November 7, 2019 - Over the last 15 years, Tomorrowland has grown to be one of the world's largest and most notable music festivals - and we might see a version of it in Pula in the future. 

Next to the Pula Arena, one might say that some of the most recognizable products of the town are its music festivals - Outlook and Dimensions. Sadly, 2019 was the final year that Outlook and Dimensions festivals would be held in Pula after they announced a relocation to Sibenik in 2020. The departure of Outlook and Dimensions was expected to be a considerable hit to Pula’s tourism, though it might not be all that bad for this Istrian city in the end. A version of one of the biggest festivals in the world could be calling Pula its new home. 

Namely, Glas Istre first wrote about the possibility of Tomorrowland coming to Pula two months ago, and now the story has been confirmed by the director of the Istria Tourist Board, Denis Ivosevic.

Ivosevic told Glas Istre that he is optimistic about Tomorrowland's arrival in Pula, but that is still not a definitive confirmation that this international spectacle will come to the largest city on the Istrian peninsula. In any case, if it did happen, Pula would again be on the map of the most attractive festival destinations in the world. 

Ivosevic added that a music festival, whether it be Tomorrowland or another, would surely make Pula their home. 

Tomorrowland is one of the largest and most famous dance and techno music festivals in the world. The first edition took place in 2005 in the Belgian town of Boom near Antwerp, where it is traditionally held during the last weekend of July. Two years ago, the festival was visited by as many as 400,000 people, which are attracted to its mega stages and visual splendor.

Tomorrowland often ranks first in the world's top music festivals, ahead of Austin City Limits in Texas, Glastonbury, Rock in Rio, Chicago's Lollapalooza, Burning Man (Black Rock Desert, Nevada), Tennessee’s Bonnaroo, Electric Daisy Carnival in Los Angeles, Coachella, and Ultra Music Festival in Miami. Tomorrowland in Belgium, which has versions in other countries as well, could spark up a new edition in Pula. 

You can read more about Outlook and Dimensions leaving Pula here. 

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

October 26, 2019 - The latest news from around Croatia’s airports for new flights to Croatia with updates from Dubrovnik and Pula.

Avio Radar reports that Spanish low-cost carrier Volotea announced yet another new route to Croatia in their 2020 summer flight schedule, this time from Sicily to Dubrovnik. The new Palermo-Dubrovnik line will operate once a week, on Wednesdays, from July 8 to August 26, 2020. A Boeing 717 aircraft is expected to service this line. 

At the same time, the Dubrovnik-Bari line has been strengthened. In addition to one flight per week on Wednesdays, Volotea will add another trip in the heart of the season on Mondays. On the other hand, both routes from Bergamo to Croatia will no longer operate next year. These are the flights to Dubrovnik and Split. 

Recall, Avio Radar reported earlier this week that Volotea announced a new flight from France to Dubrovnik in their 2020 flight schedule. The new Toulouse-Dubrovnik route will begin operations from April 4, 2020, with two flights a week - on Wednesdays and Sundays. The end of the seasonal service is currently unknown, as tickets are on sale until the end of August. An Airbus A319 aircraft will fly on this route. 

This route will take the place of German carrier Germania, which filed for bankruptcy in February this year. Germania flew only once a week between Toulouse and Dubrovnik on Sundays. 

Volotea also strengthened three flights from France to Split in its 2020 summer flight schedule. Namely, flights from Lyon, Nantes, and Toulouse will fly to Split three times a week next year - on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Sundays in the peak season. On the other hand, the Marseille-Split route, which only ran three flights a week, was reduced to two flights per week. 

Volotea will reduce traffic to destinations in the northern Adriatic for the 2020 summer flight schedule. Namely, only the Nantes-Pula route will remain with flights once a week, on Thursdays. This year’s new Bordeaux-Pula line is no longer on offer for 2020. Rijeka received its first Volotea line this year between Marseille and Rijeka, though it will not operate next year. 

