February 26, 2023 - It is 8 years since I wrote my most popular article ever about Croatia - now meet the story behind it and the video version of 25 Reasons You Should Never Visit Croatia.

It was one of the quickest articles I have ever written.

Less than 25 minutes from start to finish. 

And - full disclosure - beer was involved. 

A client had asked me to write an article called 25 Reasons NEVER to Visit Croatia, a provocative title, with the clickbaity twist giving 25 reasons why Croatia was in fact an amazing place to visit.

After an afternoon on the Weissbier in Munich, I pulled out a cold one from the fridge and got to work, writing down the first 25 reasons that came into my head. 

The client was pleased and - it seemed - so were his readers, as he reported a million clicks in the first 24 hours.  It was EVERYWHERE!

I went back into the studio recently to record more videos for my new YouTube channel, Paul Bradbury Croatia Expert, and I thought it would be fun to make a video version of the original article. 

So here it is, the latest from the Fat Vlogger. Are you coming to Croatia this summer?

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ZAGREB, 28 April 2022 - The president of the Croatian Catholic charity Caritas and Varaždin Bishop, Bože Radoš, announced on Thursday that the Vatican's Secretary of State, Pietro Parolin, would visit Croatia on 10-12 May.

The Croatian Bishops Conference (HBK) in August 2021 invited Cardinal Parolin to visit Croatia on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the ratification of agreements signed between the Holy See and Croatia, and the 30th anniversary of Croatia's recognition.

Speaking at a news conference after the 64th plenary session of the HBK, Radoš said that Parolin's visit had been confirmed by the Apostolic Nunciature in Croatia.

For more, check out our politics section.

ZAGREB, 8 Aug, 2021 - There are 1,055,000 tourists vacationing in Croatia - 886,000 foreigners and 169,000 Croatians, the Tourism Ministry said on Sunday. 

Among the foreign tourists, the most numerous are Germans (257,000), followed by Slovenians (125,000), Poles (81,000) and Austrians (68,000).

The largest number of tourists are staying in Istra County (271,000), followed by Primorje-Gorski Kotar County (180,000) and Split-Dalmatia County (170,000).

Croatia has registered 7.4 million arrivals and 44.5 million overnights this year to date, respectively 58% and 68% of the results logged during the same time in 2019.

In the first seven days of August, there were 981,000 arrivals and 7.4 million overnights, respectively 78% and 91% of the figures recorded in the first week of August 2019.

For more on travel, follow TCN's dedicated page.

For more about Croatia, CLICK HERE.

ZAGREB, 24 July, 2021 - Split Airport is currently the busiest in Croatia and this weekend alone it will handle 180 planes with 32,000 passengers!

This weekend has seen the largest numbers of passengers and planes, an executive at the airport, Mate Melvan, told Hina on Saturday, adding that 140 of those 180 planes were regular flights and 40 were private planes.

"If the situation doesn't deteriorate, we could have more than 300,000 passengers in July," he said, adding that Split Airport could already say that the current tourist season was exceptionally good when compared with last year's, which had been the worst to date.

Jelena Ivulić of the Jadrolinija shipping company told Hina there were many tourists in the Split port as well, their number rising constantly since June. She said 56,000 passengers and over 13,000 vehicles were expected in the port this weekend.

"It's a real July weekend. We are in constant positive growth and if it stays so, it will be excellent," she said, calling for caution due to COVID so that Croatia was not declared a red zone like last summer.

For more on travel updates, follow TCN's dedicated page.

For more about Croatia, CLICK HERE.

As HrTurizam.hr reports, an interesting offer of gifts that you can use to make yourself and your loved ones happy are now available through a new tourist webshop launched this week. All products, about 300 of them, promote Croatia in a positive context. They are intended primarily for tourists who may not be able to come to Croatia this year due to epidemiological measures. In this way, part of Croatia will come to their home address, wherever it is located!

Credit: HrTurizam.hr

Thus, within several categories, you can find unique handicrafts by creatives from the Gacka Valley, but also delicious cheeses from a local producer from Velebit. There are also modern clothing items for winter and summer with a large number of messages, funny jokes, and motifs.

This is followed by attractive posters of various sizes with beautiful motifs from all over Croatia, painted cups, and many other products. The products are divided into six categories, and the webshop will be updated with new ones on a weekly basis. Winter items are already at a discount and a new part of the range from Istria, Dalmatia, and Slavonia is being prepared through partnerships.

Credit: Plitvice Times webshop

"Our goal was to adapt to the new times because movement is limited and tourist shopping is becoming more complex. The webshop is an area that has seen a large increase in traffic in the last year precisely because of its simplicity and necessity, and for this reason, we decided to make this move and fill the webshop with as many products as possible. We organized the products, filled them in, and the first orders have already arrived. We are targeting the international market, and the first campaigns in Central Europe will start next week", says Ante Fumić, owner of Prilika Group.

According to the announcements, the range will be expanded in order to offer users the widest possible range of products in various categories. All manufacturers who think that their products would fit well into this webshop are also invited to contact their website in order to achieve cooperation.

