ZAGREB, November 30, 2018 - The government on Friday decided to sell its share in a former army singles dormitory – Hotel Iž – in Zadar, for 11.47 million kuna, and issued a government guarantee for the Split-based Jadroplov shipping company for a loan in its restructuring process

The call for bids for the state's share in the 4,399-square-metre-large Hotel Iž, at a starting price of 6.6 million kuna was advertised early August.

Four bids were submitted and a recommendation has been made for the government to accept the most favourable bid submitted by the Zadar-based "Hostel For You" company of 11.47 million kuna, state-secretary in the State Assets Ministry, Tomislav Boban, said.

The government endorsed amended conditions for a loan of 720.9 million kuna taken from the Croatian Bank for Development and Reconstruction (HBOR) by the Hrvatske Ceste road authority and that was guaranteed by the government.

According to Minister of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure Oleg Butković, the amended conditions mean reducing the interest rate of 4% to a fixed annual rate of 2.5% and the extension of the grace period from 31 March 2019 to 31 March 2022.

The government further endorsed a state guarantee to the Jadroplov company for a loan from the Hannover-based Norddeutsche Landesbank Girozentrale, as foreseen in its Restructuring Plan for 2015 - 2019.

State-Secretary in the Finance Minister Zdravko Zrinušić explained that the financial collateral provided by the state was a constituent part of the restructuring plan that was approved by the European Commission.

For more on the hotels in Croatia, click here.

Heritage often tells us interesting stories, not only from the past, but also from the present.

Along with their role in historical events, heritage sites have an effect on the local populace and their day-to-day lives. Future articles will attempt to revive an interest in heritage and bring it closer to readers. To start it all off, let’s talk about Ugljan's Saint Michael.

If you happen find yourself on the Zadar waterfront (famous for its Sea Organ) during a clear day, your eyes might catch a glimpse of some hills off in the distance, on the island of Ugljan. Upon one of these hills, you’ll find the fortress of St. Michael. After a short ferry trip from the Zadar, you’ll spend some two hours hiking along the road, asphalted for most of the way. Following the path across the valley, surrounded by olives and dry stone walls, you will eventually arrive at the fortress.

Step by step, we’re getting closer to the fortress.

Views such as these of the Zadar archipelago, hinterland and the mountain Velebit are a reward in and of themselves after the hiking trip. Make sure to go on clear day to actually catch these views yourself.

Then again, the buzzing from the radio antenna right behind you, in the fort, is almost enough to spoil these idyllic scenes...

The antenna has been here for 27 years. At long last, the local government has decided to move it to a neighboring hill. If everything goes according to plan, the antenna should be removed by the end of next year. The fortress of St. Michael dates back to 6th century A.D., when it most likely served the role of an observation post. During this same period, Byzantine Emperor Justinian the Great had been making attempts to revive the western half of the once mighty Roman Empire.

With its strategic position at an altitude of 265 meters above sea level, it’s possible that the fort was used by the Byzantine Empire to monitor and control the surrounding sea routes.

The exact year or timeframe in which the fortress was built is still unknown. There are, however, traces and evidence of the Order of Saint Benedict being situated on this hill in the 11th century. The first records and mentions of the fortress date back to 1345, when it was besieged and conquered by the Venetians. In the following years, Venice had plans to destroy the fortress – they did not want the fortress to fall back under Zadar’s control should they ever need to retreat from it.

Layout and drone photo (Luka Bogdanić)

However, with the Treaty of Zadar in 1358, which was arranged between Venice and Louis I. of Hungary, the Venetians surrendered and retreated from their all of their Dalmatian territories. The fortress of St. Michael was now once again in the hands of Zadar.

The constant looming threat from Venice made Zadar officials invest a lot of funds, manpower, and effort in repairs and additional construction for defense and soldiers. There is a lot of textual evidence about the exact construction work and some of it is attested on site.

History is anything but boring and predictable in these parts, though. All the repairs and construction ended up being in vain because of Ladislaus of Naples. He decided to sell Dalmatia to Venice in 1409. Without any actual fighting to speak of, the fortress had once again fallen under Venice’s influence. Not to mention in much better shape than it had been in 60-70 years prior.

In the following years, it was used as a scouting post without proper maintenance. How it looked like is very well depicted on the painting below, made by pilgrim Conrad Grunenberg (1486).

The Fortress of St. Michael is in the foreground, while behind it you can see medieval Zadar.

Later on, during the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Kingdom of Yugoslavia, the fortress maintained its status as a scouting post. It wasn't repaired or properly maintained.

