is already fairly well known, this is a digital platform launched at the end of last year with the aim of strengthening trade and economic cooperation between Croatia and India. In a few days, more precisely on April the 4th, the first startup challenge will start, sponsored by Koncar and Infobip from the Croatian side, and the winners of the challenge will have the opportunity to exchange, Croatian startups will travel to India and vice versa.

"We can call it startup tourism because it's a two-week trip and different destinations will be visited, and families will also be able to be taken on these trips. For example, I would like to see our startups from the gaming industry in Novska, which is one of the best ecosystems for this industry in Europe,'' said Ambassador Raj Kumar Srivastav, who clearly believes that a Place2Go promotion will offer many benefits to both India and Croatia.

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