February 8, 2020 - The first session of the Commission for the Association of Tourist Boards was held at the Ministry of Tourism to discuss the ten groups of tourist boards that applied and sought consent for the association. Porec Riviera is one of them. 

Glas Istre reports that the Commission considered the submitted request for the Porec Riviera, which includes the Tourist Board of the City of Porec, and the Tourist Board of the municipalities of Tar-Vabriga, Kastelir-Labinci, Vizinada, and Visnjan.

Namely, based on the Law on Tourist Communities and Promotion of Croatian Tourism, which was adopted in May 2019, the system of tourist boards is being restructured to encourage the association of tourist boards and their establishment in the area of more units of local or regional self-government. To this end, the Fund for Associated Tourist Boards was established, which receives funds from the paid tourist tax and membership fees.

“I am very pleased that the potentials and benefits of the association have been recognized by numerous tourist boards, which together will be able to work even better on the development of tourism products and promotional activities. Destinations in Croatia can no longer be considered as one place, tourism goes beyond administrative boundaries, so we have made legislative changes to allow the joint presentation and development of destinations that, although special in their own way, make up one whole, that is, a rounded tourist story,” said the Minister of Tourism, Gary Cappelli, at the committee meeting.

HRTurizam reported that the Committee also considered proposals for the association of the Gorski Kotar Tourist Board, which includes the towns and municipalities of Brod Moravice, Cabar, Delnice, Fuzine, Lokve, Mrkopalj, Ravnu Goru, Skrad and Vrbovsko, the Virovitica ring that encompasses the municipalities of Lukac, Spisic Bukovica and Gradina. There was also a request from the Tourist Board of the Municipality of Pitomaca and Suhopolje and the City of Virovitica, and Slavonia near the Sava, which includes tourist boards of the cities of Slavonski Brod, Nova Gradiska, Zupanja, tourist boards of the municipalities of Babina greda and Oriovac, as well as the municipalities of Bosnjaci, Cerna, Davor, Drenovci, Gornja Vrba, Gradiste, Gunja, Klakar, Oprisavci, Sikirevci, Slavonski Samac, Stara Gradiska, Stitar and Vrbje.

Furthermore, the Committee considered the submitted requests for the Tourist Board of Cres and Mali Losinj, which includes the tourist boards of the cities of Cres and Mali Losinj, the Tourist Board of the Crikvenica-Vinodol Riviera, which includes the tourist boards of the cities of Crikvenica and Novi Vinodolski, and the Tourist Board of the Vinodol municipality, and Rijeka which includes the tourist boards of the cities of Rijeka, Bakra, Kastav, Kraljevica and the tourist boards of the municipalities of Cavle, Jelenje, Kostrena and Viskovo. It also included one for the island of Pag that includes tourist boards of the cities of Novalja and Pag, and Stara Novalja, a tourist board of the municipalities of Kolan and Povljana, a tourist board of the island of Murter that includes the municipalities of Murter-Kornati and Tisno and tourist boards members of Betina and Jezera, and the Hvar Island Tourist Board, which includes the cities of Hvar and Stari Grad, and the municipalities of Jelsa, Sucuraj and the Vrboska Tourist Board.

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

January. 5, 2019 - In the final match of the Croatia Cup 2020 on Sunday, the Croatia handball team defeated Qatar 33:28 and thus won the tournament in Porec.

HRT reports that Qatar beat Bosnia and Herzegovina 30:27 on Friday, and because Croatia played 33:33 against BiH on Saturday, this was a direct fight for first place.

Again, there were many ups and downs in Croatia’s game, but the victory was still great encouragement ahead of the start of the European Championship. 

“We played a lot harder, more responsible, and it was definitely a better show and that is the path we should actually follow. In the first half, our defense was not very good, at 5-1, we received some easy goals, so the weaker part of the game was in the first half. We created chances in the attack but missed a lot of shots. There was a major change in the second half in the sense that our defense became much more solid. Fifteen minutes later, we found the key to the defense and that was decisive in this match,” said coach Lino Cervar after the match.

