ZAGREB, 17 January, 2021 - The Financial Agency (Fina) has recently reported that entrepreneurs in the tourism and hospitality sector are most exposed to the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic while the manufacturing industry and trade experience the lowest exposure.

This leading Croatian provider of financial and electronic services has conducted an analysis of creditworthiness of entrepreneurs in the country and the analysis has been based on Fina's methodology that includes Probability of Default (PD) and compliance with Basel III (Third Basel Accord or Basel Standards) guidelines.

The findings of the analysis show that 1,251 entrepreneurs in Croatia do business at minimum probability of default.

Default probability is the likelihood over a specified period, usually one year, that a borrower will not be able to make scheduled repayments.

Of those 1,251 entrepreneurs, 1,085 have not applied for state aid under the government's schemes for support to businesses to mitigate the effects of the corona crisis.

Of those 1,085 entrepreneurs whose business is stable despite the COVID-19 pandemic, most are in the manufacturing industry, 263, and as many as 259 stable entrepreneurs are in the wholesale and retail sector.

The third-ranked sector with stable entrepreneurs is the sector of expert, scientific and technical activities (133), the construction sector follows (87), and 63 stable entrepreneurs are in the water supply and waste water management sector.

Broken down by the region, the City of Zagreb with 487 stable entrepreneurs tops the ranking, and Zagreb County follows (81), Istria County ranks third (65), Split-Dalmatia County comes in as the fourth (64) while the Rijeka region has one fewer stable entrepreneur.

Broken down by the type of businesses in terms of their size, medium-sized enterprises are the most stable enterprises (715), 183 big companies are described as stable, and 181 micro businesses are in this category and only six (6) small businesses.

January 10, 2021 – Despite pandemic and earthquakes, the number of well-to-do guests in Croatia in 2020 grew. They spent 98 euros a day, 32 more euros than six years ago, and they were looking for the highest quality and the most expensive tourist offer.

As Radmila Kovačević / Večernji list writes, a thin but much better tourist season than it seemed in the spring brought Croatia 7.7 million guests and about 54 million overnight stays in eleven months. Every other overnight stay from the record 2019 was realized.

The earthquakes did not have a particular impact on the number of guests. The last month of the year, regardless of the disaster, could not bring any fundamental change. Excluding Zagreb Advent and New Year's guests on the Adriatic, the number of tourists in December varied between a modest seven and ten thousand a day, which was about a third of the tourist traffic last year in that month.

Croatia is a discovery in terms of offer and quality

About 3,000 foreign tourists are sharing the current earthquake drama with the local population. The atypical year has intensified some trends, and one of them is undoubtedly digital nomads. Among those 3,000 foreigners are hundreds of guests who do their regular jobs from Croatia.

An increase in demand for holidays in separate villas and holiday homes was expected, given the pandemic. Still, many hosts were surprised by the jump in demand for the highest quality and the most expensive of what Croatian tourism offers.

Hosts first noticed this in Istria, wherein some weeks this summer, it was practically impossible to find a free bed in luxury holiday homes or small family hotels.

Tourists in Rovinj / Copyright Romulić and Stojčić

It was similar in restaurants – well-to-do guests did not skimp on olive oil, wine, prosciutto, and similar treats as a "souvenir "from a Croatia vacation. Many of these guests said that they regularly go to some of the more famous Mediterranean resorts and that Croatia, in this case, Istria, is a discovery for them, both in terms of offer and quality.

Continental destinations can be profitable

The transformation of the domestic tourist offer from mass, ready-made to more refined, boutique offer is not since yesterday. This is evidenced by the growing revenues from tourism, i.e., the average consumption of our guests.

For comparison, in 2014, tourists spent an average of 66.3 euros a day on vacation in Croatia. Three years later, in the 2017 season, average tourist spending jumped to 79 euros per person per night. And according to the recently published comprehensive survey Attitudes and Consumption of Tourists, published on the new interactive website of the Institute of Tourism, guests in Croatia spent as much as 98 euros a day from May 2019 to March 2020.