Credit: Plitvice Times webshop

The webshop was launched by the young creative team of Prilika Grupa, a marketing company that already has several successful thematic creative projects behind it. The webshop is part of The Plitvice Times magazine, and if you go to check on a variety of articles you will see that you can find something that you'll certainly like!

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

ZAGREB, 20 March 2021 - Tourists and owners of property in Croatia from Slovenia, Poland, Austria and Germany want to spend their summer holidays in Croatia this year. Still, they are cautious in planning and booking because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and restrictions imposed to contain it.

Last year the Croatian tourism industry recorded the best results from these four markets, so Hina asked the directors of the Croatian Tourist Board (HTZ) offices there about current booking figures for this year, including the forthcoming Easter holidays.

This and the Safe Stay in Croatia project were also discussed earlier this week at HTZ online workshops for the Slovenian and Polish markets. Over 200 participants from Croatia attended, and the two countries' workshops will soon be held for the Austrian and German markets.

As for the Easter holidays, tourist arrivals from these and other countries are not expected in large numbers because of the third wave of the pandemic and the restrictions that are in place there, as well as because of the existing measures in Croatia, which requires a negative PCR test or a quarantine until PCR test results arrive for travelers wishing to enter the country.

The initial optimism for this tourist season and travel has diminished in many countries as the vaccination process is slower than expected. New, more infectious variants of the coronavirus have emerged, resulting in increased infections.

Slovenia

The director of the HTZ office in Ljubljana, Metka Bradetić, said that Slovenian partners see Croatia as a country where Slovenians will definitely travel to as soon as the conditions allow. She said that they are not worried about the summer and post-summer seasons but that the pre-summer season is uncertain because the epidemiological measures currently in Slovenia are rather strict. It is hard to make any predictions.  

"Slovenian owners of real estate and vessels in Croatia can't wait for relaxation of the border crossing regime," Bradetić says, noting that the current booking for Croatia is lower than at the same time last year, but that Slovenian tour operators and travel agencies expect stronger last-minute sales.

Poland

The director of the HTZ office in Poland, Agnieszka Puszczewicz, said she is pleased with the response to the HTZ business workshop, where Polish partners said they are hoping that their compatriots will be able to travel to Croatia this summer despite the third wave of the pandemic because Croatia is among the most sought-after destinations.

"Our Polish partners stress the importance of information about health safety protocols and the conditions tourists will have to meet to visit Croatia this summer. They all hope that an increase in the number of vaccinated people and those with antibodies will further facilitate travel. The Polish government's decision on return protocols will also have an impact, and we should also take into account the fact that a PCR test costs 125 euro in Poland," Puszczewicz said.

She noted that Poles praise Croatia for its handling of last year's season and hope that this year too, they will spend safe and carefree holidays in Croatia.

Austria

Austrians are mostly interested in the conditions for entering Croatia, the cost of PCR and rapid antigen tests and testing sites, the epidemiological and vaccination situation in Croatia, and the country's plan to open to international tourism, the head of the HTZ office in Austria, Branimir Tončinić, told Hina.

"Assuming that Croatia will be on the green list and that Austria will change its present regime of return to the country with mandatory testing and a 10-day quarantine, even larger visits from this market are possible than in 2020, but only as of June, because Austria has only recently extended the return regime for its citizens until 31 May," Tončinić said. 

Asked about Austrian owners of real estate and vessels in Croatia who, like Slovenians and citizens of other countries, visited Croatia in the pre-summer season last year, he said that they are mainly interested if there are or there will be any regulations allowing them to enter Croatia to check on their property.

"There is a great interest in Croatia among this section of the public because they own property in Croatia where they can stay in isolation with the greatest possible degree of safety from infection. There is currently fear that because of the Austrian border crossing regime, they will not be able to travel abroad unless their country changes the conditions for returning citizens. They are less concerned about the Croatian border regime," Toničić said.

Germany

Similar information also comes from Germany, Croatia's most important travel market. The director of the HTZ office there, Romeo Draghicchi, says that Germans are eager to travel but are still delaying booking their holidays and following coronavirus developments both at home and abroad.

Tour operators and airlines will adjust their services to destinations for which German authorities will not prescribe a quarantine on return to the country. Everyone agrees that any facilitation of travel between European countries will positively affect the tourist turnover said.

"The number of Germans who visited Croatia in 2020, mostly in the two main summer months, was about 50% lower than that in the record year 2019. If the coronavirus situation gets back to normal before June and lasts until the end of September, this market season could be more successful than last year. Still, total results will depend on the overall situation with the virus in Europe, especially in Croatia," Draghicchio said.

He said that Germans are mostly asking about general conditions for entering Croatia, including types of testing. At the same time, property owners are mainly interested in simplified entry procedures, such as short-term visits to check their vessel or house.

"Currently, booking for Croatia in Germany is at 30% of last year's level, but it is expected to pick up in the lead-up to the summer provided that the pandemic subsides. Everyone is hoping for a positive scenario, a longer season, and better results than those achieved in 2020," Draghicchio said.

He said that "a certain number of Germans" will visit Croatia already for the Easter holidays. They are mostly inquiring about Istria, which is currently designated as a safe travel destination from which Germans can return home without undergoing testing or staying in a quarantine.

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