Later yet, the fortress played another role in history – in World War Two. In 1944, the fortress was still being used as an observation post. On August 29th and September 10th, Saint Michael was bombarded by the South African Air Force (16th Squadron). Planes started their flight from Biferno in Italy. As they flew over Saint Michael, high resolution cameras documented the damage they had made. Thanks to Tinus la Roux – a South African enthusiast collecting documents and memories of WW2 veterans – we now have records of these very moments of the fortress being bombarded.

The church in the middle was destroyed, and one of the main towers was severely damaged.

Notice the church, still intact at this point, in the middle of the fortress.

For more photos and documents of the bombardment, click here.

Nowadays, the fortress is still in bad shape. There is no trace of the church, the towers and the walls weep for reconstruction, and recent construction work doesn't paint any brighter of a picture.

Drone photo by Luka Bogdanić

There are plans and visions for the fort’s future, according to the Tourism Municipal Board of Preko. Some picture the fortress of Saint Michael becoming interpretative center called “The Castle of Island Stories (Dvorac otočnih priča)” – telling the stories of all nearby islands with an actual overlook holds a lot of potential. Some additional objects, like an open-air amphitheater, a souvenir shop, and others, would also be a part of this center.

For now, this is still nothing more than a nascent idea. Archaeological excavations and conservation work will take place before anything else. We never know what the ground is hiding, after all, so we might find out something new about this place.

In the meantime, it will remain a favourite place for a quick escape from the bustling city.

Drone photo by Luka Bogdanić

If you’d like to see more photos, or behind the scenes/research moments of Croatia's wealth of heritage, feel free to follow us on our Instagram account, Culture Donkey.

Make sure to follow our lifestyle page for more information on Croatian history, heritage, and significant monuments, fortresses, and much more.

The City of Zadar has always been a popular destination in Dalmatia, boasting the stunning sea organ, and, as Alfred Hitchcock himself once said, the most beautiful sunsets in the entire world. Now Gari Cappelli, the Minister of Tourism, has congratulated this ancient city on its success, stating that the very people of Zadar are the ones who give it its life.

As tourists flock to Zadar from all corners of the world, with numerous airline companies having taken it upon themselves to either increase their flights to this Dalmatian gem or to introduce new lines connecting major European cities to its thriving airport, the city goes from strength to strength across the spectrum, from its entrepreneur success stories to its tourism figures. It seems that Zadar's success hasn't gone unnoticed, at least not by Gari Cappelli, who expressed his warm feelings for both the city and for the ''happy people'' who live there and make it what it is.

As eZadar/Radio Zadar writes on the 23rd of November, 2018, upon welcoming the participants of the session of the Zadar City Council on the occasion of Zadar's city day, Gari Cappelli, the long standing Croatian Minister of Tourism, stated at the beginning of his address, among other things, that Zadar is a city full of of happy people who give it life.

Gari Cappelli recalled the very welcome fact that the highly respected Lonely Planet, one of the most popular and trusted travel guides in the entire world, included Zadar in its announcement of the prestigious ''Best in Travel 2019'' guide, in its recommendations on destinations which should be visited by tourists next year.

Make sure to stay up to date with news from Zadar and far beyond by keeping up with our dedicated lifestyle and travel pages.

Click here for the original article by eZadar/Radio Zadar

Nov. 20, 2018 — Advent in Zadar will begin on Nov. 24, as one of Dalmatia’s coastal gems is getting an early start on an emerging Croatian holiday tradition.

The City of Zadar’s official day will overlap with the start of Advent in Zadar, with local institution Klapa Intrade playing at 11:30 a.m. The festivities will carry on through the night, with Croatian pop staple Magazin performing in the evening.

The million-kuna event will last until New Year’s Day, with daily musical guests, outdoor space for dancing, drinking and eating, as well as holiday favorites such as “fritule” and cooked wine served from one of “Advent Houses” lining Petar Zoranić Square.

Every Friday through Sunday morning, Advent in Zadar will also feature children’s workshops and performances.

There will also be ice skating open to the public (at a cost, of course) at the Sports Center Višnjik, just outside of the old town. It costs 20 kunas an hour to ice skate, plus 10 kunas for rental skates.

The fourth-annual iteration of Zadar's Advent will have daily “themes”, ie: hometown heroes, a capela groups, etc. Every evening will end with a performance by one of a long list of many Croatian pop stars booked for the event.

For a full list of all the events scheduled, including workshops and performances, check the link here or on Advent in Zadar’s Facebook page.

You can follow all of TCN’s coverage of Zadar here.

A late-afternoon bura sends a cool gust cutting down Zadar's main thoroughfare, kalelarga. A handful of wanderers and two tourists roam the long, desolate stretch of cobblestone dotted by well-lit stores. Nearly all are empty.