Tourists in Rovinj / Copyright Romulić and Stojčić

For the first time, the research was conducted outside the summer months and in the whole of Croatia, not only on the coast. It also revealed how profitable tourism in the interior could be than at sea. Namely, it turned out that in 2019 guests spent an average of 97 euros a day on holiday in coastal destinations, and in continental destinations, such as Slavonia or Zagorje, 115 euros per person.

BiH Guests, who spent 67 euros per person per day, had the smallest budget for holidays in Croatia. The most generous guests were the Japanese, with daily consumption of as much as 206 euros. The generous guests include tourists from the USA with 174 euros per person, the Republic of Korea (157 euros), China (150 euros), and Asian countries in general, whose average consumption is 155 euros. Among Europeans, the British stand out with daily consumption of 143 euros.

First guests already for the Easter holidays?

Altogether, a good start for 2021, in which the tourist sector, which these days are busy helping the victims in Banovina, could expect the first wave of guests as early as in the Easter holidays.

"The number of 54 million overnight stays is proof that our tourism has quickly and efficiently adapted to the new circumstances. Croatia was recognized as a safe destination, and we must work on that in 2021, and then again, we can expect good results. Glad the fact that tourist spending is growing. Our goal is the same or higher revenues than in 2019. But not through an increase in the number of tourists in the summer, but by a more even distribution throughout the year and throughout Croatia," commented the Minister of Tourism and Sports Nikolina Brnjac.

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ZAGREB, December 4, 2020 - The government is aware of the problems and challenges faced by tourism and sports, and to additionally help those sectors, it has been working on a programme of support for tourism and related services to be implemented in 2021, Tourism and Sports Minister Nikolina Brnjac has said.

The new programme, which envisages government subsidies for tourism and related sectors, will focus on small, medium and large entrepreneurs and it will amount to around HRK 1.5 billion, the minister said in an interview with Hina.

"The subsidies will cover many activities, such as food and drink preparation and serving, travel agencies, tour operators, booking and related services, equipment and property leasing, sports, entertainment and recreation activities, etc. Businesses in the health tourism and businesses connected with the health system, such as general practitioners' and specialist practices, dentists and other healthcare-related businesses that are part of tourism services and earn their revenue mostly outside the public health system, will also benefit from the new measures," the minister said, among other things.

She noted that the government had so far secured aid in the amount of some HRK 20 million for sports associations and as much for sports events, as well as that it was working on measures for additional aid to the sports sector.

December 4, 2020 – Accepting all known knowledge of the Coronavirus risk and the announced vaccines, security and risk experts International SOS have published their latest, annual Travel Risk Map. It says Croatia is one of the most safe countries in 2021 for visitors

With the end of the life-halting Coronavirus in sight, thanks to several effective vaccines announced, which country would be best to visit next year? Well, Croatia is one of the most safe countries in 2021 for visitors.

It's been a long, difficult year for everyone. It's maybe hard to believe if you live in Croatia and haven't much travelled outside the country, but the residents of Croatia have had it no more difficult than anywhere else. With only around 4 million inhabitants, there's lots of space in Croatia to move around.

Take in comparison Britain's London. That one city (1,572 km²) alone has 9 million people. Croatia has 56,594 km² for less than half the number of people. But, this generous amount of space in which to move around is not the only reason Croatia is one of the most safe countries in 2021 for visitors.

On 2 December 2020, Total Croatia News published the annual report based on the Global Terrorism Index, identifying Croatia is one of the most safe countries in 2021 in regards to the absence of terrorist threat and effect. Now, according to the latest annual Travel Risk Map, it has been designated that Croatia is one of the most safe countries in 2021 for visitors.

Security and risk experts International SOS's Travel Risk Map for 2021.

The map, created by security and risk experts International SOS , ranks the safety of countries across the globe taking into account medical, security and road risks. It assesses the risk of political violence, social unrest, and the threat of violent and petty crimes – and, most importantly this year, the impact of the pandemic.

For the first two categories, countries are given a rating out of five, while road safety is rated out of four based on the mortality rate per 100,000 people. The places with the highest risk level for security issues are mostly in Africa, with South Sudan, Mali, Yemen, Somalia and the Maiduguri region of Nigeria listed under the most dangerous, along with the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of the Ukraine.