The best for Croatia was certainly Luka Cindric, who scored eight goals from nine shots. Luka Stepancic was also among the top scorers with five goals, while Frankis Marzo was the best for Qatar with eight goals.

“We expected a tough match, a fight, but on the other hand, they also have a Spanish coach, so they could also outsmart us tactically. However, I think that the coach saw what he could do better in these two games, what was good, what else we should work on and I am pleased that we won this Cup again and that we are going with that win to the Euros, so there will be a positive atmosphere,” said Luka Stepancic.

The European Championship is scheduled for January 9-26, and Croatia will play in Graz with Montenegro, Belarus and Serbia in the first round.

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page.

As Glas Istre/Aleta Brattoni writes on the 15th of December, 2019, the decision to subsidise the purchase of apartments in the City of Porec in the amount of 1,900 kuna per square metre, for which 3.5 million kuna has been set aside in the budget for 2020, was unanimously supported by the city councillors at the 28th session of the Porec City Council.

Ivan Pavic of the City Property Management Department presented the Porec's latest decision, which he says builds on a socially-encouraged housing program that was previously terminated for known reasons.

''Considering that the program of socially stimulated housing was terminated, with the aim of stimulating the demographic reconstruction of society, the urban regeneration of settlements, the reduction of the emigration of young families, and assistance to citizens in solving their housing issues, the mayor endorsed the proposal and referred it on to the City Council for consideration and for a decision on it to be made,'' Pavić said.

It was presented so that the purchase subsidy will be granted to citizens who have valid residence in the City of Porec who, in addition to the requested subsidy amount, provide the remaining funds for the purchase of the apartment themselves.

The approval of a purchase subsidy request will be made on the basis of a priority order list. That list is determined on based on the following criteria: housing conditions, housing status, the applicant's residence time in the city, the number of members of a shared household, age, if there are any pre-school and school-age children, if there are any disabilities or health impairments of either the applicant or a member of their joint household, participation in the Homeland War, whether or not they hold the status of a disabled war veteran from the Homeland War, and whether or not they hold the status of a family member of a killed, detained or missing Croatian war veteran.

It's worth mentioning that the City of Poreč has further plans, and the sale of land for a mere one kuna is planned for some time in the future.

''At the end of next year, a decision should be made at the City Council level to change the spatial plan. It is with this spatial plan that we'll determine the exact position, location, and define how many square metres will be allocated, and thus continue with this new program,'' stated Loris Peršurić.

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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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The praiseworthy national action involving collective tree planting has been joined by the beautiful Istrian city of Poreč.

As Morski writes on the 18th of October, 2019, through Facebook, thanks to the opening of the group ''Days of Collective Tree Planting in Croatia on the 25th, 26th and 27th of October 2019'' an action has been launched and joined by some 15,000 people in just a few days, and that number is now much higher and a large number of Croatian cities have officially joined the action along with individuals.

''Our story started with fellow citizen Daniela Božić contacting me and the city with a letter of intent for this action, and so we immediately joined. Every year in Poreč we have regular activities of maintaining and enriching our 'green fund' in the spring and autumn, and this action will be an opportunity to further refine the city's oases and raise awareness of the need for nature conservation and protection.

It's important for us to take care of our green spaces and this is something that Poreč is famous for, especially since some trees have been damaged during bad weather, or because of their deterioration or even for practical reasons, meaning that they needed to be removed. But for each tree that was cut down, more were planted,'' said the Mayor of Poreč, Loris Peršurić, adding that the city, through its spatial and general urban plan, takes care of the balance of green and construction areas, and that in public areas have more of forty percent of such greenery.

The head of the Administrative Department for the municipal system, Marino Poropat, explained that the collective tree planting action in Poreč will be divided into two parts: the first part begins this Saturday, when the local committees start planting trees.

Representatives of the utilities department, along with representatives of local boards, visited various areas and suggested the types of trees and possible new planting locations, such as places where trees were recently damaged by storms, and in children's playgrounds. Native trees will be planted first, as they are the most likely to do well and thrive, and and some local committees have opted for lesser-known and less common species.