Avio Radar also reports that TUI Airlines Belgium has announced a new route between Brussels and Pula in its 2020 summer flight schedule. Namely, this line will begin operations from April 25, 2020, with two flights a week on Wednesdays and Saturdays. A Boeing 737-800 aircraft will serve this line. 

Two more trips will be offered next year - from Brussels to Dubrovnik on Wednesdays and Saturdays, and Antwerp to Split on Mondays and Fridays. 

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

October. 24, 2019 - The latest news from around Croatia’s airports for new flights to Croatia with updates from Zadar and Dubrovnik.

Avio Radar reports that Austrian low-cost carrier Lauda announced the introduction of a new route from Vienna to Zadar as part of their 2020 flight schedule. The line will begin operations from March 20, 2020, with three flights a week on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. An Airbus A320 will fly on this route. 

This is the second new Lauda line to Croatia in their 2020 flight schedule after the Vienna-Dubrovnik route was added. It is also interesting to note that the Austrian national carrier and Star Alliance member Austrian Airlines also announced a new route between Vienna and Zadar for next year, which will run daily. Compared to this summer, when only Eurowings ran two flights per week between Vienna and Zadar, there are now ten flights a week on this route for next year. 

Furthermore, Avio Radar reports that Spanish low-cost carrier Volotea has announced a new flight from France to Dubrovnik in their 2020 flight schedule. The new Toulouse-Dubrovnik route will begin operations from April 4, 2020, with two flights a week - on Wednesdays and Sundays. The end of the seasonal service is currently unknown, as tickets are on sale until the end of August. An Airbus A319 aircraft will fly on this route. 

This route will take the place of German carrier Germania, which filed for bankruptcy in February this year. Germania flew only once a week between Toulouse and Dubrovnik on Sundays. 

Volotea also strengthened three flights from France to Split in its 2020 summer flight schedule. Namely, flights from Lyon, Nantes, and Toulouse will fly to Split three times a week next year - on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Sundays in the peak season. On the other hand, the Marseille-Split route, which only ran three flights a week, was reduced to two flights per week. 

Volotea will reduce traffic to destinations in the northern Adriatic for the 2020 summer flight schedule. Namely, only the Nantes-Pula route will remain with flights once a week, on Thursdays. This year’s new Bordeaux-Pula line is no longer on offer for 2020. Rijeka received its first Volotea line this year between Marseille and Rijeka, though it will not operate next year. 

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

As Glas Istre/Chiara Bilic writes on the 22nd of October, 2019, although the preliminary solution for the future investment is not yet complete, Ivica Salvador from Stanoinvest points out that nothing will go beyond the plans of the City of Pula. For now, all of the features that will be the fruit of this investment remain unknown, but according to financiers, other than apartments, the area will receive shops and a nursery.

At the beginning of 2021, part of the area above the Port of Delfin in Pula will take on the outline of the residential area. Ivica Salvador, the owner of Stanoinvest, will take care of changing the view of this attractive land near the sea, in a project that will cover approximately 18,000 square metres.

The land in question involves cadastral building plots, which until recently were owned by Israeli investors from the SBE company from Rijeka. At this location, namely on eleven percent of the land of this green area, they also planned to build an apartment complex. However, after the City of Pula accepted their request to amend the urban development plan ten years ago, residents of the surrounding areas and Green Istria associations have repeatedly objected to the announced construction, believing that the Pula did not protect the interests of its citizens but instead favoured the wishes of a private investor.

They were particularly concerned about the permissible percentage of the maximum construction of the zone, the number of floors (four) and the height of the buildings, which would be arranged in a row extending down to the shore, exactly thirty metres from the sea, which would obscure the view towards the Veruda channel. As a result, numerous debates were organised and a petition against the settlement was once signed by a thousand citizens.

At that time, it was questionable whether Pula needed an apartment complex at all and why exactly it would be constructed at this location, to which the city authorities mainly referred to the previously amended general urban plan (GUP). It was announced that SBE would complete the construction in 2014, but the project never got past the first point.

