August 11, 2022 – Planned tourism is only starting to take shape in Croatia, and foreign investment, it seems, plays a significant role. One of such projects found its home under the Adriatic sun on the island of Ugljan, near Zadar, where Adriatic Tourist Resorts will undertake a revitalisation of the Zelena Punta resort.

As Poslovni reports, after almost four years that it took to complete the process of taking over the Resort Zelena Punta in Kukljica on the island of Ugljan from the bankrupt Coning, Adriatic Tourist Resorts (ATR) finally embarked on an ambitious investment in the largest tourist resort on Ugljan.

An investment in the complex worth at least €40 million will raise Zelena Punta to 4 stars, but also the entire destination, which has been stagnant for years, and the plan is to build capacities for a total of 780 beds in different objects, with additional facilities and the complete infrastructure.

The first major works will start after this season, Poslovni learned from Dino Manestar, director of Adriatic Tourist Resorts and Premium Star Hotels (PSH), owned by Prime Tourist Resorts from Bratislava.

“With the implementation of this project, we intend to put Ugljan, Kukljica, and Zelena Punta on the map of the world's best destinations. In June, we submitted an initiative to the Municipality of Kukljica to amend the spatial planning documentation, which was preceded by a presentation to the Municipality and interested persons.

After we received the full support of the local administration and residents for the implementation of the Master Plan for the development of Zelena Punta, we are now expecting changes to the spatial plan to obtain permits and start investing in new facilities. The investment will happen in stages, and we think that everything will be finished by the end of 2025, which also depends on numerous circumstances in the market", Dino Manestar confirmed.

From the initiation of Coning's bankruptcy until the takeover, Zelena Punta was open to guests every season, but the village, which has a long-standing tradition, has been neglected, with unused accommodation capacities, unkempt sports fields, and dilapidated infrastructure. The resort extends over the entire peninsula separated from the old core of the island, in a dense pine forest. Manestar claims that this natural heritage will be preserved as much as possible in the future project because the goal is to “make Zelena Punta green again”.

The design for the new Zelena Punta is signed by Slovak architects from the design company GFI in cooperation with the Croatian company I2D. The design was thought out in such a way as to preserve as many pines as possible, which will be an important element of the settlement. “We will only remove diseased trees and what is necessary for fire protection. We intend to fit all units into the natural environment as much as possible, with the use of natural materials in the interior design”, says Manestar.

Planika is an example

The only buildings that will not be demolished will be those where the apartments are located – the Master Plan envisages a thorough renovation of the existing 138 apartments, the number of which will be slightly reduced because some will be joined, but most of them will remain in the current floor plan. That process has already started, the Planika building has been renovated, and serves as an example of the future project.

Renovation of four other buildings with 40 apartments is underway, and investors are announcing the continuation of further investments in apartment buildings right after this tourist season. All apartments should be ready by 2024.

All 80 bungalows that last served as staff accommodation, but were completely dilapidated, will be demolished, and 52 new bungalows, mostly with two accommodation units, will be built in their place. The plan is to start construction at the end of 2023.

The most luxurious will buildings include the villas to be built on the top of the peninsula. These 12 buildings will have private swimming pools, with a total area of ​​7,000 square meters. Finally, more accommodation capacity will be provided in a 4-star hotel with around 60 rooms (120 beds), which should be ready by 2025 according to current plans.

Possible beach concession

By the end of this year, the construction of a new beach club with a swimming pool on the site of the former Kokos disco, as well as sports fields and other recreational facilities, is expected to begin. Last year, the Skakaona beach restaurant was renovated. A change of the entire infrastructure is planned, including a new substation, as well as new installations.

As the settlement will be without traffic, a large parking lot will be built next to the reception. As for the beach, we are waiting for the cadastral survey and mapping of the maritime property, and the idea is to apply for a concession on the beach.

As Poslovni learned from Dino Manestar, since the Slovak private investment fund Across is behind the entire investment, ATR and PSH have developed a management model according to which private investors will be able to invest in apartments, partly through issued bonds and partly through acquisition of ownership, and PSH will manage the complete facilities including accommodation facilities.

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August 9, 2022 - 1.2 million jobs in tourism are vacant in Europe, while in Croatia the number is surprisingly high, and there is a demand for between five and ten thousand tourist workers.

