January 2, 2022 - It was hailed as the first 'Croatian digital nomad village' when it opened in October last year, but little has been heard about it since. A visit to Zadar Valley in mid-December.  

2021 was a phenomenal year for Croatia's digital nomad story. The year kicked off with the introduction of the digital nomad permit, one of the first in the world, on January 1. It was a permit which received global attention and was recently named the best in the world.  

Innovative programmes such as the award-winning Dubrovnik Digital Nomads-in-Residence and Zagreb Digital Nomad Week & Ambassador project kept Croatia in the global nomad news, and helped to attract an increasing number of nomads to check out Croatia. 

By the time the highly regarded Nomad List 2021 survey came out late in the year, the feedback was stunning - Croatia was the second most-liked country, and Zagreb in the top 5 cities in the world! 

There was more. On September 29, the Digital Nomads Croatia Facebook page announced Zadar Valley,  the first 'digital nomad village' and curated community in Croatia. Here is the announcement in full, with accompanying photos:

DIGITAL NOMAD VALLEY ZADAR OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

I believe that everyone in this group knows that Croatia has a lot to offer to digital nomads. From natural beauty to culture, architecture, gastronomy, and quite importantly, the Mediterranean lifestyle.

However, we also recognize that the attractiveness of the country is not enough on its own, it’s the feeling of community that matters to digital nomads and remote workers. As moderators of this group, are working hard to empower the DN community in Croatia.

That is why I am very happy to announce a project which would, hopefully, attract even more digital nomads to visit this beautiful land and create strong and lasting communities around the country.

As a CEO of grabAhome, in partnership with Falkensteiner H&R, I proudly present Digital Nomad Valley Zadar!

At one of the most beautiful resorts, in one of the most prominent cities in Croatia, we are organizing the first curated digital nomad community in Croatia.

Starting October 10th, by joining the program you will get:

• Premium mobile homes with solo or coliving options
• Exclusive coworking office
• Community manager
• Free access to Spa, Gym, and indoor pool
• Exclusive events (organized by us and the community)
• #discordcommunity channel
• Partner discounts
• Most importantly, a great community of like-minded people

JOIN US AT www.workremotelycroatia.com

Minimum 2-week stay. Starting at €130 per week, we believe that everyone will be able to find an accommodation option that suits them.

We are also able to offer the First 15 digital nomads a 15% discount for the first two weeks of stay!

This project is a part of a new initiative from grabAhome called Work Remotely Croatia, where we hope to build and support several communities around Croatia in order to promote and advocate sustainable tourism in Croatia. This project starts on October 10th until 31st March, with the possibility of an extension!

Special thanks to Falkensteiner H&R for offering long-term rentals just for the purpose of this project, and to Digital Nomad Association Croatia and Zadar Tourist Board for supporting this project.

It sounded like a fantastic initiative - and it is - and TCN was the first to publish the announcement, and the story was soon picked up by global media such as, for example, Euronews. 

Zadar Valley co-founder Mario Mrksa gave a very good interview with TCN just before the launch, outlining the project and what nomads could expect at Zadar Valley. With over 200 applications in the first 10 days, it seemed that all was heading in the right direction. 

And then things got a little strange - to me at least, someone who has been following the Croatian DN scene for over two years. Zadar Valley opened, but there was no online presence or feedback whatsoever that I could see. And I looked quite hard. 

Then some days later, something even stranger, as an article by the Croatian National Tourist Board (HTZ) appeared in Slobodna Dalmacija. This is the first time I had seen HTZ promoting a private enterprise in all my time in Croatia.

To put it in context, long before I had any issues with the Croatian National Tourist Board, back in 2015 I wrote my most successful article ever. 25 Reasons Never to Visit Croatia was visited more than 1 million times, covered by every Croatian (and some international) media, shared by almost every local and regional tourist board. 

