November 22, 2019 - The Istria County Tourist Board, in cooperation with the world-renowned auction house Sotheby's, is organizing the first-ever auction of the Istrian white truffle in London on Monday, November 25. 

Glas Istre writes that the event will be held at the prestigious Harry's Bar in Mayfair, an elite area of London's West End, one of the most exclusive private clubs featuring members of the London elite, international jet setters and UHNW individuals (ultra-high-net-worth individuals).

The Istria County Tourist Board will organize the auction in cooperation with the world-famous auction house, led by its chairman for the UK, Lord Dalmney, and with the support of the FOX Communication PR agency in London. During the auction, guests will have the opportunity to enjoy dinner based on the Istrian white truffle, and extra virgin olive oils and wines from Istria.

Zigante Truffles from Plovanija near Buje is also involved in this vital project for Istria. Namely, Zigante will provide the main ingredients for the auction and Istrian dinner. The auction will be conducted in four parts, and will be intended for both guests present and interested who will bid by phone.

In the first part, truffles of smaller sizes will be auctioned, and in the second part, medium-sized truffles, followed by the "Truffle Experience in Istria” package. In the end, the biggest truffle of the season will be auctioned, which resulted in a sold-out dinner and a long waiting list of truffle-hopefuls. Better yet, all proceeds from the auction will go to charity.

In addition to Istrian white truffles, Istrian extra virgin olive oils from the Chiavalon family will be served with truffle-based specialties. They will also be available at Harry's Bar tables for all guests to taste. 

Along with extra virgin olive oils, the attendees will be served wines from the Kozlovic family of Momjan - the Malvasia, Teran and Momjan Muscat.

“Istria has given increasing importance to the UK market, where many promotional efforts have been made over the years, increasing the number of UK guests, intensifying existing ones, and opening new routes - especially in the pre- and post-season. Also, since last year, the Istria County Tourist Board has been working with the London-based PR agency, FOX Communication, so that Istria becomes more and more present in the media and events there, which is why the region is seeing an increasing growth of British guests.

The Istria County Tourist Board is working intensively to make the region more famous in London and its surroundings, with a focus on medium- and high-spending power guests. Thus, the truffle auction is listed as one of the activities that will help build the image and reputation of Istria as a destination. I believe that this auction will contribute to the affirmation of the Istrian brand," said Istria County Tourist Board Director Denis Ivošević, adding that Istria is most commonly recognized worldwide for its gastronomy and lifestyle.

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

August 7, 2019 - The Istria County Tourist Board information points at Pula Airport are directly connecting tourists with the destination. 

Pula Airport is achieving a record number of passengers from year to year, and this year, Pula is connected with the most destinations ever by direct flights. Thus, it would only make sense that airports are the best place to target a high frequency of passengers upon their arrival to a new destination, reports HRTurizam.

With that thought in mind, the Istria County Tourist Board info points at the Pula Airport, which provide visitors with a fast, comprehensive and high-quality information, this year saw a significant increase in inquiries and direct contact with tourists, providing them with useful information in person.

From mid-June to July 28, a total of 14,496 inquiries were recorded, while there were 11,877 inquiries in the same period last year, increasing by 18%.

“Based on the experience of tourist informants of the Istrian Development Agency, which provides visitor information services, we can conclude that the interest of tourists for the brochures is extremely high and that the map of Istria, as well as information about cities such as Pula, Rovinj and Poreč, are in high demand. The demand for general information brochures such as Istria Culture, Istria Gourmet, as well as for cycling and walking maps has increased, and there is a noticeable interest in outdoor activities,” said Morena Milevoj from IRTA. She added that the great interest of travelers speaks in favor of this, since the information point contributes to the better promotion of Istria as a tourist destination, in which an average of 150,000 tourists arrive by air during the main tourist season, while the number of flights exceeds 700 per month.

In the mentioned period, 7,420 brochures were distributed, which represents 51% of the total number of inquiries for 2019, and the most requested tourist inquiry is about shuttle bus transfers from Pula Airport to the city center of Pula.

Although the trend today is digitalization in every respect, promotional brochures still play a significant role, especially if they are well produced and provide useful information. 