This tourist season, 1.2 million jobs in hospitality and tourism in the European Union remained unfilled, with travel agencies being the most affected, followed by the aviation industry and the accommodation sector, and Italy has the biggest problem with a lack of workers.

Croatia has somehow prepared and adapted for this season when it comes to large employers, and the most problems throughout the season are micro-entrepreneurs who do not have the capacity or means for systematic staffing. The entire sector is asking the Government for concrete solutions that would speed up all processes for next year.

Analysis by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) showed that in 2020 the travel and tourism sector across the EU suffered the loss of almost 1.7 million jobs, only to see 571,000 jobs regained last year when governments began easing travel restrictions.

This year, tourist traffic in Europe is almost reaching pre-pandemic levels, which means that Europe is above the global average, but this good trend is significantly threatened by the lack of manpower, warns the Council.

They predict that travel agencies will be the hardest hit this season with a 30% shortage of workers (almost one out of three vacancies unfilled), while the air traffic and accommodation segment will have one out of five unfilled jobs.

WTTC collected labour force data for Italy, Portugal, France, Spain, and the UK. Their data show that Italy is the most affected of all the analyzed European countries because this season there is a shortage of 250,000 workers, leaving one out of six vacancies unfilled.

Croatia imported thousands of tourism workers by June

The tourism sector in Italy employed almost 1.4 million people before the pandemic in 2019, but in 2020 more than 200,000 jobs were lost. WTTC's analysis shows that the accommodation and travel agencies segment will be the worst affected, facing more than one-third (38%) and almost half (42%) of unfilled jobs, respectively.

This is followed by Spanish tourism, which this season lacks 137,000 workers, which means that one out of 8 vacancies will remain unfilled, with the aviation sector having the most problems, followed by hotels.

In French tourism this season, 70,000 jobs remained unfilled, i.e. one out of 19 vacancies. Before the pandemic, more than 1.3 million people were employed in the sector, and in 2020, almost 175,000 of them lost their jobs. In France, the aviation industry has the most problems, not being able to fill one out of three jobs, which thousands of passengers feel on their skin every day.

Brexit is costing the UK

Portugal has the smallest problem, lacking 49,000 workers in the third quarter, that is, one out of 10 vacancies remaining unfilled. Before the pandemic, more than 485,000 people were employed in tourism in Portugal, and in 2020, more than 80,000 jobs were lost.

In the United Kingdom, Brexit has dramatically accentuated the problem which all countries are facing, and the Government is not using the flexibility of the visa system to attract workers, warned Julia Simpson, executive director of the WTTC.

“Travel and tourism contributed almost £235 billion to the UK economy and employed almost two million people, and now they are at risk of losing a large number of travellers to other countries due to a lack of workers”, says Simpson. The UK has a shortage of 128,000 workers, that is, one out of 14 jobs is vacant. The aviation industry suffers there, too.

The WTTC and the European Travel Commission (ETC) have therefore identified six measures that governments and the private sector can implement to tackle this urgent problem

In the first place, they propose facilitating labour mobility within countries and across borders and strengthening cooperation at all levels, including issuing visas and work permits. Another measure is to enable flexible telecommuting, particularly if travel restrictions continue to prevent workers from moving freely across borders.

The next measure is to ensure decent working conditions, along with social security and providing opportunities for career advancement, to strengthen the attractiveness of the sector and retain new talents. The next measure is investing in the training and education of employees so that the workforce acquires new skills.

The promotion of education and practice with effective policies and public-private cooperation that supports educational programs and practice-based training is also sought. The last measure is the adoption of innovative technological and digital solutions to improve business.

By the end of June, Croatia had imported around 22,000 workers in tourism, and it is estimated that the sector lacks between 5,000 and 10,000 workers. Micro-entrepreneurs, caterers who only need a few workers each have the most problems but do not have the money and capacity to engage in finding workers, like the big ones.

Half of the seasonal workers return

“To relieve the administration and speed up the issuance of work permits, the idea is to maximally simplify the procedure for obtaining a work permit for foreign workers who are now working in Croatia, if they remain with the same employer.

Since about 50% of seasonal workers return, this would be a significant step forward, which would relieve the Ministry of Interior, and it is also important to know the estimate that about 30% of foreign workers give up engagement in Croatia precisely because of slow procedures.