But not by the Croatian National Tourist Board, which actually deleted links to the article when people posted on their Facebook page. I was a little upset, so I complained to the Director's office (a former director, not the current one). This was part of the reply:

The Croatian National Tourism Board is a national tourist organization founded with a view to promoting and creating the identity of Croatian tourism. The mission also includes the planning and implementation of a common strategy and the conception of its promotion, proposal and the performance of promotional activities of mutual interest for all subjects in tourism in the country and abroad, as well as raising the overall quality of the whole range of tourist services in the Republic of Croatia. Therefore, we cannot promote commercial subjects based on individual offer of tourist services. 

A fairly clear - if short-sighted - policy, but definitely a strong guideline. Which is why it was so strange to see the article in Slobodna.

Things got even stranger at the end of November. With still nothing online about life at Zadar Valley, a hastily arranged press conference on November 28 to officially launch Zadar Valley had a star cast, including the Head of Global PR of the Croatian National Tourist Board, the Mayor Zadar, and the local MEP. Mario invited me to the press conference a couple of days before, but given my ongoing lawsuits with one of his star guests, I declined as I did not want to distract attention from the project. 

By contrast, the award-winning Zagreb Digital Nomad Week and Dubrovnik Digital Nomads-in-Residence barely (if at any) got an official mention from the Croatian National Tourist Board. Odd.

But I did meet him and his Zadar Valley partner, Vedran, for a beer in Zagreb to discuss progress. And there was good progress, they informed me, as well as inviting me down to visit. 

I decided to take him up on the offer, and planned a quick visit in mid-December. But I also asked him to send an update on the project, as well as a quote, and some photographs of life in Zadar Valley. This is what Mario sent me, published in full: 

RECAP
Since October 2021, we have welcomed more than 20 digital nomads to the Valley. While many are from Europe (England, Germany, Czechia, Sweden); DNs also joined us from the Americas (USA, Brazil) and East Asia. A few DNs extended their stays at the Valley by several weeks. While many residents work in IT, creative, and on start-ups; several also work remotely for employers at regular 9 to 5 jobs.

In partnership with the expat and local community, we have organized meetups at bars and nightclubs, group dinners, board games evenings, bike rides, hikes to Velebit and surrounding areas, and even a group Kizomba dance night. Through these events, we have formed friendships with long-term Expats and DNs in the area.

In November, Gillie Sutherland joined the Valley as Wellness Ambassador. She holds daily Yoga classes, often on the beach, and conducts seminars on nutrition and healthy living.

We have 14 new DNs coming at the beginning of January and expect Steve Tsentserensky and Dean Kuchel to join us, which are already well recognized within DN community in Croatia. In addition to building the community, organizing meetups and excursions, we are planning several local experiences (Croatian traditions and crafts) and a series of comprehensive spa and wellness packages.

"We are very proud of what we achieved within the first 75 days of the Digital Nomad Valley project. Even though we managed to bring the first batch of nomads to our small "village", we're most proud of seeing digital nomads and remote workers coming to the City of Zadar just because they heard about a new DN community here.

Many of them decided to stay until the beginning of Summer. It's mesmerizing to think that, just because of this project, we managed to influence people to choose a destination they probably never heard of for working remotely. We accomplished putting Zadar on the DN map, and that's just a start." Mario Mrksa. 

My visit in mid-December was hardly going to be the peak season for nomads in Zadar Valley, and so it proved. Community Manager Forrest Stilin, a very friendly and enthusiastic American returning to his Croatian roots, showed me around on a gorgeous December late morning.  He is clearly very enthusiastic about the project and very keen to see the community develop with the arrival of a bigger group of nomads in January.  At the time of my visit, there was just one nomad at Zadar Valley (all photos in this article are not from my visit, but supplied by Zadar Valley). 

The community is building slowly, with outdoor activities such as hiking proving a hit.  

 And there is a definite plus when it comes to the spa.

 The Falkensteiner hotel partner has given free spa access to every resident of Zadar Valley. 

A nice addition for sure. There is also a coworking space in the hotel, which had a couple of people working in it when we visited. As for the valley itself, it is a little hard to comment on it, as we didn't actually see anybody as we walked around. 