"Tourists are also looking for information on transportation from Pula Airport to other cities in Istria, mostly to Rovinj, Poreč, and Umag, as well as information about taxi services and rental car services that are most convenient for visitors who want to visit as many destinations in Istria. In addition, it is worth noting inquiries about current events in the peninsula, places to visit (sights, beaches, amusement parks such as aquaparks, national parks, and nature parks) and accommodation options as well as other recommendations for activities in Istria,” says Milevoj.

Visitors most often searching for information are from the UK, Germany, Russia, and Scandinavia. The most active are Britons and Germans of all ages, while visitors from Russia and France seek information in Russian and French respectively.

"According to the positive reactions of visitors we’ve had direct contact with so far, it shows how important it is to provide quality information that will make it easier for visitors to find their destination and make their stay as comfortable and quality as possible," concludes Milevoj.

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

July 3, 2019 - As we have previously announced, the ancient amphitheater in Pula will transform into a football field for the first time in history on July 8 for a spectacular sporting event which will feature the legends of Bayern Munich and the legends of the Croatia national team. This spectacle is the result of the strategic partnership between the Istria County Tourist Board and the powerful Bavarian club which was agreed year ago and will continue for three years, reports HRTurizam.

The basic idea of the strategic partnership was to combine two premium brands that would help to identify quality and superior products by linking marketing activities in the offline and online segment, e-marketing, social networks, and a specific marketing campaign in collaboration with Bayern.

The strategic partnership allows Istria to cooperate on nine major marketing projects. All projects are positioned so that they take place in the period that is most important for the tourist promotion of Istria, i.e., the winter months and the preseason.

So far, they have accomplished seven of the nine major activities.

1. Selecting and filming three FC Bayern Munich players as the main testimonials for the tourist promotion of Istria - significant destination campaigns;

2. Appearance of Bayern representatives at the renowned tourist fair 'Free' in Munich with all relevant promotional activities at the fair;

3. Matchdaypresenter intended for owners, co-owners and strategic partners;

4. Promotion of Istria through all channels in the online and offline segment with all presentation channels at the Allianz Arena for seven days;

5. Matchdaypresenter intended for media representatives;

6. A communication campaign through all of FC Bayern Munich's channels worth €150,000;

7. Ticket package for promotion of Istria at the Allianz Arena in Munich

The remaining two are also the most important projects - the annual workshop of FC Bayern Munich (which was just held from June 25-27) and the best way to complete the first year of cooperation - the legends match between Croatia and FC Bayern Munich. 

The football legends of Bayern Munich and the Croatia national team will meet at the Pula Arena on July 8. The ancient amphitheater will transform into a football field or, more accurately, due to the lack of space, a futsal field, for the very first time. 

The Istria County Tourist Board announced the names of some of the Bayern Munich legends we can expect in Pula, including Ivica Olić, Paulo Sergio, Giovane Elber, Martín DeMichelis, Luca Toni, Klaus Augenthaler and Marcel Witeczek.

Some of the famous footballers who will represent Croatia are Stipe Pletikosa, Robert Jarni, Ivan Klasnić, Marjan Mrmić, Ardian Koznik, Petar Krpan, and Ognjen Vukojević.

Inside the arena, a small field of 40 meters by 20 meters will installed. 

Between the games, the experience will be complemented by a music program and numerous performances, and after the winner is announced, the VIP Lounge in the Arena will continue with an entertainment program and DJs.

Schedule of events:

20:00 - 20:30 Junior’s match

20:30 Event announcement with a presentation of partners and sponsors

          Presentation of all teams (two ‘Vatreni’ and two Bayern Munich teams)

          Draw

20:50 – 21:15 First semi-final match

21:20 – 21:45 Second semi-final match

21:45 – 21:55 Music program/Performances

22:00 – 22:25 Match for third place

22:30 – 22:55 Final

The games are followed by an awards ceremony and after-party with DJs in the VIP lounge of the Arena.

FC Bayern Munich is the 4th most valuable club in the world and one of the main brands in Germany, and the key is the market. Namely, Germany is Croatia’s most significant and largest broadcast market, and within Germany, Bavaria certainly has the largest share. Thus, the strategic partnership between FC Bayern Munich and Istria is certainly one of the largest and most significant marketing projects in tourism.

