March the 17th, 2021 - The beautiful green heart of Croatia, Lika, and charming Mali Losinj have both been listed among the top 100 global green destinations for the year 2020.

As Morski writes, the Green Destinations Story Awards jury commission divided the top 100 green destinations in 2020 into a total of six categories and, according to the submitted material, selected the most innovative and sustainable, and one of the important criteria was the possibility of applying examples of good practice in other destinations across the world.

The Lika Destination Cluster won third prize in the category Islands & Seaside with the story Local products in the function of destination development, and Mali Losinj was included among the top six finalists in the category Communities & Culture, with the story Integrated quality management in the destination.

The truly beautiful and emerald green area of Lika is unique in many ways because it combines a beautiful continental part of the country, the Velebit mountain massif as a unique biosphere park and the coastal part that leaves nobody feeling indifferent. It is an area that includes three gorgeous national parks, a nature park, a cave park and a number of other natural phenomena. Most of this area is a unique example of rich biodiversity, which is an excellent prerequisite for the production of premium food that is placed under the unique brand Lika Quality and it is thanks to this project that the destination Lika won this highly commendable award.

¨At the recent selection for the global top 100 green destinations across the world, Lika won for the first time, but the recognition doesn´t stop there, within that same list, it was selected among the top fifteen," said a proud Petra Kovacevic, the leader of the Lika Destination Cluster.

The island of Losinj, known as the island of vitality, is a brand that has been striving for sustainable and responsible tourism since way back in 2006, and is considered one of the leaders in sustainable development in the Republic of Croatia.

¨Were glad that Losinj has once again been recognised as one of the best green destinations. Sustainability is the key advantage of the island of vitality. Through many years of measuring things up and comparing data, we´ve detected strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities in order to constantly improve the destination's sustainability strategy. With integrated cooperation with its residents and visitors, we have come to a solution on how to develop, but at the same time preserve a permanent quality destination for coexistence and the pleasant stay of our guests,¨ said the director of the Tourist Board of Mali Losinj, Dalibor Cvitkovic.

The competition for 100 sustainable destinations is organised to highlight relevant and true stories of sustainable and responsible tourism across the globe, which serve as inspiration for other destinations, tour operators and of course travellers and tourists.

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November 28, 2019 - The City of Dubrovnik has actively begun the second phase of the Destination Sustainability Measurement Project, which is being implemented by the Global Council for Sustainable Tourism (GSTC) for the city government. 

HRTurizam writes that this body is implementing the report based on the criteria for sustainable tourism and destination management established by the United Nations and it is estimated to be completed in January 2020. In addition to the plan for managing the protected city of Dubrovnik, which is also under construction, it is a crucial document that will define the current degree of sustainability and which will define further steps in managing the destination to achieve sustainable tourism.

Yesterday in Lazareti, an initial meeting of GSTC council member and Mediterranean director Ioannis Pappas met with Dubrovnik Mayor Mato Frankovic, his associates and a wide range of stakeholders in Dubrovnik tourism: city councilors, utility companies directors, representatives of travel agencies, police, associations and organizations related to tourism and others.

Mayor Frankovic gave the opening address and emphasized the importance of tourism sustainability in the context of the city's ‘Let's Respect the City’ project that the city administration has been implementing since 2017. As a critical element of the city and Dubrovnik tourism management, he emphasized cooperation with the Dubrovnik Port Authority by regulating the number of cruisers and at the same time, managing the number of day-trips to the old city center by using online vouchers for buses and informing stationary guests with smart city tools. In addition to presenting the existing measures, he announced future moves that would be introduced gradually, to make Dubrovnik an even better place to live and, consequently, for tourists.

Pappas presented the methodology of measuring sustainability, emphasizing that active cooperation of all actors involved in Dubrovnik tourism is of paramount importance for this phase. Numerous workshops, focus groups and one-on-one interviews are scheduled over the next seven days, and Pappas invited anyone interested to submit their comments, ideas, suggestions, and ask questions, discuss issues and opportunities. Based on these consultations and policy analysis, GSTC will evaluate the current performance of the destination using the prescribed criteria and indicators.

Upon the completion of the analysis, an evaluation of the activities to date will be presented to the Dubrovnik public and the city government will receive concrete, practical guidance for improving results in the most essential areas of destination sustainability: destination management, benefits to the local economy, life and cultural wellbeing, and protection of nature and natural resources. The sponsor of the project is the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), a partner of the City of Dubrovnik and a signatory to the Cooperation Agreement for the Preservation and Protection of the Cultural Heritage of Dubrovnik. The City of Dubrovnik is one of the 30 world destinations for which GSTC will conduct a Destination Assessment and the only destination measured by CLIA.

