Ready for the Coolest Festival in Dalmatia? The 7th Gljevstock Festival is Coming.
It all started in 2010, when a few bands from Sinj got together to play for their friends. An informal festival, just for the fun of getting together, playing and listening to music. It was a success and very soon, the festival became one of the coolest in Dalmatia. One with the most chilled atmosphere for sure.
Last 2 Days to Register for the Longest Adventure Race in Croatia
I once heard that you could learn a lot about your potential by knowing how to determine the difference between envy and admiration. When you admire someone, it usually is a positive feeling. You are admiring his abilities, talents or skills. When you envy someone, it is a negative feeling. You can still envy someone′s talents or skills, but the overall feeling in your body is negative. It is because, when admiring someone, it is not within your capacity to do the same and so, you are admiring it, while knowing, that this is out of your reach and you could never do the same, no matter how much you try. But whenever envy arises, it means, you could do the same, but you are not using your full potential in this particular field.
TransDinara MTB Marathon Race Presented in Trilj
19th Sinj Half marathon on Sunday
On Sunday, April 24, 2016 Sinj will host the traditional Sinj Half Marathon and the 5th Croatian Road league for 5 km. Both races will start in front of the Piccadilly Club at 9:30, informs the Sinj tourist board.
New Bill from the Ministry of Tourism - Inland Dalmatia Tourist Boards to Close Next Year
It might have been my 4th year at the University, when I attended a lecture about local management of a tourism destination given by a enthusiastic young men from Skalica (Slovakia). Sadly, I do not remember his name, but I remember the spark in his eyes as he talked about how much did they achieve in a little city using EU funding combined with various tools and techniques to get everybody to cooperate towards a common goal.
The common goal, surprisingly, was not to build an infrastructure for tourists visiting this area. All efforts with preparing projects, getting rejected so many times just to get 3 or 4 projects approved was to raise the quality of life for the locals in the first place. Why? Because, when a destination is authentic, with locals enjoying the place, participating in cultural and other events and loving it, that is what makes a destination attractive for tourists as well.
When travelling, people are looking for authenticity - to experience that particular culture and to explore and get to know the place. If the locals enjoy it and love it, they will easily show it to the guest by including him into their lives rather than making their lives about entertaining the guest.
It must have been this particular lecture that got me interested in management of a tourism destination. So I focused on that for the rest of my studies. When writing my final thesis I was amazed by the way Croatia is dealing with management of a destination - the network of local and regional tourist boards was huge and according to the law that regulated their operation, it should have been working out pretty well.
Now, this was the law in Croatia. As I came to live to Croatia, I soon discovered not everything written on a piece of paper is actually being transformed into real life and tourist boards are dealing with various issues, some more successful then others. But despite some problems, it seemed that Croatia is profiting from having such a large network of tourist boards to promote each corner of the country, as the tourism flourishes.
As it seems, this large network may come to an end with a new bill that was prepared recently and proposes to close all tourist boards that use more than 25% of their income on financing the operation of the tourist board (staff salaries) as of January 2016. As Slobodna Dalmacija informs, that would mean closing more than a half of the current tourist boards, most of them in Inland Dalmatia.
The public debate opened by the Ministry of Tourism ended today (July 12, 2015) so we will see how much of the objection from the Director of the Split-Dalmatia County Tourist Board Joško Stella and others will be taken into consideration.
Living on the Hvar island, where we have 5 tourist boards, which do not make an effort to promote the island as a whole destination, it was quite refreshing to get to know several tourist board directors from Inland Dalmatia. And as the director of the Sinj tourist board Jelena Bilić informed me, they actually meet on a regular basis to discuss issues related to their common destination. They cooperate, talk to each other and work towards branding the destination.
Sinj with the excellent Jelena Bilić is in a way a leader of this destination. But there are several others, that did so much with very little resources.
Vrlika has a relatively new tourist board director Dijana Maras. This very efficient young lady took over the position a year ago, where she immediately had to deal with the cultural program of the Vrlika Summer (including the famous opera Ero the Joker).