But the community is building slowly, and Zadar Valley has signed up a few local partner service providers, who are offering special DN programmes and discounts. This is something that will presumably grow in time. 

Is Zadar Valley for me? Personally I would prefer a little more life and community, but it is hard to judge on a visit in December. There certainly needs to be more information and social media posting about, and the arrival of the Dean Kuchels will certainly help in that regard.  

Having spent a pleasant hour with Forrest, culminating in a (with a discount) coffee in a local cafe, I headed back to Zagreb, with one small detour. Mario and Vedran had invited a few nomads to road test a new nomad-friendly villa they had taken on. I agreed to check it out, as well as saying hi to one of the temporary residents - Zagreb Digital Nomad Ambassador for November, Rax Suen from Singapore. 

The villa - actually two - is magnificent. 

The views pretty special.  

And the location a real disappointment. These are the instructions of how to reach it by car. Once in the villa, life is beautiful indeed. But it is far away from anything else, especially if you do not have a car. 

it felt somehow a little like Zadar Valley itself - a great concept, but very much a work in progress. 

Having visited, would I classify as a digital nomad village? No, it has some way to go. There are other more developed events, such as Nomad Table in Split, which are bringing communities together. 

But the project definitely has potential, and Mario and Vedran should be congratulated on the initiative. Whether or not Zadar Valley will establish itself as a key destination in the DN story remains to be seen, but its very existence is one more stepping stone to putting Croatia on the global digital nomad map. 

For more news and features about digital nomads in Croatia, follow the dedicated TCN section.  

December 18, 2021 - The latest flight news to Croatia with two new Zadar Airport summer routes from Oslo and Lubeck, while KLM boosts Dubrovnik-Amsterdam next summer. 

Two foreign airlines have announced routes to Zadar Airport - from Oslo and Lubeck, reports Croatian Aviation.

Namely, Flyr and Lubeck Air have announced new routes to Zadar Airport for next year's summer flight schedule, directly connecting Zadar to Oslo and Lubeck.

The new Norwegian airline, Flyr, will connect Oslo and Zadar from April 9 to October 29 next year, twice a week, every Wednesday and Saturday. The B737-800 aircraft with a capacity of 180 seats have been announced on the route, and the line will operate from Gardermoen Airport in Oslo.

Lubeck Air will run a direct flight between Lubeck and Zadar from May 19 to October 27, 2022, once a week, on Thursdays. ATR75 aircraft have been announced on this route.

Furthermore, Croatian Aviation reports that Dutch airline KLM will introduce additional flights to Dubrovnik Airport next summer.

The world's oldest airline will soon officially announce the summer flight schedule, including news for the Croatian market. Namely, KLM will significantly increase the number of weekly operations between Amsterdam and Dubrovnik.

The Dubrovnik-Amsterdam line was introduced this summer, after a full 33 years, and flights between the two mentioned cities in the peak season ran daily.

Given the tremendous interest of passengers, KLM plans to operate between Dubrovnik and Amsterdam twice a day and 14 times a week next summer while maintaining two daily flights to Zagreb and as many as three daily flights to Split.

Next year, KLM will have 7 daily and 49 weekly flights to Croatia in the peak summer season. Given the quality of service and the vast network of destinations, and its central hub in Amsterdam, there is no doubt that the airline will bring a significant number of tourists to Croatian airports next summer.

KLM currently operates twice a day to Zagreb and will briefly launch a line between Split and Amsterdam around Christmas and New Year.

For more on flights to Croatia and other travel announcements, make sure to check out our dedicated travel section.

December the 6th, 2021 - The placed artificial Zadar reef has been a roaring success as more and more marine life begins flocking to it to set up home and breed.

As Morski writes, a round table which discussed the topic: "Monitoring the occurrence of marine organisms on the artificial reef within the project Adri.SmArtFish" was held at the Zadar County Chamber recently.

The Administrative Department for Agriculture, Fisheries and EU Funds of Zadar County is implementing the project "Adri.SmArtFish" funded by the Interreg V-A Italy - Croatia, its implementation began on January the 1st, 2019 and will last until December the 31st, 2021.

