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.

A couple of years ago, I was offered my first job since 2003, as a blogger for the Central Dalmatia Tourist Board. I was delighted to accept, and soon afterwards, an email was sent to the 37 tourist board directors of the region from the head office, offering my services for free.

Ten minutes later I received my first (and, as it happened, only) contact from one of the local tourist boards, a lady called Jelena Bilic from Sinj. After congratulating me on the job, Jelena invited me to visit her town, so that she could show me around, throwing in the offer of free transport from Split and lunch. How could a man refuse such a generous offer? 

The day was wonderful, and although I had lived in the region for ten years, this was the first time I had really spent any time in inland Dalmatia. I was hooked, and I wrote my first article about Sinj for Google News that very evening. 

It was hard not to be charmed by Jelena's youthful energy and passion for her job and her clear love of her town, and I went home wondering what other beauties the region might behold for tourists. I did not have long to find out.

Having made that initial contact, Jelena impressed by the organised way she arranged information and contacts for me. Soon after, I was back in Sinj, once more her guest, overnight this time, as she wanted me to experience the Cetina Adventure race, part of the region's strategy to highlight the potential of adventure tourism.

"There are two things I think I may have forgotten to mention," she said with a twinkle in the eye. "The race starts at 06:00, so your photographer and guide will be here at 05:45. Oh, and there is a school leaving party which will finish at 05:30 in the hotel..."

It was a magical day, as the imperious Ilija Veselica gave me the most perfect introduction to the magic of the region, and along the way, we met a young man on his own by a lake. Domagoj Burica ran Dalmatia Explorer, and he was to be a key member of a new English-language website. By the time I had met Ivana Antisic at Lake Peruca for the Lake2Lake regatta, something was clear to me - here was a region full of passionate and dedicated young people who wanted nothing more than to tell the world about it. With a little help from Jelena, Ivana, Domagoj and Maja Zlokic, Total Inland Dalmatia was born, and it is no exaggeration to say that the project would not have started without Jelena's determination and organisation. 

I have made several visits to Sinj over the last couple of years, and each time Jelena has steered me in a new direction, to discover the very best of the town and its surroundings. A guest at Alka, a visit to Ranc Mustang, the wonderful musical festival of Gljevstok, the mills of Grab, the list goes on. 

I have on occasion been critical of some tourist board directors for not doing their job, and perhaps it is because when one looks at the achievements of Jelena in Sinj over a short period of time, one realises the huge potential of Dalmatia as a destination if others followed her shining example. 

In just a few years, Sinj tourism has been transformed. It is one of the best information-rich destinations online, with an active website and own application, and I defy you to try and visit Sinj and escape without a brochure. Its events are well-organised and well-publicised, and the free walking tour each Thursday is the latest example of small initiatives which are making a small but crucial difference. The information signs and new information point are visible proofs of the raising of standards of tourist information in Sinj. 

But the job of a tourist director is also about promotion and the improvement of a destination. Who could have imagined that a Sinj tourist board director would be promoting Alka in Chicago or New York City, or would be accompanying the national tourist board on its tour of European capitals to promote Croatia365. And if the people of Sinj had just the smallest understanding of the enormous work this young lady has done chasing EU and other funds for the town's tourism, they would be more impressed still. 

When Jelena wrote to tell me she had been promoted to run the national tourist board office in Prague, starting in September, I was both proud and surprised. Such appointments usually have a political element to them, but here was something different, a qualified and committed talent with the only agenda to follow being that of promoting tourism. 

While I am delighted for Jelena and wish her every success (she will need no luck), her departure of course leaves a huge hole in inland Dalmatia, but I hope that her legacy and energy will inspire whoever fills her rather large boots, and I am sure that many of the initiatives which she started - including this website - will continue and flourish.

Thank you, Jelena, for introducing me and many others to the amazing world of Inalnd Dalmatia. For your friendship, your high professional standards at every moment, and for showing me and others what IS possible to achieve on small budgets and with lots of dedication. 

From all the team at Total Inland Dalmatia, we wish you all the best in Prague, and we fully expect a Czech invasion of Sinj next summer... Cheers!

Interesting invitation from the Adventure-Sport.net website for trail running in January:

 

"After the successful year 2015 with races: Biokovo Vertikal, Vela Luka Outdoor and the highly visited trial league, the Trail and Trekking Club Strka has already plans for the upcoming year 2016.

In the Split city area and its surroundings a new Strka Trail League will start on January 3, 2015, sponsored by Easy Going Store.

The trails will be approximately 4-7 km in length and fully marked with tape flags and pointers, so that orientation knowledge is not necessary.

The Entry fee is symbolic 5 kn per round, except for the last round, Marjan Trail, where the entry fee is 100 kn.