After the summer, there was time to focus on the accommodation issue as Vrlika had no official accommodation available. Zero beds, no apartments, nothing to actually stay over a night in the region when visiting. And with the new Medpaths project (4 hiking, 3 biking and 1 trekking trails) and the support from a very active Dalmatia Explorer, Dijana felt the opportunity to convince people to get into the business of renting their rooms and apartments legally. She put an extra effort by visiting people, talking to them, answering questions and encouraging them.
By the end of the year, Dijana prepared 2 educational workshops for all interested. People were mostly interested in what are the financial obligations when renting out an apartment, but apart from that, they got all sorts of interesting information such as how to communicate with guests, how to promote themselves, how to cooperate with an agency, how to furnish the space and many more. There was a tourist agency present to explain details about their way of business as well.
The result was from zero beds last year to 33 beds registered this year. And fingers crossed, depending on how this season will be, there might be many more interested for the next season.
This year, there are 47 villas with a pool and 10 others, together 57.
During those years, the tourist board actively helped people to get financial support through various government funding (helped with the documentation, online applications etc.). The last huge success of such an active approach was when 17 local houses and villas received the government financial support for building a pool last month.
A local tourist board can be a very effective way of bringing people together to cooperate towards a common goal. Depending on the goal and on the willingness of people to cooperate, tourism may flourish. Closing a tourist board, which was doing a good job and was desirable by locals and tourists may not be such a smart decision. However, if the common goal of the locals is promoting their town as a tourism destination, they could form a private initiative in a form of an association. They will have to get involved more, probably pay a membership fee and otherwise finance the association, but on the other hand, they will for sure expect more from it and it could actually be more effective than the current tourist board.
I am curious to see how it all turns out.
Unique Stations of the Cross at the Old Town in Sinj
On a path from the church to the fortress, there are 14 new stations of the Cross. At each station, there is a unique sculpture, slightly larger than a life-size man, made out of bronze.
Sculptures are being installed as a part of the 300th anniversary of the coronation of the Lady of Sinj and should be ready on the day of the anniversary on September 22, 2016.
Many thanks to the Sinj tourist board for sharing the photos with us. Photos by Nikola Belančić.
The 6th Cetina Adventure Race - Date Announced
After 5 successful years the team at Cetina Adventure prepared another Cetina Adventure Race to take place on June 4th, 2016. Here is a short announcement from the Cetina Adventure FB page:
Adventure sport enthusiasts are given an opportunity to discover the unique and hitherto insufficiently explored natural beauty of the Dalmatian hinterland. The Cetina Adventure Race is organised by Adventures sports club Cetina Adventure and Sinj Tourist Board. Their joint aim is to promote sports activities as well as beautiful scenic areas of the Cetinska Krajina Region. The route of the race goes down the Cetina River and through the wild scenery in the part of the Kamešnica and Dinara mountains, with the winning post in Sinj. Contestants are expected to take part in canoeing, swimming, MTB, climbing, abseiling, sports jumping from boulders into waters, rope crossing, with many other surprises waiting for them. Not only that the Cetina Adventure Race includes conquering natural obstacles and enforced challenges as well as facing unforeseeable weather conditions, but as a team contest it also fosters and reinforces team spirit, giving a boost to a healthy spirit in a healthy body.
The race serves as a test of the limits of human endurance and will power, proving that winning does not equal to reaching the winning post first.
Only 20 teams will participate, so be sure to send your application on time to: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. in the period of May 1 - 15, 2016, stating names of both participants, of the team and confirmation of the paid 400.00 kn fee to the club. Check out the videos from last year and for more information follow Cetina Adventure on Facebook.
Tourist in Your Own City - Successful Educational Event of the Sinj Tourist Board
Due to the reported additional interest of teachers and students of elementary schools and high schools (which was one of the goals of this educational campaign), the tourist board is keen on preparing another guided tour with the cooperation of the Sinj Tourist Guides Association Osinium soon.
(photo: Nikola Belančić)
(photo: Sinj tourist board)
Tourist in Your Own City - Free City Tours of Sinj
If you are interested to join the tour, it is necessary to contact the tourist board at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 021/826-352.
Don´t Miss the Sinj Carnival Festival 2016 - This Saturday!!
All welcome. Enjoy the 2nd Sinj Carnival Festival.