As stated, although the conceptual solution for the future investment is not yet complete, Ivica Salvador pointed out that nothing will go beyond the plans of the City of Pula, and while the fruit of this investment isn't known in full, what it will bring, at least according to Salvador, will provide a high quality of life for local citizens.

''The location is attractive, it has access from several directions from the land, but also from the sea,'' said Salvador, who refers to this investment a major undertaking for Stanoinvest.

Otherwise, on this green corridor above the Port of Delfin, the City of Pula does own some of the plots of land. Although housing construction is also allowed on them, Giordano Škuflić, the head of the Administrative Department for Physical Planning, Utility and Property, confirmed several months ago that the city plots will not be sold at this moment in time.

Make sure to follow our dedicated business page for more on investments in Croatia.

October 19, 2019 - Pula gears up for a busy winter season with the announcement of a packed music program! 

Glas Istre writes that an excellent music program was announced at a press conference on Friday by the director of the Pula Film Festival, Gordana Restovic, who has been entrusted with organizing the winter music happenings in Pula for the fifth consecutive year. 

The vibrant Rocktarata music program, which is full of sound names this year, was announced by Mirko Mocko. Eighteen concerts will take take place every Friday and Saturday from late November to December 15 and every evening from December 20 to the end of the year. This year's selection includes bands The Night Express, Vatra, Fit, Letu Štuke, Songkillers, Psihomodo pop, Dj Rock Caffe, Top of the Pops, Blagdan Band, Funbox, Urban & 4, Dj Giuly, Pips, Chips & Videoclips, Radioaktiv, Krug – Ekv Tribute Band, Febra, while Šajeta will ring in the New Year. 

Renato Perc announced that there will also be concerts at the Pula Market and on the first floor of the Market building every Saturday, featuring OPG Groovoteka, Blue Sky, In Vino Veritas, Side Effects, Mistral, a morning Jazz Christmas program from December 17 to December 20, and Christmas Eve with Anelide and Mistral. December 31 is reserved for the traditional ‘Pulska Padela’, Vesna Nezic Ruzic, and Quattro Redicool.

Grad Pula 2018

The Seasplash Platform, which will be held for the thirteenth time, presented an exciting alternative program, which includes Fakofbolan, Atheist Rap, the Vasil Hadzimanov Band with guests. The New Year's party will be held at the Klub Kotač and the distinctive C.U.B.E. vol 7 at Club Uljanik.

Perhaps Pula’s most popular program will continue its tradition this winter, the recognizable Advent at the Cathedral with Vanna and the Humanitarian Christmas Concert at the Istrian National Theater, featuring Marko Tolja and Mia Dimsic, announced program coordinator Daniel Sponza.

Gordana Restovic announced that the people of Pula and their guests would welcome Zabranjeno Pusenje on New Year's Eve with Le Monde, while Nola will take the stage for the early NYE party at noon. The director of the Pula Tourist Board, Sanja Cinkopan Korotaj, added that this entire event contributes to promoting Pula as a tourist destination throughout the month, which citizens and visitors are happy to visit and gladly plan their return.

The mayor of Pula, Boris Miletic, thanked everyone involved in the organization, from city institutions and the private sector to civil society organizations actively engaged in creating the program. He emphasized that the holiday season was a time for socializing and communion and that this program offers an alternative to the unfortunately ubiquitous social lifestyle of today, which is mostly carried out on smartphones. Pula in December is a meeting place for all ages in the city, from young to old. 

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

As Marija Crnjak/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 14th of October, 2019, after investing more than 113 million euros across several key markets, the majority owner of the popular Pula Arena's plan is to invest another 340 million euros in the new Art'otel London Hoxton and Art'otel New York projects.