''The second part of the action will take place on Friday October the 25th starting at 09:00 in Poreč's big car park. Then, over 300 seedlings of indigenous trees that will be planted will be distributed free of charge to all interested citizens,'' Poropat said, adding that funds for this action were reserved from the city budget.

The mayor of Poreč has called on all Poreč's residents to join this praiseworthy action and plant over 500 trees.

Make sure to follow our dedicated lifestyle page for more. If you're interested in how Croatia works to protect its environment both officially and unofficially, give Total Eco Croatia a follow.

September 24, 2019 - Valamar Riviera is launching an investment of 790 million kuna in the Pinia Hotel in Porec this October.

Novi List writes that the largest hotel company in Croatia, Valamar Riviera, is launching an investment of 790 million kuna in the Pinia Hotel in Porec in October, as well as the completion of beaches and promenades with numerous facilities, and plans to complete it for the 2021 season, the company said on Tuesday. 

Valamar Riviera presented this investment at the Istrian Chamber in Porec on Tuesday, while also showing a model to citizens. As they point out, it is the largest project in Croatian tourism, which will engage several local businesses and craftspeople in the next year and a half.

The future Pinea Hotel will be a year-round, luxury five-star hotel, with 514 accommodation units, and will have the largest hotel 'event' center in Istria, with a congress capacity of 1,200 guests. The plan is also to create 500 full-time jobs, bring guests with higher spending power, increase consumption, extend the season, and improve the quality of beaches and promenades in the area for citizens and tourists.

"With this investment, Valamar continues with the strategy of raising the quality of its portfolio and services towards high value-added tourism. The new Pical zone is transforming Porec tourism into a higher quality one, which will ensure year-round tourism and significantly increase the tourist value of the destination. By investing in the Pical zone, beaches, promenades, and a recreational zone will be arranged and an indoor swimming pool will be built for citizens and guests of the city in accordance with Valamar's mission to develop tourism in a socially responsible and sustainable way,” said Valamar CEO Zeljko Kukurin.

The mayor of Porec, Loris Persuric, believes that this investment will stimulate a stronger development of the local economy.

Valamar also pointed out that, with the investments already made in the previous period, they plan to invest a total of 1.5 billion kuna in the Pical zone, which, in their estimation, will create one of the most attractive tourist zones in Croatia. In addition to the Pinia Hotel, this includes the Valamar Collection Marea Suites facilities opened this year, the Valamar Parentino Hotel (ex Zagreb), which will expand and further enrich the facilities for the 2020 season, as well as the existing accommodation of the Valamar Pinia Hotel.

They also announced the expansion of gourmet offerings with a variety of restaurants and bars, adding that the beaches, promenades, sports and recreational facilities in the Pical zone will see new trees, vegetation, and ornamental plants.

As part of the comprehensive landscaping of the new Pical Zone, along with the 20,000 square meters of beaches and promenades by the sea, will be a four-kilometer recreational trail, an indoor sports pool with five swimming lanes and an outdoor 50-meter tide pool, which is expected to stimulate the further development of water sports and the general development of sports in Porec. 

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After Zagreb, Split, Pula, Opatija, Šibenik, Rovinj, Omiš, Hvar, Munich and Graz, Poreč joined the running cities included in the SightRun mobile application.

The Tourist Board of Poreč presented the new tourist product SightRun - a mobile application of audio running tours aimed at active guests in the city. Visitors in Poreč who enjoy running can now follow five audio running tours, which are all 9 to 9.6 kilometers long, reports HRTurizam on July 15, 2019.

The Poreč City Tour - North and Porec City Tour - South begin in front of the City Hall, while other tours start in front of the Valamar and Plava Laguna hotels. Thus, the Valamar Borik Tour starts in front of the Valamar Zagreb Hotel and the Valamar Diamant Tour in front of the Valamar Diamant Hotel. The Plava Laguna Run begins in front of Hotel Molindrio Plava Laguna. All tours are available in Croatian and English and are free for users.