(photo: adventure-sport.net)

 

The leagues is ideal for those, who want to try trail running for the first time, but also for those more experienced - as a good training or even more, as the sponsor Easy Going Store prepared interesting prices for the best ones. In addition to the prices for winners, there will be benefits for all participants during the time of the duration of the league. All participants of the league can use a special 25% discount during the period of January 3 - February 13, 2016.

Here is the schedule of the league:

Round 1: January 3, 2016 at 10:00 - Marjan

Round 2: January 9, 2016 at 10:00 - Poljička Mountain

Round 3: January 16, 2016 at 10:00 - Klis Field

Round 4: January 23, 2016 at 10:00 - Omiš Gata

Round 5: January 30, 2016 at 10:00 - Sinj

Round 6: February 2, 2016 at 19:00 - Marjan Night

Round 7: February 13, 2016 at 10:00 - Marjan Trail - application here."

For more information, follow the FB page of the Club, or visit their website.

It was a great year. Full of record breaking-results for Inland Dalmatia. Full of significant anniversaries, changes and happenings. I myself learned a lot about this beautiful and unique destination and want to thank you all for making it possible. To all people in Inland Dalmatia, to all its guests and visitors - Happy New Year!! Let us enjoy the beauties of the Dalmatian Hinterland every day.

Happy New Year from Dalmatia Explorer

Happy New Year from Klis (Grad na Kamenu Klis FB page)

Happy New year from Vrgorac tourist board (New Year´s Eve in Vrgorac from 1955-1956)

Happy New Year from Vrlika tourist board

Happy New Year from Sinj

Autumn and winter might be more peaceful periods in Inland Dalmatia, but it is a great time to visit and to experience places like Vrlika in all their beauty. Because peace and quite is just what places like this are all about. Just the untouched nature and you. Ok, maybe having the great company of Domagoj from Dalmatia Explorer might be a good idea, as he can show you place. Like he did with this French blogger - Violaine Malié.

(photo: google plus profile)

Violaine has a travel and photography blog (Vio Vadrouille) in French and visited Inland Dalmatia this summer. She shared her experience about the beautiful Vrlika nature, Cetina source, Church of the Holy Salvation and her visit to the Alka museum in Sinj. You can read the whole article (in French) here.

Sinj is the safest Croatian city over 20.000 residents according to the results of a large analysis of the magazine "Zaštita", which was done in a cooperation with the institute of Economics in Zagreb based on data from the Croatian Ministry of the Interior Affairs for 2015, informs Ferata.hr.

At the 8th regional conference Security of the Cities SIGG 2016 in Zadar, the safest local-community projects were awarded.

The conference is organised by the Croatian Forum for Urban Safety and magazine "Zaštita" by Tectus company, under the auspices of the Croatian  Ministry of Interior Affairs and the City of Zagreb. The analysis included a total of 29 cities with population over 20.000 residents. In addition to the overall security, analysed were crime rates, individual security when it comes to violent crimes, property crimes, victims of traffic and drug abuse.

With the rate 1,51, Sinj is for the third time in a row the safest city in Croatia!!

My SkyConcept is led by Yvonne Hotchicke (skydiving instructor with about 600 jumps) and Saša Manjolović (holder of an certification for all parachute jumps and with approx. 8000 jumps / First jump in Sinj far back in 1981). This couple is providing training for parachutes and tandem jumpers, as well as everything related to parachuting for 11 years now. If you like parachuting, aviation or just thinking about a destination for a good trip, stop by at Piket and enjoy this happy international gathering until April 5, 2016.

(photo: Splitski Portal)

The exhibition will be open until April 8, 2016. Two uniforms - of an Alka knight and an Alka boy will be displayed, as well as parts of a harness, a spear and 20 historic photographs of the Alka tournament. During the whole exhibition, photographs and promotional films about Alka will be shown.

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 Sinj Alka tournament celebrated its 300^th anniversary last year. With plenty of events, exhibitions and presentations (including one in Brussels and another one in the United States), it was a wonderful celebration of a unique UNESCO protected event.

And there will be another opportunity to present the Alka, this time at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. Here is an announcement from the Sinj Alka Knights Association:

In cooperation with His Excellency Vladimir Drobnjak, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Republic of Croatia to the United Nations in New York, the Alka Knights Association organizes a presentation of the Sinj Alka at the United Nations Headquarters in New York through an exhibition “Sinj Alka – 300 years”.

The opening ceremony of the exhibition will take place on Tuesday, March 29, 2016 at 18.00. Around hundred invited guests are expected from the UN and from the New York City administration. An Alka knight in Alka uniforms will be present. The exhibition will be open until April 8, 2016.

This project was financed by the Croatian Tourist Board and the Croatian House Foundation by the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs.