As Glas Istre/Aleta Brattoni writes on the 21st of December, 2019, next year's novelty from the Porec Tourist Board will be the Best Of Porec brochure, the idea behind which is to offer visitors, as well as locals, the best gastronomic and local souvenirs in the entire Porec area, with an emphasis on those in Porec's beautiful Old Town.

In 2020, the Porec Tourist Board plans for revenues of almost 20.8 million kuna, which represents an increase of five percent when compared to the plan revised in 2019, and expenditures of 20.7 million kuna, which in turn represents an increase of 17 percent. More specifically, the proposal for rebalancing for 2019 estimates the total revenue of 19.6 million kuna and expenditures of 17.8 million kuna, which would generate a surplus of 1.8 million kuna that would be carried forward into 2020.

In addition, at the Assembly of the Porec Tourist Board, which was held this Thursday, an overview of the first nine months of the current year was presented and projections for the next nine were presented. It was revealed that in the year up until now, the total number of overnight stays in Porec amounted to 3.3 million, which was two percent higher than in 2018, with Croatian tourists generating 135,749 overnight stays, which represents a growth of nine percent, and foreign tourists generating 3,192.199 overnight stays, an increase of two percent.

When it comes to overnight stays, Europeans make up the big figures. The highest number of overnight stays realised in the aforementioned nine-month period was achieved by the German market with 917 thousand overnight stays, which is two percent less than last year, followed by the Austrian market with 548.5 thousand overnight stays, marking a 4 percent increase compared to last year. In third place come the Slovenes with 343 thousand overnight stays realised, which is 4 percent more than last year. In fourth place come the Italians, followed by the British market.

In the period under review, 1.8 million overnight stays were realised in Porec's hotel accommodation, which represents a one percent increase over last year. Private accommodation recorded 799.5 thousand overnight stays, or a one percent increase, while campsites generated 316 thousand overnights, which is two percent more than in the same period in 2018.

Next year, according to the announcements of the director of the Porec Tourist Board, Nenad Velenik, will be a year with a budget, and also of big challenges.

''We've seen and felt the return of Turkey, Greece and North Africa to the tourism market in recent years, but in 2020, we expect an even stronger return, which we'll definitely have to count on. The migrant crisis is also a risk, in particular the Balkan route, which can be a threat to Croatia. In addition, the Brexit issue will also be a very sensitive issue for us, given that we've invested heavily in the British market over the past 5-6 years, as well as launching and bringing in new airlines which fly to Pula. Finally, let us not forget the big problem of finding a workforce, as well as that of the non-competitiveness of Croatian tourism,'' Velenik stated.

In spite of numerous risks, the Porec Tourist Board is stepping confidently into 2020 with innovation and projects. Some of the Porec Tourist Board's general goals for next year are to increase tourist traffic in the pre-season and post-season, stabilse tourist traffic, strengthen the positioning of outdoor and family destinations, diversify tourist products, increase consumption per guest, and improve the stay of guests in the destination.

Among the many presented projects underway and those planned, it's worth pointing out investments in hotel facilities and the alteration of their structure, as well as the continuation of investments in doing up beaches.

Namely, in October 2019, the Valamar Riviera hotel company started the largest project in Croatian tourism. In the Porec zone, Pical will realise the investment of Hotel Pine, worth a total of 790 million kuna, the completion of which is planned for the 2021 tourist season. It will be a luxury five-star luxury hotel with 514 accommodation units, which will include the largest hotel event centre in Istria with an impressive congress capacity of 1,200 guests.

In addition, the Porec Tourist Board will invest capital investments into the water playground at Materada beach and co-finance the first phase of the Porec waterfront's much needed renovation, from the customs pier to the city cafes.

In addition, the plans for 2020 envisag the co-financing of the construction of city facades in the city centre, which directly influence the standard and quality of the overall urban order. The Porec Tourist Board will work on the popularisation of bike lanes and on strengthening the perception of Porec as a bike friendly destination. It will continue to financially support entertainment, sport, cultural, artistic and other events aimed at promoting or enriching the area.

''When it comes to organisation of events, we're an example for the whole of Croatia to follow, and the confirmation of the good cooperation between the private and public sectors is the recently won award for Advent in Porec, in which, in addition to the City of Porec, the Porec Tourist Board, Blue Lagoon (Plava Laguna) and Valamar, all institutions, numerous associations, and private companies work, as do the citizens themselves. Next year, we are expecting the fifth edition,'' announced the Mayor of Porec, Loris Persuric.