The overall objective of the project is to strengthen the role of coastal fishing in GSA 17 (northern and central Adriatic) in the near future by encouraging innovation within the context of "blue growth" through the adoption of an ecosystem-based management approach.

One of the activities of Zadar County in the project was the installation of the aforementioned artificial Zadar reef. Back in February this year, this artificial Zadar reef was set up near the island of Osljak. It was formed in the shape of a three-sided pyramid with sides spanning 7.30 metres, a height reaching 3.10 metres and a total volume of approximately 24 cubic metres. It is a prefabricated type of structure, consisting of 60 concrete slabs and made of environmentally friendly materials, whose shape and chemical composition allow for the safe settlement of organisms and the formation of a complete biocenosis as similar as possible to those found on natural reefs which occur across our oceans and seas.

The University of Zadar and the Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries conducted the monitoring procedure after the artificial Zadar reef was initially set up, and presented their observations at a round table with nineteen participants from Zadar County, the Croatian Chamber of Commerce, IZOR, and from various fishing trades and local action group in the field of fisheries (LAGUR).

Although they used different methods in the monitoring of the artificial Zadar reef, they came to the same conclusions: they noticed the same species of fish arriving on the reef, they noticed that over time more and more fish and other organisms gathered around the reef, and it would be easier to monitor the depth the set ridge was smaller.

It was concluded that the reef has definitely fulfilled its purpose as a pilot project, ie it has been proven that fish do successfully gather in such areas. In the future, after the completion of the project, monitoring should continue, and the installation of more artificial fish reefs in the Zadar Channel should be considered.

For more, check out our lifestyle section.

December 4, 2021 - The latest flight news to Croatia as new Ryanair summer lines from Zagreb, Rijeka, and Zadar have been announced for next year, which are interesting for both tourists and Croatian travelers. 

Irish low-cost carrier Ryanair announces new routes for the 2022 summer flight schedule from three Croatian airports - Rijeka, Zagreb, and Zadar, reports Croatian Aviation and Ex Yu Aviation. 

From Zagreb to:

Bratislava, twice a week, from March 27, 2022, every Wednesday and Sunday, until October 26 next year. There have been no regular lines between the two cities so far.

Corfu, twice a week, from June 4, 2022, every Tuesday and Saturday, until September 27 next year.

So far, there has been no regular line from Zagreb to Corfu. This line will certainly be attractive in the summer, given that an increasing number of Croatian citizens go on summer vacation to Greece. Along with Thessaloniki, Corfu is Ryanair's second destination from Zagreb to Greece.

From Rijeka to:

Stockholm (Arlanda), twice a week, from March 27, 2022, Thursdays and Sundays, to October 27 next year.

Ryanair has operated between the two cities in previous years, but from Skvasta Airport, which is dislocated from Stockholm, so the change in operations in Arland is very positive news for all passengers on this line. This is the third announced Ryanair route for next year from Rijeka, with the addition of lines to Brussels and London.

From Zadar to:

Sofia twice a week, from March 27, 2022, Wednesdays and Sundays, to October 26 next year.

Helsinki, twice a week, from June 3, 2022, Mondays and Fridays, to September 30 next year.

The new additions bring Ryanair’s total number of destinations out of Zagreb to 26, far more than national carrier Croatia Airlines, reports Ex Yu Aviation.

“Ryanair has added 24 routes out of Zagreb, while Croatia Airlines has introduced three in the past three years and been the beneficiary of twelve million euros in state aid. We, on the other hand, receive no subsidies from the government. Croatia Airlines is a distinguished carrier, but it has lost touch with the development of air travel in Croatia, particularly from Zagreb. We do not see them as a competitor because even on the routes we both operate on, we fly to different airports. Ryanair will change travel habits in Zagreb and encourage locals to travel more by air," said Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary on Croatia Airlines’ slow development out of Zagreb before these new lines were announced. 

