February the 14th, 2021 - Shipbuilding, fishing and other such maritime materials are being collected for the new Lopar multimedia centre on the beautiful island of Rab, of which maritime culture and heritage has always played a vital part.

As Morski writes, the Tourist Board of Lopar is in the process of collecting old fishing, maritime, shipbuilding and other such materials which speak to its history from the people who may have such materials in the Municipality of Lopar and the town of Rab for listing and documentation for the up and coming Lopar multimedia centre called: "Man and the Sea - The Fishing and Maritime Heritage of Lopar/Covik i more – ribarska i pomorska bastina Lopara".

The main goal of the new Lopar multimedia centre, which will of course also serve as an interpretation centre for the area, is to contribute to the protection, preservation and evaluation of Lopar's cultural and natural heritage as a basis for the sustainable development of Lopar as an area which has always drawn its living from maritime culture, fishing and other similar sorts of aquaculture. The project aims to promote the tradition of the traditions of fishing, aquaculture and general maritime heritage of the wider Lopar area.

The opening of the new Lopar multimedia centre will work to properly preserve the fishing and maritime heritage of this picturesque little place on Rab, protect the exhibits, create a model of a traditional vessel, interpret ways of fishing and making tools, put together a dictionary consisting of old words, expressions and even swear words from the area of Lopar, put together a menu which will boast some traditional recipes consisting of fish dishes, the very preparation of which will be recorded and placed on multimedia totems in order to be available to visitors.

The project activities will unite and preserve the rich heritage for future generations in one place and showcase the very traditional way of life in the Lopar area in an accessible way and enrich this location's overall tourist offer.

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January 30, 2021 – By implementing two projects to preserve maritime heritage, Rab and Lopar will soon get exciting and modern tourist content – a virtual museum and multimedia interpretation center.

As HrTurizam reports, with the help of European funds, the Rab City and Lopar Municipality Tourist Boards are working to enrich the tourist offer. The value of added up funds provided by Rab and Lopar through only two projects exceeds 3.5 million kunas. Thus, the cultural and historical value will significantly contribute to the tourist value.

Virtual museum of the Rab town

The Rab City Tourist Board has been allocated funds from the Local Development Strategy in Fisheries LAGUR Tramuntana. The start of the project "Virtual Museum of Fisheries, Maritime Affairs and Shipbuilding of the City of Rab" is expected in March this year. The total value of approved funds is 1,120,518.31 kuna.

Within the project, it is planned to set up information boards on Banjol and Barbat's coastal belt to create an educational route. By using modern digital technologies, those interested will be shown information interesting for the history of fishing, maritime affairs, and shipbuilding on the island of Rab.

All information will be available through a web application, which will preserve and promote the fishing and maritime tradition and traditional shipbuilding of the fishing area in a modern way.

Rab town / Copyright Romulić and Stojčić

With the application, visitors will have many comprehensive and interesting current and historical information about each location, as well as the project as a whole, in virtual reality. Besides, the application would enable a virtual walk along the specified tourist promenade.

This project will create a tourist offer outside the tourist season, and the Rab City Tourist Board believes it will contribute to connecting the tourism and fisheries sectors.

Multimedia Interpretation Center in Lopar

An even more financially valuable project will be realized in Lopar. Namely, the Lopar Municipality Tourist Board was awarded 2,4 million kunas for the project "Man and the Sea - Fisheries and Maritime Heritage of Lopar."

This is a significant project, considering that a multimedia/interpretation center for fishing and maritime heritage is planned. The general project's goal is to contribute to the protection, preservation, and valuation of Lopar's cultural and natural heritage as a basis for the sustainable development of the Lopar fisheries and aquaculture area.

The Center will preserve the fishing and maritime heritage of Lopar, protect exhibits, make a model of a traditional vessel in the area, and interpret fishing methods and tools. It will also make a Dictionary of old words, phrases, and swear words from the Lopar area and make a menu with traditional recipes for fish dishes. The same dishes and recipes will be recorded and placed on multimedia totems to be available to visitors.