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If you know anything that lies beneath the surface-level of the tourism industry and you think of sustainable tourism, Croatia is likely not positioned very high on your list. The Croatian tourism ''strategy'' is questionable at best, and so is its old and incapable infrastructure when it comes to trying to cope with damaging, mass tourism.

The likes of Dubrovnik, its incredible overcrowding, traffic, poorly prepared infrastructure and cruise ship hell are notorious examples of just how not to do things, and Croatia's UNESCO protected southernmost city is also the country's most famous tourist destination.

Thankfully, there are several much less famous Croatian destinations that could work to balance out beautiful Dubrovnik's semi-disastrous reputation in terms of sustainable tourism, and two of those destinations are far from the extreme south of Dalmatia, in the rolling green hills of Istria, in the north of the country.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Marta Duic writes on the 20th of September, 2019, Motovun, Krk and Rovinj's popular Batana Eco-museum are among the finalists for the best European Destinations for Sustainable Cultural Tourism.

Motovun and the aforementioned Rovinj museum are both located in Istria, while Krk is a large island in Kvarner, belonging to Primorje-Gorski Kotar County.

The finalists of the European Travel Commission selection for the best European destinations for sustainable cultural tourism have now been announced. Motovun is a finalist in the wine tourism category, along with two other renowned European winep-oriented destinations, namely the French destinations of Pays d´Armagnac and of course, the Loire Valley.

In a competition of 55 destinations from 19 European countries, the above-mentioned little Istrian town is not the only finalist from Croatia. In the category of intangible heritage, among the finalsites, is the amazing Batana Eco-museum in Rovinj, and in the category of innovation and digitisation, the island of Krk is a finalist with its digital presentation of the rich cultural heritage of the island of Krk.

The winners by category will be announced at the grand ceremony, which will take place on October the 24th in Granada, Spain.

Make sure to follow our dedicated travel page for much more.

Good news for the southern Dalmatian island of Lastovo as no less than a French organisation is set to help the islanders with their management of their resources and further their sustainable development.

As Morski writes on the 12th of January, 2019, SMILO (The small islands organisation) is a French association that has launched an international program to help islands less than 150 km2 in size who want to improve their management of resources, according to Vjeran Filippi, President of local action group LAG 5, which belongs to the Dubrovnik-Neretva County and consists of five parts: Korčula, Mljet and Lastovo, the Pelješac peninsula and Dubrovnik primorje.

LAG 5 includes twelve local self-government units: Blato, Dubrovnik primorje, Janjina, Korčula, Lastovo, Lumbarda, Mljet, Orebić, Smokvica, Ston, Trpanj and Vela Luka. Island councils have also been formed for the sole purpose of implementing the program on Lastovo and other islands.

In cooperation with the nature park of the archipelago of Lastovo, and as part of the aforementioned LAG 5 work plan for Lastovo, the island council was formed, and a basic analysis of the needs for sustainable development of the island of Lastovo, as well as strategic project proposals in the field of economic development was elaborated for the implementation of the SMILO Program, added Vjeran Filippi. The project included the local county and the board for the islands as operational support in proper communication with various national bodies.

Katarina Slejko, LAG 5's manager, added that for the island of Lastovo, the SMILO program will facilitate the realisation of projects that local stakeholders regard as crucial phases of the transition to sustainable economic development based on eco tourism, with the promotion of olive oil production and a local market, as well as a supporting project for storing the product.

The islands which choose to establish their cooperation with France's SMILO association can count on a set of experts to help launch their respective sustainable development projects, as well as receive a special label (the SMILO label) that will enable them to communicate with other islands involved in the program and increase their chances of getting their hands on numerous development funds, said Maja Rešić.

Make sure to stay up to date with our dedicated lifestyle page for more information. If it's just Dubrovnik and the extreme south of Dalmatia you're interested in, give Total Dubrovnik a follow.

Click here for the original article by Niko Peric for Korcula online

The most famous figures in Split-Dalmatia County gathered to discuss sustainable tourism development in cities with a historic core on Tuesday in Split. 

A major development project has been set in motion in the Kornati archipelago

Franković wants to move away from the ''summer destination'' only label, and open up Dubrovnik's true potential as a sustainable tourism destination.

Total Eco Croatia continues our look at the sustainable hotels of Croatia with Terme Sveti Martin located in Sveti Martin na Muri in Međimurje County.

“Lastovo Nature Park has a bright future in sustainable tourism, with the strengthened knowledge and skills needed to preserve its environment, culture, and tradition to protect it from mass tourism while ensuring that most of its income stays within the local community.”