The Dutch PPHE Hotel Group, the majority owner of the well known Croatian company Arena Hospitality Group, has opened the brand new Park Plaza Vondelpark hotel in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, in which it has invested 10 million euros in total. The new hotel in the Dutch capital boasts 102 rooms and will soon have a new restaurant and bar, as well as a gym, a private garden and several meeting rooms.

With this large investment, PPHE has completed a multi-year investment cycle of more than 113 million euros on key markets, including that of Croatia.

"This hotel, located in the highly desirable Amsterdam district of Oud-Zuida, perfectly complements our strong offer in the city, with our Park Plaza Victoria Amsterdam hotels that we remodeled in 2018, and Art'otel Amsterdam," said PPHE Hotel Group's CEO Boris Ivesha, Chairman of the Arena Supervisory Board.

As previously mentioned, the CEO also announced that they expect to spend another 340 million euros on new projects such as Art'otel London Hoxton and Art'otel New York. As is known, the company announced the first Art'otel outside Europe last spring, that being the facility in the Big Apple.

Arena Hospitality Group, in addition to being the majority owner of the Pula Arena, managing and developing its own Arena Hotels & Apartments and Arena Campsites brand, through PPHE Hotel Group Limited, as a majority owner, has the exclusive right to operate and develop the international Park Plaza brand in eighteen Central and Eastern European countries and to manage the exclusive Art'otel brand.

To briefly reall, the same company purchased Hotel 88 Rooms in the Serbian capital of Belgrade back during this spring for a price of 47 million kuna.

Make sure to follow our dedicated business and travel pages for much more.

October 11, 2019 - The latest news from around Croatia’s airports for new flights to Croatia with updates from Split and Pula.

Following Thursday’s announcement that Air Transat is looking to increase their Croatian operations to Split and Dubrovnik, Avio Radar revealed on Friday that Spanish low-cost airline Volotea will run a seasonal service between Athens and Split as part of their 2020 summer flight schedule. 

Thus, Volotea will operate two flights per week between the two cities, on Wednesdays and Sundays, beginning April 19. This seasonal service will compete against Aegean Airlines and Croatia Airlines, both Star Alliance members, who already operate this line. 

Recall, the Dubrovnik-Athens service began operating this year, too. However, next year, the service will begin two weeks earlier, from April 11. The airline will run two flights per week in the preseason, on Wednesdays and Saturdays as they did this year, and from June, they’ll increase frequencies to three flights per week on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. This year, Volotea only ran three flights per week in August. 

A Boeing 717-200 aircraft will operate on both lines. 

Avio Radar also reports that low-cost carrier Transavia has announced a new flight for Croatia in their 2020 summer flight schedule. Namely, the airline will connect Paris (Orly Airport) and Pula. The new route will begin on April 4, 2020, and run once a week - on Saturdays. The airline will increase frequencies to two flights a week from May until the end of September on Tuesdays and Saturdays. During the heart of the season, in July and August, Transavia will boost operations to three flights per week, with the additional trip on Thursdays. 

A Boeing 737-800 aircraft will fly on this line.

Furthermore, Split Airport handled its three-millionth passenger on Friday, October 4, which is the second time in the 53-year-history of the airport. The lucky passenger arrived on a Croatia Airlines flight from Frankfurt. Split Airport achieved this milestone 21 days earlier than last year. 

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

''I'm especially pleased that besides Pula, three other Istrian cities have received awards for excellence, which once again confirms that Istrian cities are at the top in terms of development, their economic situation and the quality of life they provide,'' said Pula's mayor, Boris Miletić.

As Glas Istre/Danijela Basic-Palkovic writes on the 8th of October, 2019, due to the great interest of entrepreneurs, the City of Pula has increased the amount of aid for the development of small businesses. Thus, Pula will increase the funds to its entrepreneurs in the amount of 1.5 million kuna instead of the previous 1 million kuna provided through the Pula 2019 Support Program.

Since the full amount of 1 million kuna has been used up in just over three months since the decision was made, a decision to approve an additional 500 thousand kuna was made so that the grant can continue until the end of 2019.