Photo: Lopar Municipality Tourist Board

The project activities will unite and preserve the rich heritage for future generations in one place, show the Lopar area's lifestyle in an accessible way, and enrich the tourist offer.

Center until the summer of 2023

The multimedia space will consist of five thematic rooms. At the entrance to the interpretation space, you will learn more about the history of Lopar. The road further leads to a room where vessels, tools, and techniques will be presented. The room "Man and the Sea" follows, in which the customs of the Lopar region will be presented through fishing stories.

Today, it is difficult to imagine a tourist promotion without traditional dishes. Traditional fish cuisine will also find its place in the multimedia space. And finally, in the fifth room, ecology will also find its place. A large aquarium will present it with plants and animals from this climate. As part of the multimedia space, there is also space for workshops with a library.

The upgrade of the Rab City Tourist Board's building, where the Center will be located, will begin in the fall of this year, and the second phase is planned for early next year. It is planned that the Center will open in the summer of 2023.

Local development strategy

These two projects result from the persistent and diligent work of local stakeholders on the sustainable development of the fisheries area. Namely, back in 2016, the Local Action Group in Fisheries LAGUR / FLAG Tramuntana was established for Karlobag, Senj, Novalja, Rab, and Lopar. By connecting the civil, public, and economic sectors and their active cooperation, the LAGUR Tramuntana was developed, and financial resources for implementation were provided.

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November 29, 2020 – In untouched island landscapes, the Rab Archaeological Traces mobile application will present valuable archaeological, sacral, and ethnographic heritage dating from prehistory to the beginning of the 20th century.

As Turizam24 reports, the mobile application Rab Archaeological Traces is an upgrade of the same project, which was initiated within the Program Route 27 Neighborhoods (Programski pravac 27 susjedstava), a part of the Rijeka 2020 – European Capital of Culture project. The app will be presented online on Monday, November 30, 2020, at 2 pm on Facebook.

Starting from the idea of an open-air museum, the Rab Archaeological Traces project was developed, which presented about 30 archeological sites on the island of Rab. In the first phase of the project, which was presented to the public in June this year, three educational trails with a total length of 40 km were arranged, which connected more than 30 archaeological, sacral, and ethnographic sites hidden in untouched island landscapes.

In the second phase, an interactive mobile application was created as a kind of trail guide that combines navigation, augmented reality (virtual characters), audio and video content, various interesting facts, question marks, games, and AR photography, and has built-in statistics and a reward system.

The sites are presented at 34 info points connected by educational trails with a total length of 40 km that stretch through Kampor (Capo Fronte trail), Lopar (Epario trail), and Supetarska Draga (Frux trail) and include protected areas of the landscape. Some sites are in the archaeological strata and you will have to look for them more closely, while others impress with their structures that have defied time for centuries.

In addition to navigation and information about heritage sites themselves, the application also provides many interesting facts, legends, and stories about the island and life on the island. Virtual characters who tell historical stories, audio guides, augmented reality, learning through games, and quizzes will make your exploration of the island unforgettable.

The application works offline and is intended for hikers, cyclists, mountaineers, and all lovers of nature and cultural heritage.

It is free for end-users and can be used for individual exploration of the island, for educational purposes, and as an aid to tourist, bike, and mountain guides during guided tours.

The application was developed by the Lopar Cultural Center, Rab Public Open University, Rab Tourist Board, and Lopar Tourist Board with the expert assistance of the Institute of Archeology and the Maritime and Historical Museum of the Croatian Littoral Rijeka, and financial support from the City of Rab and Lopar Municipality.

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October 26, 2020 - At the last session of the Rab Town City Council, the Strategy for Rab Tourism Development until 2030 was adopted.

HRTurizam reports that experts from the Faculty of Management in Tourism and Hospitality, led by Dora Smolčić Jurdan and Danijela Soldić Prlet, were in charge of drafting a new tourism development strategy for the town of Rab. Rab is a modern destination of authentic island experiences, rich natural and cultural heritage, happy and hospitable hosts, explains the new vision of tourism development in Rab.