At the same time, it is important that, if such a practice is introduced, it is communicated to the workers now, so that people have security for next year”, says the director of the Croatian Tourism Association Veljko Ostojić.

For more, make sure to check out our Business section.

April 22, 2021 - While this year's season is still leaving the country in suspense, another advantage for successful results can be seen in the development of rural tourism in Croatia.

Numerous experts and scientists participated earlier this month in an online panel „Quality and Sustainability in Rural Tourism“, reports Klubselo.hr, an official website of the Croatian Association for Tourism and Rural Development. This is just one part of the Quality and Sustainability in Rural Tourism project backed by the Ministry of Tourism. The project concluded on April 15, and it saw panels, education, and a concluded study of management in rural tourism to help the development of the field.  

It's established that introducing quality standards and a special law on rural tourism is needed. 

„The Croatian wine scene has strongly developed. We can't compete with quantity, but we can with quality and richness of wine sorts, particularly native sorts which the world craves for more and more“, said faculty professor in Zagreb, Edi Maletić, for Klubselo.hr Agronomy.

Quality over quantity can, of course, be applied to rural tourism in general. That particular field saw raised interest with the novel coronavirus pandemic as tourists are now more interested in loneliness, peace, and authenticity.

Božo Skoko, an expert on PR and marketing and a professor at the Faculty of Political Science in Zagreb, says that traveling limitations encourage exploration of rural areas and consumption of local products. 

„Crisis is an opportunity for further touristic development. New norms and behavior rules appeared. We have more free time for family, contemplating, hobbies, meditation… social responsibility and ecological consciousness arise, and these factors have a more and more significant role in choosing destinations“, said Skoko to Klubselo.hr.

Dijana Katica, president of the Croatian Association for Tourism and Rural Development, says that there is a lot to learn from Italy, France, and Austria who have a long tradition of rural tourism.  

„Big attention is given to quality standards that aim at the diverse offer, specialization of services and to guarantee quality to users which are measured by elaborated standards“, describes Katica of the practice of the three mentioned countries. 

Vacation House "Slavonka" © Hrvatska udruga za turizam i ruralni razvoj "Klub članova Selo"

Hard work for season preparation already done

Croatia is trying to secure the uncertain season of 2021. While destinations as Vir seems to hold quite good, the overall strategy of vaccination and testing points by the Croatian Tourist Board is seen as a good way to make people safe while visiting Croatia. Apart from that, as TCN already reported, a lot is investing in health tourism, nautical tourism sees the digitalization of its system for easier arrival, and local initiatives in Novalja are also committed to expanding its offer further from party tourism of Zrće beach.

No doubt that further development of rural tourism can only be a hidden ace for the 2021 season rescue. And the still relevant Touch of Baranja photo exhibition in Zagreb is the first step of a specific action. 

As Croatian wine is one of the more developed parts of the rural offer, learn more about Croatia's wine on our TC page. 

For more about travel in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

ZAGREB, Aug 26, 2020- There are now some 500,000 tourists in Croatia and if the epidemiological situation remains stable and everyone complies with recommendations, we can certainly expect another two months of tourism turnover this year, the National Tourist Board (HTZ) director, Kristjan Stanicic, said on Wednesday.

Stanicic met with representatives of Lika-Senj and Karlovac county tourist board representatives at Plitvice Lakes.

Lika-Senj county tourism board director Ivan Radosevic assesses that tourist trade in that county is very good compared to initial forecasts, saying that "August has brought an excellent 67% of last August's results, and year to date we have stood at 54% of last year's levels."

Currently, there are visitors in that county from Germany, Croatia, and Poland and the situation is similar in Karlovac County with the local tourist board's director Dina Begic saying that currently, the county is generating about 30% of last year's turnover.

They both underscored that this year the number of local guests has increased and account for 30% of tourism turnover.

Stanicic recalled measures from May until now which enabled tourism turnover, including a focus on marketing and information campaigns conducted on key European markets where the majority of holidaymakers come from.

Considering everything, Stanicic is exceptionally satisfied with the summer part of the tourism year and with that in August alone when 67% of last year's August turnover was achieved.

He announced a campaign for the shoulder season with emphasis on continental tourism, nautical and gastronomic tourism focusing on the closest markets.