International SOS's map showing the countries with the most and least Covid-19 disruption. Very low-risk countries are marked in white, low risk in grey, medium in blue, high in purple and very high in pink.

Very few countries rank above Croatia in the new safety map, New Zealand, Tanzania and Nicaragua among them, meaning Croatia is one of the most safe countries in 2021 for visitors.

For the residents of crowded cities elsewhere in Europe, Australia or the USA who have felt more than restricted in 2020, it might be worth remembering when planning next year's escape that Croatia is one of the most safe countries in 2021 for visitors.

November 30, 2020 - On a small hill with a beautiful view of Marina Veruda, a super luxury villa in Pula is emerging, which the owners Paola Crevatini Rebsamen and her husband Armand Rebsamen called Seven Hills. The name is clear when it is known that Pula was built on seven hills, and this is exactly how this enterprising Croatian-Swiss duo, currently with a permanent address in Switzerland, wanted to pay tribute to the hometown of Paola, which has returned to its roots.

"Speaking of history, even the name of the Seven Hills villa takes into account the position of Pula on seven hills, which was also the inspiration for the project. It is a private design villa with seven rooms for individual rent in the season with breakfast for guests and an indispensable view of the marina. The main idea of ​​the project was the connection between nature and architecture. The organic form enlivens the villa and gives privacy to all guests. The orientation is towards the marina in order to make the most of the position. An important element in the whole project is the surrounding nature in the domain of design and form of the project, and the construction will use local, natural materials such as Istrian stone, olive, and wood, combining modern design with historical elements", explains Paola. 

Her husband, an award-winning architect, designed this unusual villa, which should be finished in the autumn of next year. The main project is signed by Studio Basic from Pula.

"The heart of the villa will be the central room where, in addition to breakfast, guests will be able to socialize or relax. So, guests will have breakfast service and service in general. Her main asset is the rooftop bar overlooking the marina. We designed the interior design ourselves, and we have gathered inspiration over the years on our many travels. Namely, my husband and I have visited more than 40 countries together", says Paola, who explains that the villa will be dominated by boho-chick, but luxurious.

A good part of the furniture will be made to measure, like a huge olive table. Paola points out that she will complement everything with interesting design details. However, it is important that this architecture raises the offer of Pula to a higher level because there is nothing similar in the largest Istrian city at the moment. The fact is that the villa will be intended for guests who want to feel like they have come home, lovers of architecture and design, gourmets, and lovers of life in general.

As reported by Jutarnji list, the luxury villa in Pula is ideal for a vacation in a quiet oasis, and yet in the center. But other than them, Paola will host women traveling the world with her here. Namely, Paola is a reputable marketing expert who has worked for global companies such as Unilever, Microsoft, and eBay, and is also involved in travel blogging and has her platform on Instagram called Femmetravel. She has also organized specialized holistic trips for women through her Miss Adventure platform for years. These are trips for smaller groups of women that Paola encourages to start their own companies, projects, create content, and entrepreneurship. She also organizes the Miss Adventure Festival, where she gathers interesting speakers whose goal is to connect women and empower them at all levels.

"My goal is for women to be satisfied with these trips mentally, emotionally, privately, and professionally. I inspire women to follow their dreams and live without fear and not regret anything they have done in life. Every trip I have organized so far has been different and each destination offers something special. We were in India, Morocco, Tanzania, Egypt, Jordan, and of course, we toured our country", Paola says.

"We visited Istria and here our trip focused on gastronomy, Paola tells us. Therefore, during such trips, the villa will serve as a second home for travelers who will experience the best in Pula and Istria with their hostess. Her festival will also be held here, where Paola will bring powerful women from all over the world. Such trips will be organized in the pre-season and post-season, and there will always be something special from Istria on the schedule", Paola adds.

This enterprising couple decided to invest in Pula primarily because it is Paola's hometown, they met here and bought land on the 10th anniversary of the relationship, and a luxury villa is being built near her family home. But, as she tells us, her husband also fell in love with Pula very quickly and very easily.