“We are proud of the results achieved so far, but are also aware of the fact that we cannot leave the development of tourism to chance, so we are seriously planning to establish five-year development initiatives to realize our vision of becoming the leading Croatian destination for family and active holidays, which will offer a wide range of sports and recreational activities alongside the sun and the sea. By introducing the SightRun application, we invest in infrastructure that will raise the ambiance of the cluster and enhance guest experiences and brand our destination as runner-friendly. The slogan of our visual identity "You Complete Us" speaks in favor of the great enthusiasm of all those involved in the tourist offer to provide our guests with unforgettable moments in Poreč,” said director of the Poreč Tourist Board, Nenad Velenik.

Toni Hrvatin, head of destination and product development in Valamar, added that Valamar actively invests in the development of sports infrastructure, programs and a wide range of outdoor events in the destinations in which it operates. 

“We consider that it is necessary to invest in the development of a running segment, which is followed by a rapidly growing trend globally. The SightRun application is a great example of an innovative tourism product and an additional offer for guests and locals. The application paths cover and present all the beauties of Poreč, so we are delighted that we, together with our destination partners in Poreč, supported the development of this project."

Goran Vrus, assistant director of sports operations at Plava Laguna, said that Plava Laguna was aware of the growing popularity of running as a sport and a choice for recreation. 

"For several years we have been the host of the successful Plava Laguna half marathon, and this year we brought the Plava Laguna Triathlon 5150, IRONKIDS and Iron Girl races for the first time to Poreč. It is on that threshold that Plava Laguna complements the offer with the announced running tours for all guests who do not want to give up running on their vacation. Travelers rely on their mobile devices to collect information and many other activities before, during and after a trip, so it's important to recognize their needs and provide them with innovative content and unforgettable experiences - and through their favorite media, available at any time.”

SightRun is a free mobile application that connects running and tours and uses a GPS navigation system for mobile navigation and audio tracking that gives the user interesting information about the city. For this very reason, it does not matter how fast or slow the user is moving. To use the app, the user only needs headphones and doesn't need to look at their mobile device during the run, allowing complete freedom of movement while sightseeing of the city.

"We are extremely pleased that Poreč is joining the Runner Friendly destinations supported through the SightRun application. This cooperation not only contributes to the development of the destination but together, we are building the image that we can be innovative in tourism with our domestic technological solutions as well. I believe that the Croatian startup scene can offer even more interesting solutions, from which all actors in tourism can benefit,” said Sandra Bortek, the marketing director of SightRun.

To read more about travel in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page. 

Tourism Minister Gari Cappelli expressed satisfaction with the tourism results in Croatia, where during the first half of the year, there have been 6.5 million arrivals and 26 million overnight stays, which is in line with expectations, reports Novi List on July 1, 2019.

"We have the results after the first six months, and we have executed what we had predicted. With a small imbalance in May due to the weather, everything else has gone to plan. At this time we have realized about 26 million overnights and about 6.5 million tourist arrivals.

Thus, everything is in line with our predictions, both in Istria and in other parts of the Adriatic,” Cappelli told reporters at the expert meeting “Investment Potential of Tourist Land” in Funtana. 

According to last year's statistics from the Croatian National Tourist Board, in the first six months of 2018, Croatia saw 6.4 million arrivals and 25.4 million overnight stays.

The minister also said that it is imperative that in the first half of this year that neither German nor British tourists are in the minus, as was predicted.

Cappelli emphasised once again that everything was going to plan and is accounted for by the growth of physical tourism indicators this year of about two to three percent.

Minister Cappelli is in Funtana participating in a meeting on the investment potential of tourism land, in which a draft bill of unreported construction land was presented, which is in public debate.

Before the meeting, the minister attended the opening ceremony of city beach Materada, for which the Ministry of Tourism granted Poreč almost half a million kuna through the tender from the Tourism Development Fund, while the Poreč Tourist Board invested an additional 1.5 million kuna.