Among the most prominent shortcomings that potentially slow down the tourist development of Rab are still high seasonality, transport infrastructure and connections with other islands and towns, lack of innovative off-season facilities, inadequate structure and quality of accommodation, insufficient beaches, insufficient use of locally produced food and drinks and the lack of a strong brand. Although the situational analysis showed several strengths and positive aspects of tourism in Rab when considering future development, all aspects of the current situation (especially weaknesses) were taken into account to offer more concrete measures to combat such shortcomings, the authors say.

From the set vision, four strategic goals emerged, which, in addition to natural and socio-cultural ones, also respect the economic aspects of tourism development. These are integration and improvement of the offer of Rab, placement of local products through tourism, activation of all city resources to extend the tourist season, raising competitiveness, and conquering new markets.

According to the authors of the study, the well-being of people and quality living conditions on Rab are the common denominators for all established priorities of Rab, which is also the basic meaning of responsible tourism development.

Considering the resource base, the level of development of the tourist offer of Rab and taking into account the future market perspective as primary tourist products until 2030, the following are identified: sun and sea, cultural tourism, nautical tourism, and sports and recreation. Health and rural tourism can be especially emphasized as secondary tourist products.

In addition to retaining key markets, the authors also suggest activating new potentially significant markets such as the United Kingdom, Scandinavia, and Asian countries. Based on the established specifics of Rab and situational analysis, the starting points for positioning Rab as a tourist destination were determined, divided into three basic groups: natural resources, cultural and historical heritage, and perceived quality of life.

You can read the entire tourism development strategy of Rab town until 2030 here.

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September 2, 2020 - The Town of Rab and the Rab Town Tourist Board, in cooperation with the Institute of Public Health of Primorje-Gorski Kotar County, provided tourists from the area of Rab Town with a 50% discount (349.11 kuna) for a COVID-19 PCR test in September and October.

HRTurizam reports that the discount is intended for all tourists who need a COVID-19 PCR test for unhindered entry into their home country, and is valid for all arrivals in September and October 2020 (from September 1 to October 31, 2020)

The discount is also valid for all persons who stay in the area of the town of Rab for a minimum of 7 nights continuously in private accommodation, as well as for all reservations for September and October, regardless of when they are made.

"The announcements for this season were modest, but we managed to surpass them. The Town of Rab is a responsible and safe destination and we want to show how it is possible to continue this season. Aware that the cost of the COVID-19 test is a significant expense for tourists or renters, we believe that this discount will mean a lot to them. We were helped in this by the Teaching Institute for Public Health of PGC, headed by the director Vladimir Micovic and the Rab Branch Office headed by Daniel Glazar-Ivce," said the director of the Rab Town Tourist Board Ivana Matusan, and added that they managed to maintain the tourist season with 65% of overnight stays compared to last year.

When performing the test, the person paying for the test (tourist or renter) is obliged to present a certificate from eVisitor on the residence of the person being tested, which the renter can print out from the eVisitor system or request at the Rab Town Tourist Board office. Tourists can take the test through the drive-in method of collecting swabs, in the Rab Health Center, every working day from 8 am to 11 am.

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August 25, 2020 - While many tourists rushed home last weekend to beat new rules announced by their countries, the season is still in full swing on the Kvarner islands.

Croatia was a dream this summer with no overbookings and undercrowded tourist destinations. However, an increase in the number of coronavirus cases earned the country a spot on the red list of the Netherlands, the UK, Slovenia, Austria, and regionally, the most loyal Germany.

The coronavirus pandemic reduced air travel, which always benefited the most visited Istria and Kvarner, but Dubrovnik, predominantly an air destination, ended at the back of Croatian tourist regions in August, somewhere alongside Lika-Senj County. The Kvarner islands, however, achieved results above their expectations, and the island of Rab is a corona-free zone, reports Glas Istre.