"In this way, we decided to promote Pula together, which is not such a well-known and popular destination in our country. And who knows, maybe one day we will move and come to live in Istria. That possibility is not ruled out", Paola concluded.

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ZAGREB, November 26, 2020 - The Tourism Ministry is launching the drafting of a sustainable tourism strategy until 2030 and a 2021-27 national sustainable tourism development plan as long-term frameworks for tourism development, Minister Nikolina Brnjac said at a cabinet meeting on Thursday.

The drafting of a new strategy is in line with the government's programme and the Competitive and Innovative Economy strategic goal in the draft national development strategy until 2030.

A strategic environmental impact estimate will be drawn up for the first time as part of the strategy, Brnjac said.

According to the ministry, the strategy, the plan and the estimate are expected to be drawn up by the end of 2021 and the aim is for the strategy to be coherent with other sectors' public policies.

"We have embarked on the creation of strategic frameworks so as to focus our activities as well as possible on the sustainability and development of the tourism sector, and the common goal of all actors should be the positioning of Croatia as a high quality, safe and, according to economic criteria, increasingly successful destination," said Brnjac.

ZAGREB, November 25, 2020 - Nine towns and municipalities in the central mountainous Gorski Kotar region on Wednesday signed an agreement on joining their local tourism boards into a single regional tourism board and presented a new master plan for the development of the region's tourism sector.

The new regional tourism board covers the towns of Vrbovsko, Cabar and Delnice and the municipalities of Fuzine, Mrkopalj, Brod Moravice, Skrad and Ravna Gora.

The regional tourism board will be based in Delnice and the towns and municipalities will establish their own tourism offices or information centres depending on their needs and possibilities.

The signing of the agreement was also attended by Tourism and Sports Minister Nikolina Brnjac, who said that Gorski Kotar was a destination whose potential had been growing on an annual basis.

She said that so far, not including Gorski Kotar, 18 tourism boards covering the area of some 90 local government units had already joined while six had joint projects. The purpose of their association is cost-cutting, better quality and joint presentation and destination development, Brnjac said.

The master plan for the development of tourism in Gorski Kotar has three key goals - increasing the visibility of destination development, greater tourist turnover and greater investments. The key products are active vacationing, excursions and gastronomy.

Presenting the master plan, Sinisa Topalovic of the Horwath HTL company, said that only 3% of regional revenue came from tourism, and most tourist accommodation capacity was privately owned. More than half of the accommodation units are one, two or three-star units and there aren't any in the five-star category for accommodation units, he said.

The growth i ncommercial accommodation is evident, as is an even greater increase in noncommercial accommodation, that is, holiday houses.

More than 50% of the local tourism boards' revenue were funds from local government units, while administrative costs accounted for more than 40% of their expenditure.

According to data from the Kvarner Tourism Board, this year there have been around 79,000 overnight stays in Gorski Kotar, as against around 110,000 last year. Gorski Kotar accounts for around 0.5% of the tourism turnover of Primorje-Gorski Kotar County.

ZAGREB, November 20, 2020 - Member of Parliament Anton Kliman (HDZ) on Friday rejected criticism of tourism boards, saying that tourists do not come to Croatia accidently but as a result of an organised system headed by the Ministry of Tourism and the Croatian National Tourist Board (HTZ), which promotes Croatia in the world.

Tourist boards promote our tourism in the world. Large tourism companies generate the most arrivals through tourist boards, the Croatian Democratic Union MP and former tourism minister said.

He underlined that the good work of some of the tourist boards enabled a good tourism season during the coronavirus.

"Abolishing tourist boards would mean chaos. Small providers on the demanding European or global market cannot compete on their own as no one will recognise them," Kliman said during a debate on amendments to the bill on membership fees in tourist boards.

The amendments foresee a 12% reduction of the membership fee to tourist boards as of 1 January 2021.

Opposition parties in the parliament believe the membership fee reduction is not sufficient and they harshly criticised the system of tourist boards and its membership fees, claiming this is a parallel system that serves as a meal ticket.

Bridge MPs were particularly critical and called for the fees to be abolished.