For more on flights to Croatia and other travel announcements, make sure to check out our dedicated travel section.

November 24, 2021 - The latest flight news to Croatia as Croatia Airlines Copenhagen-Zagreb flights are boosted this December, while Ryanair has announced two new lines to Zadar Airport next year.

Croatian Aviation reports that Croatia Airlines is increasing the number of weekly operations between Zagreb and Copenhagen in December.

The Zagreb - Copenhagen - Zagreb line was among the first to return to traffic last year after the end of the lockdown in Europe. The line was operated daily in the summer season, and Croatia Airlines additionally operated in the summer flight schedule on the regular line between Split and Copenhagen.

At the beginning of the winter flight schedule, the number of weekly operations between Zagreb and Copenhagen was reduced, but there will be an increase in the number of weekly flights in December, and the capacity itself.

From November 29 to December 5, Croatia Airlines will operate on this route 5 times a week, every day except Tuesdays and Saturdays, while 3 out of 5 flights will be operated with A319 aircraft, significantly higher capacity than DashQ400.

Daily flights were announced from December 6 to 12, but with smaller DashQ400 aircraft, while a week later (December 13-19), 6 flights with the A319 and one with the DashQ400 were announced.

From December 20 to 26, 6 flights have been announced, and Zagreb and Copenhagen will not only be connected on Christmas, but four of the six flights will be operated with the A319. Five flights have been announced from December 27 to 31, with three flights currently scheduled with the A319.

From November 30 to December 31, Croatia Airlines will operate 30 return flights between Copenhagen and Zagreb, currently offering almost 6,900 seats, most on A319 aircraft. 

Furthermore, Croatian Aviation announced that Ryanair launched two new routes from the UK to Zadar next summer, both operating from the end of March next year.

Ryanair will now connect Birmingham and Bournemouth to Zadar. While there are already scheduled flights from Birmingham to Croatian airports, this will be the first flight from Bournemouth to Croatia.

The Birmingham - Zadar - Birmingham will operate from March 30 to October 29, 2022, twice a week, every Wednesday and Saturday.

The Bournemouth - Zadar - Bournemouth line will operate from March 29 to October 29, 2022, twice a week, every Tuesday and Saturday.

There are an additional 45,000 seats between the UK and Zadar, or almost 130 more return flights from these two new routes alone. Zadar currently has 7 Ryanair destinations in the UK announced for next summer season.

For more on flights to Croatia and other travel announcements, make sure to check out our dedicated travel section.

November 13, 2021 - The latest flight news to Croatia as Ryanair Zadar summer flights and Blue Air flights from Bucharest to Dubrovnik and Split have been announced.

As the summer flight schedule is slowly being announced, more routes to Croatia have gone on sale, including to Zadar Airport, reports Croatian Aviation. 

New Ryanair summer flights include:

Zadar - Nuremberg - Zadar, from March 29, 2022, twice a week, every Tuesday and Saturday until the end of October,

Zadar - Stockholm Arlanda - Zadar, from March 27, 2022, twice a week, every Wednesday and Sunday, until the end of October,

Zadar - Turin - Zadar, from March 28, 2022, twice a week, every Monday and Friday, also until the end of October.

These new lines will offer almost 70 thousand seats from the end of March to the end of October next year. 

Nuremberg will also be Ryanair's ninth destination in Germany from Zadar (along with Berlin, Bremen, Cologne, Dusseldorf Weeze, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Karlsruhe, and Memmingen), and Stockholm will be the third in Sweden (existing lines to Vaxjo and Gothenburg).

Currently, 39 international Ryanair routes are on sale to and from Zadar Airport. 

In addition to the lines to Zadar, Ryanair operates on year-round lines to Zagreb, and next summer, it will be present in Pula, Rijeka, Split, and Dubrovnik. 

Furthermore, Croatian Aviation reports that Romania's low-cost airline, Blue Air, announced two scheduled flights to Croatia in the 2022 summer flight schedule.

Namely, Blue Air has announced seasonal routes to Split and Dubrovnik.

