March 1, 2019 - Liam Gallagher, known best as the frontman of Oasis, has denied claims that his clothing label Pretty Green copied the badge of Hajduk Split. 

February 28, 2019 - Another year, another incredible achievement by the Break Time team as they open their fifth shop in Croatia. 

TCN continues looking at the plans and expectations of Croatian airports in 2019, with updates from Dubrovnik, Split, and Zadar, thanks to AvioRadar. 

This Croatian tourist season, catering establishments could see employees from other countries, reports Splitski Dnevnik on February 26, 2019. 

However, not even Croatia’s neighbors are thrilled with working conditions in the country, which raises the question of precisely what kind of working conditions Croatia provides. This topic of employment and importing foreign workers in the tourist season was discussed on Tuesday in the Croatian Chamber of Commerce.

"The fact is that we had a shortage of workers already last season, and the quotas have not been utilized, because many were not interested in working in our area. That is why the Government and our Chamber of Commerce have turned to some other markets. They include the Far East, the Philippines, and in two weeks, we will visit Mostar University along with representatives from Dubrovnik. There are about 10,000 students there, and half of them have the right to work through a student service in Croatia, so that's a solution. This season begins in a month, and we have to solve this and do it perfectly,” says Jozo Tomaš, president of the Croatian Chamber of Commerce.

The panel pointed out that Filipinos have already taken over many Croatian positions in maritime affairs, so why not in the hospitality industry? They added that Filipinos are hired because they are much cheaper than Europeans, and they rarely wonder how long their job lasts. 

"I've spent a lot of time on the boat with them and can say that they are very loyal and quality. At this stage when there is such a shortage of people, the point is not that they are cheap, but that they are high quality. Everywhere in the world, Filipinos are very much sought after,” says Ino Munitić, the owner of the Pasat maritime agency, which is involved in the employment of seafarers.

Croatia is very interesting, mystical and attractive for Filipinos, and although the country is unknown to them, they are still ready to leap. Some 10,000 of them may already come to work this season.

Although the advantage would be that employees in Croatian tourism speak Croatian, the fact is that they are still working with mostly foreigners, so English is the primary language. This is precisely why businesspeople assume there will be no language barriers.

"It is on the initiative of the tourist community and HGK that we organized this panel, because the question is whether our locals are the ones who are the best promoters of Croatian tourism and whether they need to invest in their knowledge and education and whether they need to secure jobs or bring in the foreign workforce. I consider that our people, the local population and authentic events and authentic destinations are still a priority. However, at this time, the shortage of labor will have to be addressed by other measures, but we hope that they will be short-term,” says the director of the Split Tourist Board, Alijana Vukšić, who believes that Croatians should provide better working conditions in order to motivate locals to work in the tourist season.

Large hotels in Split are investing in their human resources and insisting on education, says human resources manager of Radisson Blu, Sandra Čanić.

"Unfortunately, a lot of organizations, although we are in the 21st century, do not recognize the importance of systematic human resource management. Our story about this does not start now in preparation for the season, but it needs to be prepared continuously, working on motivating and retaining the existing staff, and not necessarily through an indefinite contract, but using a measure like the permanent season. We currently employ around 130 employees and 150 more during the season. Of this, one significant part belongs to the permanent season, but we also cooperate with schools and colleges, and we receive a large number of trainees. We also participate in various training programs through the Employment Service, to get quality staff,” said Čanić.

This year, Croatia should give up the quota-based labor force imports, which was set at 65,100 people in 2019, said Davorko Vidovic, Labor Policy and Employment Advisor of HGK.

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

Ivan Mrvoš, the young entrepreneur from Solin who recently made the Forbes ’30 Under 30’ list, reveals his plans for Include beyond the famous smart bench. 

Are the seaplanes stopping the recently announced Split Airport catamaran from moving forward?

ZAGREB, February 25, 2019 - Croatia's long-distance swimmer Dina Levačić has recently announced her plans for this summer which include her second attempt to swim the length of 54 kilometres from the Adriatic island of Vis to her city of Split and the 30-kilometre Tsugaru Strait between the Japanese islands of Honshu and Hokkaido.

The 23-year-old Levačić, who is the first Croatian female swimmer to conquer the English Channel, is going to swim in July from the island of Vis to Split. Last July, she almost accomplished this feat but had to give up three kilometres before the finish line.

In August she is going to accomplish the Tsugaru swim, one of the Oceans Seven challenges.

In 2017, she managed to conquer within 90 days the three historically important swims known as the Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming.

In September that year, Levačić completed the swim across the English Channel in 11 hours and 42 minutes, and thus completed the Triple Crown. This best Croatian female marathon swimmer was before that the first Croatian to ever complete a 48.5 km circumnavigation of Manhattan Island. She swam the Manhattan Island Marathon Swim on 25 June 2017, and the Catalina Channel, 32.5 km between Catalina Island and the California mainland, on 3 August that year.

Furthermore, in 2018 she also accomplished the Molokai Channel swim, also one of the Oceans Seven targets.