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ZAGREB, Aug 24, 2020 - Minister Nikolina Brnjac on Monday stated that the tourism sector was well prepared for the situation caused by the coronavirus and that the good tourism results, and government and crisis response team's measures had resulted in Croatia being recognized as a safe destination.

Commenting on claims by stakeholders in the tourism sector that it is going to take two to three years for tourism to get back to 2019's levels, Minister Brnjac said after meeting with representatives of the hotel industry, that it was of exceptional importance to "strategically think of further steps so that we can establish a sustainable and resilient system."

It is essential that everyone behaves responsibly and adheres to the recommended measures so that the positive trend in arrivals can continue this season and in that way, set the preconditions to maintain safety in the years to come, she said.

"The 2019 tourism season was above average in everything but the number of arrivals does not mean revenue too. That is why a tourism development strategy is important because it is important to know where we are going, what our objective is, and how to develop Croatia's tourism in the future. This situation with COVID is extraordinary. The tourism sector was exceptionally well prepared and the good results we have in fact, along with the government's measures which saved jobs and the measures by the Civil Protection Authority, have resulted in Croatia being recognized as a safe destination," the tourism minister underlined.

She explained that several ministries were in contact with those countries that have put Croatia on the quarantine list to ask that Croatia be treated according to the current developments in counties as the situation is not the same throughout the country.

"Hence, based on the epidemiological circumstances that will occur we expect other countries to review their lists. We have the biggest number of guests from Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Hungary, and considering that we are a car destination, thanks to the Tourist Board's good promotion, we used our advantage and good road network," she concluded.

Director of the Croatian Tourism Association (HUT) Veljko Ostojic said that if the support measures had not been issued in March, the tourism season would definitely not be as it is because "employers would have been forced to lay off a significant number of workers and without workers there cannot be any tourism." 

We need information about job retention measures...because employers have to make certain decisions. It is also important to secure liquidity for the next tourism season and today we talked about the possibility of using EU funds, he said.

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ZAGREB, Aug 24, 2020 - A total of 2.3 million tourists vacationed in Croatia in the period from 1 to 23 August, generating 17.6 million overnight stays, which is at 67% of the results in the same period of 2019, officials of the Croatian Tourism Board (HTZ) said on Monday.

The latest statistics, which are based on information from the eVisitor system and which include tourist turnover in commercial and non-commercial accommodation as well as in boat rental, show that in the first 23 days of August there were 4.3 million overnight stays in Istria and 3.5 million in the region of Kvarner.

Split-Dalmatia County follows with 3.4 million overnight stays, followed by Zadar County with 3.2 million overnight stays, Sibenik-Knin County with 1.4 million, Dubrovnik-Neretva County with one million and Lika-Senj County with 636,000 overnight stays.

HTZ director Kristjan Stanicic said that the results for August were excellent and that the HTZ had very good announcements for September from the countries which had not put Croatia on a list of epidemiologically unsafe countries.

Between the start of this year and August 23, 6.5 million tourists vacationed in Croatia, generating more than 44 million overnight stays, which is 53% of tourism figures in the same period of 2019, the HTZ said.

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ZAGREB, Aug 24, 2020- Tourism and Sports Minister Nikolina Brnjac said on Sunday that she was satisfied with this year's tourist season, with tourist turnover standing at 50% of last year's turnover, or 20% more than expected. 

"According to our projections as well as those of the World Tourism Organisation, we should have been at 30% of last year's result. But we are currently at 50% and realistically speaking, we can be satisfied with those figures," Brnjac told reporters in the Istrian town of Barban, where she attended a local equestrian tournament.

She noted that neighboring countries and other Mediterranean countries had seen a drop in tourist turnover of 70-80%.

Brnjac went on to say that all countries, including those that have put Croatia on the list of epidemiologically unsafe countries, followed the epidemiological situation, and revised their measures every two weeks.

"Epidemiological measures need to be maintained so that the good figures we have had until now could continue. But we must be aware of the fact that in March, April, May and the first half of June we did not have the kind of tourist season we had expected," Brnjac said, adding that she expected good tourism results to continue in September.

"We expect the season to continue, it is not over, but only if we have good epidemiological measures in place and good weather," she said, adding that the epidemiological situation in Istria and Primorje-Gorski Kotar counties was very good, which was why they were having good results.