This support is one of the measures that has brought Pula among the most economically successful cities in all of Croatia, as shown by a survey conducted under the "Best City" project, in which all Croatian cities participated, and you can read more about how various other cities did here.

In this research, in the category of big cities, Pula was named the most economically successful city in the entire country. The selection of the best cities in terms of economic indicators was done on the basis of fourteen criteria, and the necessary data was collected from the Financial Agency (Fina), the Central Bureau of Statistics, the Croatian Employment Service, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Economy, Entrepreneurship and Crafts.

Pula Mayor Boris Miletić said that the City of Pula had competed for this prestigious award for the second year in a row.

''I'm really please that this year, Pula was proclaimed the most economically successful city in the category of big cities. That is the result of many years of systematic work in the field of economy and of the measures we have implemented that have yielded results, as confirmed by this latest research. With more than 9 million kuna, we're helping entrepreneurs with their business, which makes us one of the leading cities in Croatia, and over recent days, due to the great interest of entrepreneurs, we've granted an additional half million kuna in grants for 2019,'' said Miletić proudly.

He stressed that the City of Puka's direct incentives certainly help in terms of the city's business, but other activities that the city also regularly carries out are just as important, such as measures in the school and preschool systems which also help improve the overall quality of life in Pula.

Make sure to follow our dedicated lifestyle page for much more.

With the overall aim of retaining entrepreneurs and having them grow their respective businesses in Pula, the popular Istrian has managed to secure a considerable amount of money in direct non-refundable incentives for its local entrepreneurs, and the move will unarguably help certainly the city better conduct its business.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 3rd of October, 2019, the City of Pula has provided its local entrepreneurs with an additional half a million kuna in non-refundable grants, after they already used one million kuna this year to stimulate small business development within the city. This very welcome additional support is available to be used by the end of this year, according to the local portal Glas Istre.

"It's our duty and obligation, above all, to create all the prerequisites for a favourable entrepreneurial environment that will motivate entrepreneurs to work and grow their businesses here in our city, and consequently create added value for the entire community.

I'm pleased that our entrepreneurs have recognised this and that in a very short time, they've used the million kuna in funds that we secured from the budget intended for this purpose. I' sure that they'll know how best to use the additional funds, amounting to half a million kuna.

The direct non-refundable incentives from the City of Pula will certainly help in business, as well as in other activities that we as a city regularly carry out which are important, from improving the preschool and school system to investing in infrastructure, which significantly improves the quality of life here. Therefore, it isn't surprising that the City of Pula is one of the best cities for life and for conducting business in Croatia today,'' said the mayor of Pula, Boris Miletić.

Make sure to follow our dedicated lifestyle and business pages for much more.

ZAGREB, August 28, 2019 - Health Minister Milan Kujundžić on Tuesday said the government would find an additional 150 million kuna necessary to complete the construction of the new Pula hospital.

"Two years ago, the government decided to increase the amount by 300 million kuna for the new hospital in Pula and now due to price increases of building material and equipment, an additional 150 million kuna is needed. That money will be found and I am sincerely pleased that Pula will have a new hospital and better working conditions," Kujundžić told reporters outside Government House after meeting a delegation from Istria County.

Istria County Prefect Fabrizio Radin underscored that they had come across a lot of understanding from Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and the ministers of health and finance. "We will complete the hospital within a year to the benefit of all residents of Pula, Istria, tourists and all Croatia citizens," Radin said.

Pula Hospital's director Irena Hrstić said that she hoped that some new sections of the hospital would be ready to receive patients until the end of this year, as 75% of the construction has been completed.

She underlined that Pula will have a state-of-the-art health institution that will meet the requirements of residents in Istria county and tourists.

In late April, Kujundžić recalled that the government had to date ensured 100 million euro for the construction of the new hospital in Pula which was nearing completion.

More Pula news can be found in the Lifestyle section.