The settlement included a coastal area stretching between the Špadići and Materada settlements in the length of 400 meters or 2.834 square meters, which will become the largest beach to be renovated in Poreč this year. The project paid special attention to persons with disabilities.

In other words, the City of Poreč has invested nearly 20 million kuna in the town's beaches over the past four years.

To read more about travel in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page. 

The Supervisory Board of Valamar Riviera d.d. has already approved the upcoming annual investment cycle of 599 million kuna. Thus, Valamar continues its intensive investment strategy to raise the quality of its portfolios and services to high-value tourism, reports HRTurizam on June 27, 2019.

Although significant, the investment cycle for 2020 is lower than in the previous years, and as highlighted by Valamar Riviera, it is because of the global slowdown in market demand and rising operating costs.

However, the big news surrounding the new investment cycle is the announcement of the largest Croatian summer resort with a total value of 790 million kuna, which was presented on Thursday in Poreč.

The Poreč hotel Pical 2* will be wholly transformed into a luxury five-star resort with about 500 accommodation units. The resort, which will accommodate as many as 1,700 guests, will have seven bars and seven restaurants, 2,200 square meter swimming pools, the Sundance beach club, indoor pool and wellness center, Maro family facilities and perhaps the most important - a congress center for 1,200 guests.

The construction of this summer resort is the most significant single investment in Croatian tourism, and the completion of the investment is planned for 2021. Valamar continues to invest in the Pical area, which together with the Valamar Collection Marea Suites 5*, which opened this year, will become the top of Poreč tourism and one of the most attractive tourist areas in Croatia.

"Valamar has successfully realized investments and business goals set for the past three years and is now moving into a new phase of development. We plan to continue developing our business following our formula of success based on investing in employees, products, and destinations, with sustainable development and socially responsible business. However, it is still necessary to work on the overall competitiveness of Croatian tourism compared to other destinations in the Mediterranean if we want to strengthen the investment potential of the tourism sector and keep our employees in tourism in Croatia,” said Željko Kukurin, Chairman of the Board of Valamar Riviera.

Valamar has successfully realized all this year's investments worth 793 million kuna. Thus, Valamar has invested a total of 5.8 billion kuna in Croatian tourism.

By the end of this year, a new development strategy will be presented for the next three-year period, and thus continue to realize the vision of leaders in holiday tourism that, in partnership with destinations, provides authentic guests experiences, concludes Valamar.

To read more about travel in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page. 

Something brand new for the Istrian town of Poreč, which will not only boost the local economy with the increased spending of the local population as well as the spending from tourists, but will also bring employment opportunities to Poreč's locals which don't revolve entirely around tourism.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 26th of June, 2019, today, the opening of a brand new, large shopping centre is set to take place in Poreč, Istria - Galerija (Gallery) Poreč will readily take on as many as 100 new employees, in yet another piece of good news for Istria's economy.

The investor and owner of Galerija Poreč doesn't come from abroad, nor does his money, which might come as quite the surprise for many who naturally look at large investments in Croatia with raised eyebrows. The investor is in fact a Croatian company called AM PS Delta Nekretnine d.o.o., which operates within the wider Austrian MID Group.

There are already many projects within their portfolio, among which the most famous are the Garden Mall in Zagreb, TC Koprivnica, STC Osijek, STC Sisak, STC Valpovo, Pula City Mall and STC Umag, according to a report from Jutarnji list.

This, the latest shopping centre, extends over 8,300 square feet of retail space, and when it comes to names, the stores inside will include well known and large brands such as C&A, Deichmann, Galileo, Hervis, New Yorker, Müller, CCC, TO Sebastijan, Pepco, Ted and Bipa.

''Galerija Poreč enriches the commercial offer of a large tourist city such as Poreč, as well as the entire surrounding area. With about a hundred new employees, it's a great benefit for the whole of Istria,'' stated the owners are the owners of this centre, the initial construction of which first began back at the beginning of the year.

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