A Yamamay touting fancy undergarments with no one to sell them to. A Swarovski shop’s lonely cashiers stand idly by their registers. A new-ish watering hole called “La Bodega” holds its doors open to reveal empty bar stools.

Cafes, the stoic holdouts in every Croatian town, keep their outdoor seating available for one final warm spell before Christmas.

Welcome to Zadar in its post-summer hibernation, a six-to-eight month period of desolation and doldrums. When infamous “white paper” covers storefronts and obstructs glass-encased restaurants that otherwise resemble aquariums. Go ahead, try to saddle up for a meal somewhere.

That new restaurant you heard offers dynamite cuisine? It’s closed.

How about the old staple of the local scene which has spent decades consistently serving Dalmatian classics? Nope.

Well, at least the fast food joint must… Bupkis.

The few locals left spend the first hours of every morning fervently crossing off grocery lists then trudging off to work. Then home. A brave few remain outside, meandering past now-empty spaces where commerce used to take place.

Cafes remain the lone outliers, open year-round. After all, someone must offer the remaining Zadrani and students a place to congregate and complain about the lack stuff to do.

Thanks to all the hype and bustling summers, Zadar seems to be a Croatian destination on-the-rise. Yet the empty streets tell a more opaque tale.

Zadar's Fervent 'Yes' To Tourists

Like much of Dalmatia, Zadar milked the engorged tourism cow until it backfired in myriad ways.

The historic peninsula at Zadar’s core is hemorrhaging residents, seeing its population plunge by about 25 percent over the last decade. The few remaining make due in the face of living expenses inflated by tourism.

Now, like much of the coast, Zadar is looking for a way out of a boom-bust tourism cycle tied to mother nature’s fluctuations; all while also reversing depressing demographic trends and the growing sense that Zadar is a great place to visit — but not call home.

It’s first attempt: a glitzy new ad campaign featuring robust young folks running, climbing, jumping, all heavily breathing while subjecting themselves to strenuous exercise in scenic locations.

The ad also includes fleeting images of Zadar’s previous target demographic: happy couples taking selfies, families at play, eating dinner, or enjoying a brief respite by the Sea Organ. In the aggregate, those scenes feel drowned out by the sweaty fitness fanatics peppering the ad.

Because Zadar's new target demographic presumably has zero intention of briefly ditching their Fitbit goals during their vacation, nor does it care if the narrator of the promotional video can actually pronounce the town's name.

It ends with a clarion call to “Say yes,” a zealous demand that tourists give all of themselves to enjoying Zadar as it already is.

Say yes? Locals are desperately fighting the urge to say, “No.”

Why The Ghosts Came To Town

Empty storefronts and desolate streets may be a sign of a bigger, more problematic trend: a mass exodus sucking dry the last remnants of a year-round customer base.

“We have high payrolls, electric bills and other expenses, as well as rent,” said Stipe Kneževic, president of the local small business owners association, in an interview with Zadarski List.

Simply put: there aren’t enough locals to spend during the off-season, leading revenues to fall well short of the cost of staying open. For many business owners, it’s smarter to close up shop and minimize losses, then eagerly wait for the hordes to return in late spring. Knežević’s group asked the City of Zadar to lower rents on all municipally owned properties rented out to locals, to no avail.

Other businesses stay open on a shoestring budget, staffed at a bare minimum then seeking capable ringers to fill out staff during the summer.

Good, experienced employees are hard to find, Knezevic added. Many employers end up investing time and energy into training employees, only to have them leave at the end of the year regardless. “Only an idiot would let a good worker leave,” he added.

It all accumulates into a bizarre Catch-22: Zadar’s small businesses close because there’s no one to work or spend money; citizens leave because even if they could make a decent living they don’t have anywhere to spend.

A round table aimed at reviving Zadar’s historic core convened on Wednesday, featuring a gaggle of tourism honchos and local academics.

Zadar’s new tourism director, Mario Paleka, was short on answers at the round table. Many expected to be wow-ed by the same presentation which reportedly landed him the job despite lackluster credentials.

Yet Paleka’s contribution was limited to a few milquetoast promises of big plans and declaring Zadar needed to exist for its citizens — not tourists.

City council member Mladen Malta was the only participant to offer some advice, albeit well-worn, suggesting an increase in available parking, festivities and events need to be spread more evenly throughout the year, and perhaps luring a famous fashion brand to the historic center would all help.

In the end, the group reportedly spent most of their time finding elaborate ways to describe Zadar’s desolation, without listing specific solutions.