Next year's novelty will be, as previously mentioned, the new Best Of Porec brochure.

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As Glas Istre/Milan Pavlovic writes on the 30th of November, 2019, Pinea will be a luxurious five-star hotel with the largest hotel event centre in Istria with a congress capacity of 1,200 guests, as was announced by Valamar.

The Pical Valamar zone in Poreč will realise investments worth 1.5 billion kuna by 2021. The central part of this project is the Pinea Hotel - the largest single investment in Croatian tourism - worth a total of 790 million kuna. The construction of Valamar's new five star tourist facility began this autumn.

According to Valamar, this project represents the transformation of Poreč's tourism offer into a higher quality one. It will create 500 year-round jobs, bring in better paying guests, increase spending, extend the tourist season and improve the quality of beaches and promenades in the Pical area for both local residents and guests of the City of Poreč.

The giant Croatian company added that comprehensive renovation of the new Pical zone, along with 20,000 square metres of beaches and promenades next to the sea, will also bring beautiful Poreč a four-kilometre well-maintained recreational trail, an indoor sports swimming pool with five swimming lanes that will operate throughout the year. On top of that, another 50 metre outdoor pool will be constructed.

Pical is the largest project, but is far from the only Valamar project for this winter. In 2020, Valamar's total investments, including those in the Imperial Riviera branch of Rab, will reach an enormous 826 million kuna.

The Valamar supervisory board approved the investment cycle for the coming year, and the planned investments, they say, represent a continuation of the strategy of investing in repositioning their facilities according to the offer and services of high added value.

Valamar is thus completing a major project of repositioning the Istra Premium Camping Resort in Funtana into the first five-star camping resort in Istria next year, bringing the total three-year investment in the camp to around 413 million kuna in total.

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As Glas Istre/Davor Sisovic writes on the 14th of June, 2019, a good pre-season is a cause for the expectation that the main tourist season in Poreč will be excellent, said Poreč Tourist Board's Nenad Velenik, announcing that next season, in summer 2020, will be prepared for and run more differently than ever before.

As the post-Easter Catholic holidays during which tourists typically come to Istria in a larger number decreased back in May 2018, falling similarly once again this year in June, the results of tourist traffic in most Croatian tourist destinations for the first five months of this year have been worse than they were during the same period last year. Poreč has recorded 130,000 tourist arrivals and half a million overnight stays from January to the end of May, which is 17,000 overnight stays less than were recorded during the first five months of last year.

While this doesn't necessarily sound very promising, this is in fact very good, as a worse outcome was actually expected.

''We expected a worse result given the fact that last year, Poreč enjoyed a record 3.4 million overnight stays. Easter and May the 1st were excellent, and the beginning of June has also been very good, better than it was last year, said the director of the Poreč Tourist Board, Nenad Velenik. The total registered accommodation capacity in Poreč is 32,000 beds, of which 17,000 beds per day are full during the pre-season.

Although half a year ago, warnings about a lack of seasonal workers was being warned of as an acute and serious problem, the Istrian town's numerous tourism companies haven't been complaining about their lack of a workforce in recent weeks. Velenik believes, therefore, that the area's hoteliers were properly prepared for the tourist season and brought in their workforce from other countries on time.

''We're a multicultural environment and everyone who wants to work here is welcome to,'' said Velenik.

On the ''eve'' of 2019's main tourist season, a major public tourist investment was completed in Poreč: Materada beach was renovated and restored to its full glory, a project worth 5.7 million kuna, out of which 1.5 million kuna was settled by the town's local tourist board.

There are plans for several more investments in Poreč's overall tourist infrastructure, which will not be completed this season, because no major works can be completed during the main season. By the end of this year, the plans to have an adrenaline bike park in Poreč's bathing area worth 750,000 kuna, in the future the plan is to build an outdoor playground for children, also located in the same area with a price tag of 300,000 kuna, and the Poreč façade will continue to be renovated this year, with an investment of 250,000 kuna, which also contributes positively to the public image of Poreč as a tourist destination.

In addition to all of the above, 5.2 million kuna has been allocated for various manifestations due to take place in Poreč.

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