The Romanian low-cost airline operated mainly on charter routes to Croatia in the summer flight schedule this year, specifically to Dubrovnik, with ad-hoc arrivals to other Croatian airports. The airline is now announcing regular operations to Dubrovnik and Split from the Romanian capital.

Bucharest - Split - Bucharest will run from June 23 to September 29, 2022, twice a week, every Thursday and Sunday,

Bucharest - Dubrovnik - Bucharest will operate from June 28 to September 27, 2022, every Tuesday and Saturday, also twice a week.

The airline plans to operate on ad-hoc charter flights to Croatia next summer, mainly for Romanian tour operators selling holiday packages in Istria and the central Adriatic. Blue Air will thus operate on charter flights to Pula and Zadar airports.

When asked about introducing a regular line to Zagreb, Blue Air points out that they are considering several destinations, including the Croatian capital. 

Until the beginning of the global pandemic, Croatia Airlines operated three times a week (Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays) between Zagreb and Bucharest in the summer flight schedule. The line was introduced in May 2017 and was in operation every summer until 2020. It is unknown whether Croatia Airlines will resume operations between Bucharest and Zagreb in the summer of 2022.

In addition to two new lines from Split and Dubrovnik, Zadar will also have a regular connection to the Romanian capital. Ryanair will continue to operate between Zadar and Bucharest next summer, twice a week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays, from March 30 to October 29, 2022.

For more on flights to Croatia and other travel announcements, make sure to check out our dedicated travel section.

October 25, 2021 - To celebrate the Day of the European Heritage 2021, the Science Library Zadar presented their exhibition "UNESCO's Monuments in the Photo Library".

The exhibition is supported by the UNESCO Department of the Ministry of culture and media of the Republic of Croatia. Thematically, the exhibition is divided into five parts, each showing the UNESCO monuments in Zadar, Šibenik, Trogir, Split and Dubrovnik. The exhibition consists of around sixty photographs that were taken between the second half of the nineteenth century and the seventies in the twentieth century.

You can physically see the exhibition between the 25th and the 30th of October in the Library. However, probably the more exciting piece of information is that the exhibition is also available online. Its virtual form was created in cooperation with the National and University Library in Zagreb. You can access the exhibition here: http://pozdravizhrvatske.nsk.hr/unesco-zkzd/. Unfortunately, the accompanying text is in Croatian, but the photos are accessible to everyone, and worth checking out.

The Library invites the public to take the journey through time and between Zadar and Dubrovnik, a journey of 350 kilometres, to get to know what the UNESCO monuments looked like in the past. The goal is to encourage thinking about the need to evaluate and protect our heritage.

The exhibition shows a small fraction of over 2500 photos digitised by the Library, working with the Ministry of culture and media, Zadar County and the town of Zadar. The project lasted for three years, in the period 2018-2020. The photo library is available in full in the Croatian libraries catalogue and in the digital repository of the Science Library. The completion of this project of the digitalisation of their photos makes the Science Library Zadar the first library in Croatia to present their photo collection through a digital repository.

October 20, 2021 - Mali Lošinj, Rab, Zadar, Šibenik, Supetar, and Dubrovnik will receive modern high-speed medical boats in the next two years, finally establishing an emergency maritime medical service in these areas.

This long-awaited project worth almost HRK 77 million is co-financed by EU Funds and will significantly increase the level of health and safety of people in the coastal area, while with all the necessary equipment in outpatient clinics at initial destinations will be performed to determine the need for emergency intervention and transportation to the nearest hospital on land, reports HRTurizam. 

The procurement of 6 fast boats with the necessary equipment to provide emergency medical care will be located in stationary ports in Mali Lošinj, Rab, Zadar, Šibenik, Supetar, and Dubrovnik. The boats will be built by the communities of bidders: Tehnomont Shipyard and ISKRA Shipyard.