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

The football legends of Bayern Munch and the Croatia national team will meet in Pula Arena on July 8, as part of a spectacular program prepared by the Istria County Tourist Board, reports HRTurizam on Jun 10, 2019.

Thus, the Pula Arena will be transformed into a football field, that is, a grass futsal field, for the first time. The ground of the Arena will feature a 40x20 meter field, and tickets will be sold online and at the cashier in front of the Arena. Ticket sales should begin on June 14th.

This event is the result of the strategic partnership of Istria and FC Bayern, which was signed in June last year for three-year cooperation.

Also, before the friendly match, from June 25 to 27, there will be about 110 representatives of the management of the German first-division club, co-owners and strategic partners of Bayern.

The strategic partnership of FC Bayern Munich and Istria is the largest and most important marketing project in tourism. For Istria, it is also a strategic project in positioning the destination

The basic idea of the strategic partnership was to connect two premium brands through which identification of quality and top-class products would be created through the networking of marketing activities offline and online, e-marketing, social networks and concrete marketing campaigns in cooperation with Bayern.

In the framework of the strategic partnership, the Istria County Tourist Board has contracted 10 marketing projects in order to use the strength of the FC Bayern Munich brand and thus incorporate a part of the image and reputation of Bayern into the brand of Istria. This contract represents the biggest and most powerful advance of Istria as a destination in the marketing sense, and the effects of this partnership will have an impact on the global level, primarily thanks to the popularity of the legendary club around the world.

Bayern is one of the four richest football clubs in the world that owns 25 percent of ownership divided into equal shares among reputable companies: AUDI, ALLIANZ, ADIDAS, while the remaining 75 percent is 299,000 members who are co-owners of the club. They have 4,300 official fan clubs and over 340,000 members; over 652 million fans across the world and over 70 million followers on social networks.

The first extensive media campaign of Istria in Bavaria was held in February this year through three projects.

1st project: Dedicated photoshopping - At the beginning of the year, TZ Istria County started filming the activity of the players. Three key players were proposed, and after long and persistent lobbying, Istria got three ambassadors: Neuer, Alaba, and Martinez.

2nd project: Matchday Presenter - Matchday presenter is a big project that involved the seven-day presentation of Istria through all promotional channels four days before the match, the day after, and two days after the match.

The first part of the presentation was done during the Free Tourism Fair in Munich. With Istria and Croatia’s participation at the Fair, three major representatives of Bayern Munich came to the official stand of the Croatian Tourist Board. They were Giovanni Elber, the legend of FC Bayern Munich, Andreas Jung, marketing director and Joerg Wacker, director of the strategic development of the German football club.

The most important event within the Matchday presenter marketing project was the special presentation of Istria at the Siemens Cooking Lounge Arena where TZ Istria County organized an Istrian menu for forty invitees - mostly the owners of FC Bayern, then the strategic partners of the FCBM and several representatives of the media.

Stephan Lehmann, the official speaker of the FC Bayern who led the lottery at halftime of the games, transferred his experiences from Istria to the audience of 73,000 spectators and invited all attendees to visit the Croatian destination.

The main event at the half was a prize game involving a goal on the north side of the football field equipped with a large banner with four motifs from Istria: the views of Rovinj, Poreč, Motovun and Grožnjan. On the goal, four places were indicated to be hit to win a seven-day holiday in Istria. A special website was even created — namely, a landing page where interested parties could apply to play the game. 

Additionally, TZ Istria County broadcasted a digital banner around the perimeter of the football field in the length of 250 meters, where they cooperated with FC Bayern Munich under the name 'Istrien Urlaubtraum der Champions' with the logo of Istria and Croatia.

In the end, the entire marketing project was rounded off with a broadcast of the new promotional film for Istria, which was played across four large screens at the legendary Allianz Arena.

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

June 5, 2018 - The strategic partnership of FC Bayern Munich, one of the most famous football clubs in the world, and Istria, one of Croatia’s most important tourist destination, represents one of the most substantial and significant marketing projects in tourism - and it strategically positions Istria as a destination.