Moderator and sociologist Sven Marcelić reportedly claimed a large number of living spaces — perhaps too many — have been rejiggered to accommodate tourists and not locals. The result, after the summer is over, is a high-priced ghost town.

“The number of stores is dropping, and economic activity outside of 'the season’ doesn’t exist,” Marcelić said.

The dearth of accommodations means students studying in Zadar have to pay rents comparable with the pricey tourism season.

“Zadar is fast becoming one of the most expensive cities to study in in Croatia,” Marcelić said. “The growth in private accommodations didn’t follow the increase in tourism, all while citizens turned into second class citizens.”

Finding A Solution

Even Zadar’s new “Say yes” campaign wasn’t universally welcomed. The nearly three-minute opus left some feeling neglected, with officials from the local municipalities of Preko and Ugljan sending an open letter asking why certain parts of the county were wholly ignored.

“Considering the camera’s lens is very expensive, why doesn’t it have a wide angle?” the letter reads. “It apparently doesn’t, since it can’t film the entire county.”

Zadar does have some hope to hang onto — internal bickering and mass emigration not withstanding. Its airport recently crossed the 600,000-passenger threshold this year for the first time ever. Lonely Planet included the town on its 2019 “Best in Travel” list of places to visit — though it ranked second-to-last. (Locals probably weren’t happy to see Serbia’s Novi Sad ranked No. 3).

Some parts of the region are spreading events out, or adding new ones. Pag, an island whose winter offerings are curtailed by its legendary bura, will have its own version of Advent this year to rival Zadar’s own light version of the Zagreb staple.

Yet rejiggering the summer festival schedule and adding more parking barely address the soup-to-nuts problems facing many Zadrani. They’d gladly say yes to the town, region and even Croatia if it offered a stable, fulfilling job with a salary capable of covering ever-growing living expenses.

Until then, "Yes" will be a word Zadar rarely hears from its residents.

Follow the latest on Zadar's tourism, check out TCN's dedicated page here.

After he was named the best player in Europe by UEFA, the best player in the world by FIFA, and is the current frontrunner for the Ballon d’Or, Luka Modrić may also get a top prize from his hometown. 

Zadar Airport celebrated 600,000 passengers on Friday with a commemorative ceremony. After last year's 589,000 passengers, this is a new record in airport traffic for Zadar.

November 10, 2018 - The latest flights to Croatia roundup, with El Al starting direct flights to Dubrovnik, Ryanair expanding, Volotea moving into Rijeka, and more records smashed at Croatian airports.

New Direct Flights to Croatia - El Al from Tel Aviv to Dubrovnik

Isreali interest in Croatia has been steadily increasing in recent months, with Croatia's controversial US$500 million purchase of Israeli F16s, a shift in the Croatian position in the Israeli-Palestinian dispute, as well as a raft of business announcements. The latest strengthening of ties comes with the announcement that El Al will start the first-ever direct flights to Dubrovnik from Israel, starting on June 4. The weekly Tuesday flight will run under the tourist brand Sun d'Or until September 24, and the new route will be in addition to the longer running connection between Tel Aviv and Zagreb. The flights to Zagreb will be three times a week from April 2 to October 23 - all details of timetables can be found via Avioradar. 

Flights to Rijeka - Welcome Volotea!

Volotea's steady expansion in the Croatian market continues, and the Spanish low-cost carrier has announced its first flight to Rijeka, European City of Culture in 2020. And if you are quick, promotional tickets are just 9 euro. The new route will be once a week from Marseilles, and it will run from June 6 to August 28. 

New flights to Pula from easyJet and Volotea

More easyJet love for Istria, as the famous orange and white livery will be connecting Pula with Amsterdam next summer, as already reported by TCN. 

It is not the only new route to Pula to be announced this week. Having already established Nantes to Pula, Volotea will commence direct flights to Pula from Bordeaux once a week on June 5, reports Avioradar.

More flights to Split with Wideroe

No market has opened up to Dalmatia as much as the Scandinavian market with the arrival of budget flights, and national carrier Norwegian can be credited with a major part in establishing the market. Where one goes, others follow, and yet one more option for Norwegian tourists next summer, as Wideroe has announced another charter option from Oslo Torp to Split. 

Cheap Flights to Croatia - Ryanair to add more Zadar Routes

Despite being the first to enter the low-cost market in Croatia back in 2007, Ryanair has not expanded as much as easyJet, Norwegian or some other competitors. It seems that some efforts to addressing this will come next year. 