Boats and related equipment will also be used for search and rescue purposes and to provide medical assistance in cases of maritime accidents and maritime disasters. Also, to prevent unnecessarily high costs of transport from the island to the mainland by fast boats, in dispensaries at the initial destinations of patient care, it will be possible to perform simple qualitative or quantitative medical-biochemical tests using automatic biochemical analyzers to determine the necessity of emergency intervention of transport to the nearest emergency medical institution/hospital on land.

For this purpose, the project will provide 12 automatic biochemical blood analyzers that will be distributed in 12 branches of the Institute of Emergency Medicine - Blato on Korcula, Korcula, Lastovo and Mljet in Dubrovnik-Neretva County, Cres, Mali Losinj, and Rab in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County, Jelsa on Hvar, Supetar, Šolta and Vis in the Split-Dalmatia County and Preko in the Zadar County.

While this is great news, HRTurizam writes that it is also necessary to provide helicopter services on the islands and the coast and that it is the civilizational reach of the 21st century where we must provide all island residents with quality health care, and thus for the safety of tourists as a serious tourist destination.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated lifestyle section.

October 18, 2021 - Changing the mindset of the next generation is one of the key benefits for Croatia with the digital nomad opportunity - a topic which is now the subject of an academic thesis. 

One of my favourite moments at the excellent Dubrovnik Digital Nomads-in-Residence programme back in April was having a coffee with one of the local attendees on the first day of the design thinking workshop which helped create the strategy and roadmap forward for Dubrovnik's digital nomad journey.

"This has been mindblowing," she said. "A completely new way of living, and of thinking.  And I have already decided that I am going to trade in my current way of life for the digital nomad revolution."

The world of work is changing, and the era of remote work is here. I have been thoroughly enjoying meeting lots of progressive people over the last year, many of whom are foreigners who have chosen to combine their online job with the enviable Croatian lifestyle - a winning combination. And the more people who come with this new way of working, with their fresh ideas, the more they will inspire a new way of thinking in the younger generation in Croatia, many of whom choose emigration over trying to make a life here. 

And if seems that interest is trickling down to the world of academia. 

This LinkedIn post from digital permit holder, Steve Tsentserensky, made me smile. Steve has been doing sterling work promoting Croatia, from speaking at conferences and writing viral articles for CNBC on the subject, to producing outstanding photos and videos as he explores the country. Great to see that both he and Jan are a cause for inspiration. 

I decided to reach out to Jozo Barac about his choice of thesis, thinking it must be the first thesis in Croatia on the subject. It apparently was the second, as he informed me:

Through a detailed search, I found that so far only one Master thesis in 2020 has been written on the topic of digital nomadism in Croatia. In my opinion, this paper was written as a fairly general account of digital nomadism. Therefore, I wanted to write a thesis that will clearly show what digital nomadism is, what are the most common occupations, what is needed to develop a destination for digital nomads and how Croatia is positioned in the context of such a destination. Also, I conducted research on young people of different study orientations. In this research, I measured their attitudes and motivation and, through three different hypotheses, statistically tested whether there were significant differences in their attitudes and motivation for digital nomadism. 

Inspired by the likes of Steve and Jan, Jozo dived into his research into this new world of opportunity. He told me:

I believe that Croatia meets three basic prerequisites for the development of such destinations, namely fast and stable Internet, climate conditions and acceptable living costs. Also, we are a safe destination and have many cultural and natural attractions. Our highways are good, while the railways are very bad. I believe that by increasing the number of digital nomads in Croatia, new airlines will be introduced. Furthermore, within this destination development, numerous entrepreneurial opportunities can be realized. Some of these opportunities are the opening of coworking and coliving spaces and the creation of various gastronomic and adrenaline tours for digital nomads. I absolutely support the recent opening of the valley for digital nomads in Zadar and I believe that there will be more and more such projects.

Congratulations to Jozo on his graduation, and good luck on your entrepreneurial journey. You can find a summary of Jozo's thesis below, and you can connect with him on LinkedIn if you want to know more.