Asked how one should prepare for 2021, which would not be an easy year, Brnjac said that it was of the utmost importance to preserve jobs and stability in the tourist sector.

"Tourism has always been a branch of economy where the situation changes quickly and which adapts to those changes quickly. Making sure Croatia is recognizable as a safe destination that takes care of its guests, along with the continuation of good results, is what gives us the impetus for next year," Brnjac said.

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ZAGREB, July 24, 2020 - The new, 15th cabinet held its first meeting on Friday, with Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic saying the main item on the agenda was a bill on the reconstruction of buildings damaged in the Zagreb area in the March earthquake.

"As we promised, the bill is on the agenda of the first government session after the election," he said.

Plenkovic said he expected Health Minister Vili Beros, Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic, Foreign Minister Gordan Grlic Radman and Tourism Minister Nikolina Brnjac "to cooperate closely in the days ahead so that we can conduct consultations to combine what we do with our ambition to achieve the best possible tourist season and communication with many other states which follow the epidemiological situation in all other states, including in Croatia."

Croatia's employment issues are somewhat perplexing to many, and although there has apparently been a massive drop in unemployment, there's only been a very slight jump in those registering as newly employed. The maths doesn't always really add up, but unfortunately the demographic picture of the country explains it all.

As Jadranka Dozan/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 10th of April, 2019, at this time of year, official data on employment levels tends to heavily reflect the huge levels of seasonality Croatia's labour market is affected by with every passing year, of course, this is primarily owing to the increased employment levels of seasonal workers before the start of the main tourist season in summer. The latest figures from HZMO (Croatian Pension Insurance Fund) from March show some growth in the number of insured persons, both on a monthly and an annual basis, with positive annual rates having continued to some degree or another since March 2015, while monthly growth began in only in February, according to analysts from Raiffeisen Bank (RBA).

Last month, the number of insured persons increased by 14,000, to a total of 1.52 million people, and it is realistic to expect that the number of insured persons will increase even more owing to the opening up of seasonal positions in preparation for the tourist season, an economic trend which could easily continue until September. When compared to March last year, the number of insured persons more than 32,000 or 2.2 percent higher.

Along with the pretty positive indicators from HZMO's labour market information, the Croatian Bureau of Statistic's labour force surveys are more in line with the process of the huge problem of the mass emigration of Croatia's fit, healthy, working-age population and the demographic of an aging general population. The latest survey, in which the last quarter of 2018 was included, indicates an annual drop in Croatia's working-age population from 3.54 to 3.52 million.

Those who are economically active in Croatia, whether they're already working or actively looking for a job, numbered just 1.8 million at the end of 2018, which is 42,000 people or 2.3 percent less than the year before. Despite the positive economic data, the activity rate dropped from 52 to 51 percent. Activity and employment rates have, at least for some time now, been indicative of much more than just the general rate of unemployment. This applies in particular to activities that are needed in more economically developed EU countries, and jobs that tend to be given to (highly) skilled staff.

Economists have been warning for a long time that recent developments in reduce the potential for growth in Croatia in the long term. The number of unemployed people in Croatia in the last quarter of the year, according to the results of the survey conducted in the last quarter of 2018, dropped when compared to the previous year by 46,000 people, or 23 percent, to 154,000 people. At the same time, however, the number of employees increased only very slightly, by 0.3 percent, meaning just 5,000 people more, to 1.64 million. In the fourth quarter, the activity rate and the employment rate recorded lower values ​​(51 percent and 46.6 percent), according to RBA.

In the last quarter of 2018, the numbers of economically inactive people older than fifteen increased by just one percent. Finally, the year ended with the fall of Croatia's unemployment rate to 8.3 percent, which is also the first drop below 10 percent since 2009, the year which followed the 2008 recession, but unfortunately this is partly a consequence of Croatia's negative demographic trend.

Although Croatia's growth in employment is of course very encouraging, analysts warn that it should be noted that the number of employees has been growing at a mild rate for the last five years, and that the average number of employees is still 6.5 percent lower than in before the crisis back in 2008. Overall, they conclude, Croatia's labour market remains very fragile and is burdened with some extremely serious structural problems, especially in terms of the total mismatch of supply and demand, long-term unemployment, and the falling number of working-age people for the ninth year in a row.

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Click here for the original article by Jadranka Dozan for Poslovni Dnevnik