"The budget airline, which last year held a 5% capacity share in Croatia and was well behind rivals such as easyJet and Eurowings on the market, will strengthen its seasonal base in Zadar next year with the launch of up to eight new routes. The carrier has already scheduled new services from Hamburg, Prague, Cologne, and Nuremberg to the Croatian coastal city next summer. However, it is expected that the no frills airline will no longer have an aircraft stationed in Croatia." Read the full story of Ryanair's plans for both Croatia and the wider region on ExYuAviation.

Flights to Croatia - more record passenger numbers to Croatian airports

The records keep on tumbling. More information on record passenger numbers in two TCN reports this week - Zagreb, Split, Dubrovnik airports set October record, and  Airports See 10.5% More Passengers than Last Year.

For the latest flight news to Croatia, follow our dedicated page

According to unofficial information, the Maraska Hotel in Zadar will be the first new investment of the Dogus Group in Croatia after the company completes the restructuring process which has started in Turkey, but it is still uncertain whether their partner will be the famous Hyatt hotel brand as previously announced or will investors eventually have to look for an alternative, reports Jutarnji List on November 1, 2018.

The hotel operator decided to enter the Maraska hotel project due to the fact that the Turkish investor planned to complete it with the purchase of a marina. However, as the four-year bidding process for the marina is not coming to an end, it is likely that the Dogus Group will have to inform Hyatt about changes to the plans.

“There are few people in Dogus who believe that the marina will be sold to them, although the Turkish offer was the highest. However, even if there is no marina, the company will proceed with the construction of the hotel after the restructuring is over. It seems likely that the entire project will have to be changed somewhat, so it is now necessary to see whether Hyatt will agree to another version of the concept,” say sources close to the investors who still believe that the hotel operator will accept a slightly modified project.

All permits to start construction works on Maraska have been prepared, but the group has decided there would be no significant investments until the restructuring of the company in Turkey is completed. Dogus Group is negotiating with banks on repayment terms for loans that are mostly contracted in foreign currencies. If the negotiations are concluded by the end of the year as expected, the first official information on plans for Croatia will be announced at the time. Speculation which has emerged in the media over the past few weeks – that Dogus is selling property in Croatia – has been officially denied.

How will the restructuring of the group in Turkey affect its business in Croatia will also depend on the conditions which banks will impose on Dogus. The company has invested 250 million kuna in Croatia since 2009 and employs 350 workers. It owns D-Marin Mandalina in Šibenik, D-Marin Dalmacija in Sukošan, and D-Marin Borik in Zadar. The company's portfolio also includes the D-Resort hotel in Šibenik and the exclusive boutique hotel Villa Dubrovnik. The hotel operations were supposed to be expanded with the Maraska hotel in Zadar, which was initially expected to open its doors in summer 2019.

Contracts with constriction companies were ready to be signed, but since the decision about the marina was delayed, the works have not yet started. The most likely new deadline for the opening of the Maraska hotel is now summer 2021.

Additionally, Dogus Group started the reconstruction of the Borik marina in mid-January, an investment totalling two million euro.

For more news about investments of Dogus Group in Croatia, click here.

The weather in Dalmatia has been wreaking havoc, and while things have calmed down significantly now, for many boats and indeed permanent structures, the damage has already been done. The Zadar waterfront (riva) is just one casualty which needs quick action.

As eZadar writes on the 31st of October, 2018, a model for the repair and reconstruction of parts of the now damaged Zadar waterfront is being searched for by the Ministry of Maritime Affairs, Transport and Infrastructure.

In order to determine the real extent of the damage caused by Dalmatia's recent bout of extremely wild weather and to go forward with a proper plan for the repair of the Zadar waterfront, Josip Bilaver, assistant to Oleg Butković, the Minister of Sea, Transport and Infrastructure, arrived in the popular Dalmatian city of Zadar and together with the heads of departments of the City of Zadar, he visited the damaged waterfront and the jetty area which suffered the greatest extent of Mother Nature's damage.

After an expert analysis of the damage to the structure, a concrete plan for its repair and reconstruction involving the City of Zadar, the wider Zadar County, and the aforementioned Ministry will be drawn up and implemented as soon as possible.

As the Zadar waterfront now unfortunately requires complete reconstruction, which is an extremely demanding task and a great financial burden that the city really didn't need, Assistant Minister Bilaver has put forward the idea of financing the complete reconstruction through a joint project of the City, the Ministry of Maritime Affairs, Transport and Infrastructure, and the Ministry of Regional Development and European Union funds, by applying for help from the cohesion funds. In this way, it would be possible to find the means for the complete repair and reconstruction of the Zadar waterfront, which would be carried out in several phases so as to limit any potential issues.

Want to keep up with news from across the country, be it about business, current events, sport or yet more wild weather? Make sure to stay up to date with our news page.