Digital nomadism as a new form of business

Travel has been an indispensable part of human life since the beginning of the development of all civilizations. The main motives for the trip were usually a change of environment, rest, recreation, meeting new cultures and people. Today, people most often travel during the holidays which they use to rest and recover from stressful everyday life. However, for many, traveling in these quantities is not enough and they are looking for ways to travel more.

One way to travel more is definitely digital nomadism. It is a term that encompasses traveling and getting to know different cultures around the world while simultaneously earning a living with the inevitable mediation of technology and internet connection. In this paper, the introduction highlights the goals, content and methodology of the research. Also, the problem and the subject of research are defined.

The second chapter defines the concept of digital nomadism and the holistic approach to the study of this concept. Such an approach encompasses the frameworks of digital nomadism as an economic activity or model, as a cultural phenomenon and as a technologically enabled form of work. It presents the basic characteristics, positive and negative sides and the most common occupations practiced by digital nomads. Some of these professions are social media marketing expert, SEO expert and e-retailer of digital products. Also, the basic legislative frameworks around the world concerning the topic of this paper are presented. The Republic of Croatia should be highlighted as a country that has clearly defined the conditions of stay of digital nomads on its territory by voting on the Foreigners Act, which has been valid since 1.1.2021.

The third chapter presents the conditions for the development of destinations for digital nomads. The basic preconditions for the development of such destinations are fast and stable internet connection, climatic conditions and low cost of living. In this chapter, the Republic of Croatia is placed in the global context of such destinations and can be positioned as one of the most desirable destinations for digital nomads. Also, the basic possibilities and limitations of the development of such destinations are listed. In the fourth chapter, the research methodology is presented and a survey of 120 respondents was conducted through an online questionnaire. Of the three hypotheses set, the first and third hypotheses were accepted, while the second hypothesis was rejected. Based on the entire paper, basic conclusions were reached on the overall topic of digital nomadism, destination development in this context, and a number of research conclusions and recommendations for future research.

For more news and features on digital nomads in Croatia, follow the dedicated TCN section. 

October 6, 2021 - A week after announcing the first so-called Croatian digital nomad village,  Digital Nomad Valley Zadar, details about the number of applicants, age range, and nationalities has been published. 

Just four days before it is scheduled to open, the level of interest in the new concept of tourism has been made public. As we reported a week ago, Digital Nomad Valley Zadar is opening its doors at the Falkensteiner Borik resort in Zadar, catering to digital nomads through the winter and beeyond. You can learn more details from last week's announcement.

Co-founder of the project, Mario Mrksa, kindly gave TCN an interview the following day, in which he expressed his hope that at least 30 digital nomads would take part in the initial phase. 

So, is Mario going to be satisfied with the interest so far? From his LinkedIn update a few minutes ago, things seem to be going rather well. Here it is in full.

UPDATED NUMBERS

Firstly, I would like to thank everyone for giving such wonderful feedback for this initiative 

There are more and more #digitalnomads and #remoteworkers applying Digital Nomad Valley every day!

Within a week, we have received 89 applications from 30 different countries! As expected, United States and United Kingdom are taking the lead.

Top countries:
USA: 22
UK: 15
Germany: 6
Poland: 5
Canada: 4

Proud to say that we have applicants from all continents!

Some other interesting facts:

The youngest applicant is 22 and oldest 61 years old wow!

59% want to come alone, 18.5% with a love partner and others with family or group of friends.

20% have said that they need help with getting digital nomad staying permit and 40% said "maybe" Jan de Jong.

We already have digital nomads coming next week 

We are collecting even more stats, if there will be interest I can share some more 

https://lnkd.in/dU5qwk5X

Vedran Presecan
Matej Vukić
Paul Bradbury

#digitalnomadvalley
#digitalnomadcommunity

Great stuff. I spoke to Mario just now to get his reaction:

"The first reaction is amazing! The initial number of applicants within the first week and hundreds of praises from everyone around the world, it sure does feel like we're on the right track with our Work Remotely Croatia initiative!"

Follow the latest news and features from this project and the digital nomad scene in Croatia in the dedicated TCN section.