"We have more tourists, and it feels like the tourist season is still going. There are mostly Germans, but there are also Slovenes and Italians. The novelty this year is that Czechs and Hungarians are increasingly coming to us and booking the post-season period," says the director of the Rab Tourist Board Ivana Matusan. However, the City of Rab, for example, had 11,800 tourists on Thursday, 10,900 on Friday and 8.5 thousand on Sunday, which is 55 percent of overnight stays compared to the same day last year. Looking at August, the City of Rab is at 75 percent of last year's results.

There are currently 4,470 tourists in the Municipality of Lopar, which is 56 percent compared to last year, and a thousand fewer guests than on Thursday last week. Most of them were Austrians and Slovenes. In the previous part of August, Lopar achieved almost 73 percent of last year's results.

"We can be satisfied with the results of the tourist traffic, considering the pessimistic announcements at the very beginning of the tourist season, when we planned traffic at the level of 35 percent compared to last year.

Traditionally, Germans made up the biggest number of tourists here, and it is interesting that after the Germans, most are Czechs, about 10 percent, and Croats, also 10 percent. Austrians and Slovenes, who usually participate in tourist traffic with about 10 percent, currently make up 2 percent each. Announcements for September are good, although the San Marino resort is likely to close earlier than planned. There are a lot of cancellations of reservations and the uncertainty is great, because the situation is changing from day to day," the director of the Lopar Tourist Board Marin Musco said.

There are currently 11,000 guests in the town of Mali Losinj, which is 47 percent compared to last year.

We can see a drop in guests since the introduction of special measures of entry into Italy, Austria, and now Slovenia; every day, we have a thousand fewer guests. For example, on August 14, we had 19,631 registered guests. Currently, the island of Losinj has the largest number of German guests, 3,415, followed by guests from Croatia (2,342), 1,616 Slovenes, 1,042 Italians, 510 Czechs, Poles… and now there are 1,600 of them with a tendency of further decline, considering the departures on Monday before the mandatory 14-day quarantine measures," says the director of the Mali Losinj Tourist Board, Dalibor Cvitkovic. He also points out that during August, they realized 413,612 overnight stays, which is 68 percent of last year's result, with the index being 74 in the first 15 days of August.

And the 'golden island' Krk is nearing the end of the season...

"Following the new situations from last week with the introduction of new measures of individual countries, a number of cancellations have started, which will certainly affect the post-season, as well as the further course of the season. Booking has almost stopped, but tourist traffic is still moderately intense, although the decline in traffic is very noticeable. For example, on August 23, 25,410 overnight stays were registered on the island of Krk, which is 49 percent compared to 2019.

In total, there were slightly less than 4,000 arrivals on Krk on Sunday, August 23, which is half of last year's result," says the director of the Krk Island Tourist Board Majda Sale and estimates that the post-season will depend primarily on the epidemiological situation, but also on the weather.

"Domestic guests increased in statistics, in July in arrivals by 20 percent, and in overnight stays by 3.8 percent, while in August they broke into third place with a share of 12 percent. In the first half of August, Slovenes came in second place, and in August, it was customary for the Italians to be in the first place. The Germans, who are also the most represented in terms of the number of arrivals and overnight stays, kept the share of 35 percent, for example, in July, guests from Germany had only 2.6 percent fewer arrivals than last year and 8 percent fewer overnight stays than last year. It is also noticeable that the guests stayed longer on the island of Krk, compared to last year, 6 days on average, and for the most part, they came individually, as many as 83 percent of them.

By the way, about 2.3 million arrivals and 17.6 million overnight stays have been made in Croatia so far in August, which is 67 percent of last year's result achieved in the same period in terms of tourist overnight stays. The highest number of overnight stays in the same period was realized in Istria, which recorded 4.3 million overnight stays, in Kvarner 3.5 million overnight stays, in Split-Dalmatia County 3.4 million overnight stays, Zadar 3.2, Sibenik-Knin 1.4 million overnight stays, Dubrovnik-Neretva 999 thousand and Lika-Senj County 636 thousand overnight stays.