MP Davor Dretar (Homeland Movement) believes that membership fees to tourist boards should be abolished altogether.

MP Hrvoje Zekanovic (HRAST) claimed that there were thousands of people employed in tourist boards, which were their meal ticket, and they mostly serve as a voting machine.

"They spend tens of millions of kuna a year on official trips around Europe and the world to allegedly attract someone to Croatia but for the most part this money is used for living it up with good meals and drink at the expense of taxpayers," said Zekanovic.

That is a parallel system that the ministry has no control of, said MP Dalija Oreskovic (Centre).

MP Zeljko Lenart (HSS) believes that tourism boards' membership fees should be abolished and that another source of financing tourism boards should be found.

ZAGREB, Nov 11, 2020 - Euro adoption in Croatia will generate a significant and permanent benefit for the economy and the positive effects will be particularly reflected in tourism due to the size of that sector and its high share of tourist demand in EU member states, the Ministry of Tourism and Sports said on Wednesday.

"Visitors from countries where the euro is legal tender generate almost 70% of Croatia's total tourism revenue and about 60% of total bed nights come from the euro area. Introducing the euro will also help boost international cooperation, investment and promotional effects on the tourism sector," the ministry said in response to a query from Hina following a meeting of the National Council for Euro Adoption.

The ministry underscored that Croatia is strongly integrated with the euro area through trade, hence introducing the euro in Croatia will generate significant benefits for the economy.

"It is important to observe and estimate how introducing the euro will affect individual sectors in Croatia, primarily tourism which accounts for a significant share of Croatia's GDP and additionally generates a multiplying effect on other economic activities," the ministry said.

It underlined that "available empiric research mostly indicates positive implications for tourism in introducing the common currency."

Research indicates that introducing the euro has positively impacted foreign investments, hence it can be expected that introducing the euro will encourage investors in Croatia, primarily as there will no longer be any uncertainty related to exchange rates and because of greater transparency in doing business, the ministry concluded.

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ZAGREB, Nov 11, 2020 -  In the first eight months of 2020, Europe was visited by 68% less international tourists than at the same time in 2019, while for all of 2020 those arrivals are expected to drop 60% due to the new pandemic wave and lockdowns, and the European travel volume is expected to return the pre-pandemic levels by 2024.

That is said in a new European Travel Commission report, "European Tourism: Trends & Prospects", which notes that new pandemic waves, lockdowns, consumer confidence decline and a recession continue to diminish European tourism's prospect of recovery.

The latest forecasts predict a quicker rebound for domestic travel in Europe, surpassing 2019 levels by 2022.

The report notes that all European destinations recorded declines in arrivals of over 50%, with Cyprus and Montenegro seeing the steepest falls at 85% and 84% respectively, attributable to a higher dependency on foreign travelers.

Among the other countries most impacted are Romania where arrivals plunged 80%, Turkey (-77%), Portugal and Serbia (both -74%). Iceland and Malta (both -71%) also performed poorly, challenged by their geographical location and strict border restrictions.

Croatia among countries with the smallest declines in foreign arrivals

In the report, Croatia is among the first five or six countries with the smallest declines or foreign tourists' arrivals and overnights, ranking sixth in Europe with 50% fewer foreign overnights.

Austria recorded the smallest drop in foreign overnights, by 30%, due to pre-Covid-19 winter travel at the start of the year.

Denmark, Germany, Lithuania and Monaco also recorded somewhat smaller declines of foreign overnights than Croatia, close to 50%.

In the summer, Croatian tourism ranked fourth, behind Austria, Belgium and Bulgaria.

The report notes that the demand for air travel in Europe in August dropped 73% in the year, after dropping 91% in July and 94% in June.

ETC Executive Director Eduardo Santander said cooperation and solidarity were key for the recovery and strengthening of European tourism, underlining the importance of restoring travelers’ confidence and protecting "the millions of businesses, jobs, and enterprises that are at risk, so they can survive the economic fallout. The direction of the economic recovery across Europe will depend significantly on the recovery of the tourism sector, a sector which generates close to 10% of the EU’s GDP and accounts for over 22 million jobs."

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