The Oceans Seven is a marathon swimming challenge consisting of seven open water channel swims. It was proposed in 2008 as the swimming equivalent of the Seven Summits mountaineering challenge. It includes the North Channel, the Cook Strait, the Molokai Channel, the English Channel, the Catalina Channel, the Tsugaru Strait and the Strait of Gibraltar.

More sports news can be found in our dedicated section.

February 25, 2019 - The 22nd round of the Croatian First League was held from February 22 to 24, 2019, and featured the highly anticipated derby between Dinamo and Osijek. 

While the bura wind ripped through Croatia’s coast this week, there was no stopping the Croatian First League, which was held despite the blustery winds. The weekend saw some exciting matchups, like Hajduk and Gorica who are neck-and-neck on the table, Dinamo and Osijek who were first and second, and Belupo and Inter in 7th and 8th. 

Without further ado, here is our Croatian First League round 22 recap. 

Rudeš v. Rijeka (2:4)

Rudeš and Rijeka opened the 22nd round on Friday, February 22, 2019, at Kranjčevićeva street stadium in front of 279 fans. 

While Rudeš was the first to score with a penalty by Vuco in the 15th minute, Rijeka did not take long to come back. Gorgan nailed a penalty in the 41st minute, and just three minutes later, Acosty scored for 1:2 at the half.

In the second half, Gorgan hit another goal for 1:3 in the 60th minute and Puljić scored to make it 1:4 for the visiting team. Rudeš did come back to get one more goal after Juranović scored in the 81st. The game ended at 2:4. 

Rudeš remains in the last place on the table with 4 points, while Rijeka has now moved into second place with 41 points. 

Slaven Belupo v. Inter Zaprešić (0:1)

Belupo and Inter met in Koprivnica on Saturday, February 23, 2019, in front of 513 fans. 

The first half was quiet and went without goals - and the second half was not much more exciting. Serderov scored for Inter in the 68th minute, which is how the game ended. 

Belupo is currently in 7th place with 21 points, while Inter is in 8th with 21. 

Hajduk v. Gorica (0:0)

Hajduk and Gorica met at Poljud stadium in front of 6,708 fans on Saturday, February 23, 2019. 

As both teams had to fight against the brutal bura in addition to one another, not much could be accomplished. The game ended without goals. 

Hajduk is currently in 6th place with 31 points, while Gorica is in 5th place with 32. 

Istria 1961 v. Lokomotiva Zagreb (0:0)

Istria and Lokomotiva met in Pula on Sunday, February 24, 2019, in front of 816 fans. 

It was another scoreless game which did not see much excitement from either team. The game ended 0:0. 

Istria is currently in 9th place with 17 points, while Lokomotiva is in 4th with 36. 

Dinamo v Osijek (3:0)

Dinamo and Osijek closed out the 22nd round with the highly anticipated derby at Maksimir stadium on Sunday, February 24, 2019, in front of 4,304 fans. 

Coming off a high after advancing into the last 16 of the Europa League, Dinamo had no intention of slowing down. Andrić scored first for Dinamo in the 8th minute to make it 1:0, and Atiemwen sacred for 2:0 in the 21st minute. 

Rrahmani scored in the 60th minute for 3:0 to secure the Dinamo blowout over the Osijek club. 

Dinamo remains in the first place with 57 points, while Osijek has now fallen to third place with 40 points. 

You can see the Croatian First League table here. 

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

A new novelty of the sea should spread along Croatia’s coast soon thanks to the Split team behind the first Croatian electric surfboard - the Plurato Sailfin.

“Let the upcoming days of the Split Half Marathon be a demonstration of the victory of spirit, the victory of the will, the victory of communion and ultimately the victory of the sports,” said Mayor of Split Andro Krstulović Opara at the presentation of the 19th Split Half Marathon at the Gripe Sport Centre, which will see the perticipation of Slovenian President Borut Pahor among others, reports Lokalni.hr on February 23, 2019.

The half marathon will include as many as 2,500 runners, the citizens’ race will draw about 400 participants, while the whole event will be supported by more than 15,000 visitors from Croatia and abroad. Among the politicians who have send their application for the participation in the half marathon is Prefect of Međimurje County Matija Posavec, while the Split Mayor himself will run in a five-kilometre race called the Slobodna Dalmacija Trophy.

The participation of Slovenian President Borut Pahor in the half marathon has also been confirmed. His arrival to Split comes in the period marked by strained relations between the two countries due to the border dispute in the Bay of Piran.

Event organiser Kristijan Sindik added that the Split half marathon event, will be held on Saturday, will include the “Children's Mile” race, attended by elementary and high school students from Split and surrounding areas. He reiterated that next year Split would host, instead of the half marathon, a proper marathon on a 42.2-kilometre-long course.

This year, the START 2019 sports, recreation and fitness fair accompanies the races for the first time, featuring sports, fitness and aerobics equipment.

Split Mayor Andro Krstulović Opara, Split-Dalmatia County Prefect Blaženko Boban and head of the Split Tourist Association Alija Vukšić emphasized that the Split half marathon is an extremely important event for the tourist preseason in the town because participants of the race return to their countries with “positive impressions, affirming Split as a desirable tourist destination.”

More news about relations between Croatia and Slovenia can be found in the Politics section.

Translated from Lokalni.hr.