In the current part of August, most tourist overnight stays were realized from the German market, about 4.3 million, which is 90 percent of last year's result. The domestic market follows with 3.3 million overnight stays, which is the result of last year's level in the same period, the Slovenian market with 2.6 million overnight stays, which is 94 percent of last year's result, and the Polish market with 1.8 million overnight stays, an increase of 5 percent over the same period last year. From January 1 to August 22, a total of 8,855,337 overnight stays were realized in Kvarner, which is 61 percent compared to the same period last year.

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August 24, 2020 - Given the current pandemic circumstances, the 2nd Rab Film Festival was held with the great effort of its organizers and the support of sponsors. Though reduced to one festival day this time around, all films were screened with a slightly new dimension - the sea.

With great affection from the sky, the efforts of the organizers were rewarded - and as August 22 came to a close, everything coincided. Just how well received the Rab Film Festival was could be seen through its locals, who filled the unique Seaplex Kaich Cinema in Padova Bay with their boats. 

That is precisely the reason why the director of the festival, Robert Tomic Zuber, bowed his head to the people of Rab as a sign of gratitude for their spontaneous support and recognition of RAFF as something that genuinely belongs to them.

"'Films on the Waves' this time was not just a hashtag of the festival on social networks, and last night there was simply a wonderful synergy of the sea, ships, people and film," Toro laboratory said.

Although screenings of "Current Sea" and "Mater" were watched from every available vessel, part of the waterfront was reserved for distinguished guests, Mayor Nikola Grguric, Director of the Croatian Audiovisual Center Chris Marcic, Mater director Jure Pavlovic and all others who supported the Rab Film Festival.

Chris Marcich once again gave strong support to RAFF, sending greetings to the Minister of Culture Nina Obuljen Korzinek. The Mayor of Rab, Nikola Grguric, had the honor to open and close this special evening of the 2nd Rab Film Festival, with a clear message sent from the island of Rab, how culture, even during a pandemic, cannot and must not be delayed.

The audience was addressed by the director of the film "Current Sea", Christopher Smith, and the main actress of the film "Mater", Daria Lorenci Flatz, via video call, while after the film "Mater", Robert Tomic Zuber held a short Q&A with the director Jura Pavlovic.

The course of the festival evening was broadcast live on the Facebook page of the Rab Film Festival and the R + platform.

In the end, the director of the festival once again addressed the audience with heartfelt gratitude, and Mayor Nikola Grguric closed the festival with words of support and hope for a better tomorrow, especially for culture, art and film.

Source: Novi List

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As Morski writes on the 23rd of August, 2020, the beautiful Croatian island of Rab still doesn't have a single recorded case of coronavirus under its belt, reports HRT. Tourists feel safe on the island and Rab's tourist results for this year reflect that and are very good in light of the circumstances. In the first two weeks of August, as much as 80 percent of last year's tourist traffic was realised.

The crystal clear sea of ​​the Rab aquatorium attracted tourists this year just as it has for countless years before it. An Italian family came to spend some time on Rab despite the ongoing pandemic, and they won't let it get in their way.

''I can see that there are a lot of people in Croatia, I don't see them wearing masks, I see a lot of people gathered together, and when I return to Italy I'll have to take a test because a lot of people come back with coronavirus,'' says Monica.

Some tourists, however, are not worried about the situation at all.

''Rab is a beautiful island, with beautiful beaches, and great gastronomy. I'm not afraid of coronavirus, as long as we keep our distance, then everything is fine,'' claims German tourist Thomas. For now, they are extremely satisfied with the tourist season on Rab.

''We're working with 60 percent of last year's results and I think that's very good considering the situation, our expectations were much, much lower,'' admits Larisa Jaska, the owner of a Rab-based restaurant - Astoria.

About 14 thousand tourists are staying in the town of Rab. In the first two weeks of August, they achieved as much as 80 percent of last year's results. But they have to admit that they are afraid for the rest of the season.

