December the 13th, 2021 - Croatian vaccination tourism, which might sound quite amusing for many considering the relatively unimpressive vaccination rate of the domicile population, is going well for the nationals of the Russian federation who are arriving on special flights.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, among the countries chosen by the Russians in which to be vaccinated against the novel coronavirus is the Republic of Croatia, which fully enabled the vaccination of foreign, non resident nationals since mid-July. The media have already written about Russian citizens in queues at vaccination points, and the Croatian National Tourist Board (HTZ) recently confirmed to Novi list that they are coming in an organised manner. Croatian vaccination tourism is actually very much a thing.

''This topic has been current for more than two months now and the CNTB Office is in constant contact with travel organisers, as well as a number of agencies and individual tourists who are interested in this form of tourism. These are mostly three-day arrangements, ie two nights, and in almost 95 percent of cases people are arriving in Zagreb. In Russia, the most active are the Russian Express and PAKS, which offer fully organised arrangements, but there are also a large number of agencies that organise these special tours to Croatia,'' they stated.

Tourists are offered plane tickets, hotel accommodation, excursions around Zagreb and its surroundings, as well as a tour of the Plitvice lakes, as well as various lunches and dinners in restaurants. Vaccination is usually done immediately on the first day or possibly the day after arrival. As the Russians mostly want to be vaccinated with Pfizer (Comirnaty), the vast majority return to Zagreb after three weeks to receive their second doses. By being vaccinated with an EU approved vaccine, these Russians can then get EU covid certificates.

In addition, at the end of December, Aeroflot will introduce daily direct flights to Zagreb, and Russian travel organisers will offer arrangements related to Advent and the New Year in Croatia, according to the CNTB. From other markets, they say, no increased interest is noticeable.

For more, check out our dedicated travel section.

Despite the fact that Croatia's neighbour to the south, Montenegro, allows Russian citizens visa-free access to holiday in their country, the need for Russian citizens to obtain a visa to enter Croatia hasn't watered down their desire to visit the country, and some brand new connections between Russia and Croatia are set to fly in 2020.

As Lucija Spiljak/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 5th of March, 2020, Russia and Croatia will be connected by Aeroflot airlines and TUI Russia, which are introducing a new charter flight to Croatia for the very first time this year.

Russian airline Utair will also introduce a new flight schedule as of June 2020 that will connect Moscow and the Dalmatian city of Split. The first flight is scheduled for June the 2nd, 2020, from Moscow's Vnukovo Airport, and it will operate twice per week - on Tuesdays and Wednesdays - until the end of September, with 168 seats on offer on a Boeing 737-800 aircraft.

"This is an excellent opportunity for Dalmatia, as well as for the entire Croatian tourism sector to further position themselves on the important Russian market," said Kristjan Stanicic, director of the Croatian National Tourist Board (HTZ).

It's worth mentioning that this is the third airline to connect these locations between Russia and Croatia, As mentioned, in addition to the regular Utair flight, Moscow and Split will be connected by the airlines Aeroflot and TUI Russia during 2020.

In addition to the above, this year, Moscow will boast connections with the Croatian capital of Zagreb and the popular Istrian city of Pula, and St. Petersburg will also be connected with the City of Zagreb.

For more on flights to Croatia and connections between Russia and Croatia, follow our dedicated travel page.

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