''Of course there is fear, there's been fear since the proclamation of the very first case of infection in Croatia, if not before, we're following everything, every press conference held by the National Civil Protection Headquarters, we're looking at the situation in the area,'' says Ivana Matusan, the director of the Rab Tourist Board.

They are also satisfied in Lopar. They have exceeded 300 thousand overnight stays, and currently there are more than 7 thousand guests staying there. But the situation is changing.

''We already have information from these slightly larger renters that tourists from Austria have started to cancel their reservations slowly, diplomacy will have to do its part, and we on the ground can only hope that there will be no major cancellations,'' says Marin Musco, the director of Lopar Tourist Board.

Everyone on the island of Rab is hoping that this season will be dragged out for as long as possible despite the situation.

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August 20, 2020 – After some audience members last year successfully saw films from boats, more attendees will be invited to watch from the waves at this weekend's Rab Film Festival

Visitors to this weekend's Rab Film Festival will have an experience as close to seafaring as it is to cinema-going. In response to epidemiological guidelines, the festival has had to think creatively about seating arrangements. And, they've decided to place over half the audience on boats.

“We rented two boats with a usual capacity of 150 people from which people can watch the films,” Rab Film Festival organiser Robert Tomić Zuber tells TCN. “Under epidemiological guidelines, we should be able to seat between 80 – 100 people across those.”

“A lot of people from Rab already have their own boat, so we invited all of them - and visitors who are here with boats - to come and watch the films for free from their own. We figured it was the safest way to approach the screenings this year.”


Some of the 2019 audience watched from boats. This year there will be even more. © Rab Film Festival

At 2019's Rab Film Festival, audience members were seated on a long pier, stretching out into the sea, flanked by a number of small boats. The screen faced out towards the open waters (main picture). “Last year we had about 200 people seated there,” says Robert. “This year it will be about 70.”

The 2020 Rab Film Festival begins at 8pm on Saturday 22 August and will this year showcase two movies. 'Current Sea' is a tense ecological documentary looking at the overfishing of Cambodian waters by intruding Vietnamese fishermen. “It's a documentary thriller, filmed by American director Christopher Smith,” Robert tells us. “The film was not premiered internationally until now. This is the first screening outside the US.”

The second film, 'Mater' by Croatian director Jure Pavlović, is described by Robert as something of a “little blockbuster here in Croatia.” A Dalmatian drama with lots of humour, the film had its world premiere at the prestigious Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival at the end of last year and was named best film from the region at the Belgrade FEST.

The coronavirus pandemic has been causing a plethora of issues for countries which primarily rely on tourism for their economies, and Croatia, in which tourism accounts for about 20 percent of GDP, is no exception. The South Korean SRT tourist magazine, however, isn't letting the pandemic get in the way of them praising the country.

As SEEbiz writes on the 9th of May, 2020, the South Korean SRT tourist magazine, published by the railway company of the same name, Super Rapid Train, has included Croatia and the island of Rab among the TOP 8 destinations in the world in its May publication.

The article about the island of Rab points out that in a survey conducted by SRT magazine, many readers chose Croatia as their number one destination. It is also stated that Croatia is a country with more than a thousand islands, including the island of Rab with its exceptional cultural heritage, which is often called the "emerald island" due to its unique blue-green colour. According to the Soyth Korean SRT tourist magazine, the best time for South Korean tourists and readers to visit Rab is the period from June to September.

"After a great report on Croatia in the March issue of SRT, this time the island of Rab has found itself in the company of seven world destinations along with Ica and Paracas in Paraguay, Wellington in New Zealand, Macao, Bettmeralp in Switzerland, Camino de Santiago in Spain, Hawaii and Taiwan,'' said the director of the Croatian National Tourist Board Kristjan Stanicic, adding that at the moment every positive announcement in foreign media contributes to maintaining the image of the Republic of Croatia as a desirable and safe tourist destination worth visiting.

It's also worth mentioning that SRT, as the operator of the super-fast train on the Seoul route, which has a massive ten million inhabitants, and Busan, which has five million inhabitants, transports around 2.5 million passengers a month.

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