Something new for Harry Potter fans in Zagreb on July 31, 2018.
In an age of mass tourism with so many companies offering the same or similar things, it is refreshing to find a company offering not only innovation but excellence, taking Croatian tourism in a small new direction, with creativity the keyword at each turn.
I have never read a Harry Potter book or watched an episode of Game of Thrones, but I can imagine what a godsend the Here Be Dragons merchandise shops are for fans here in Croatia.
Most souvenir shops focus on sales, sales, sales, the more the merrier, but at Here Be Dragons, the focus is very much on something else - the user experience. Which of course leads to bigger sales when done correctly.
Consider this door to the Split store in Diocletian's Palace - a lot of effort and innovation has gone into not only being innovative, but also to blend it into the historic setting. And once you get into the store, a whole feast awaits.
The star of last year's Advent in Zagreb was undoubtedly Fuliranje, an area dedicated to all things fun, with one of the absolute hits a specially created Enchanted Village, complete with Ministry of Magic by the Here Be Dragons team.
And no Advent in Zagreb party would be complete without the most famous chair of them all - HBO's Game of Thrones Iron throne, a treat for all Enchanted Villagers as they had the opportunity to sit (free of charge) and take photos sitting on the throne.
So when the Here Be Dragons team announced that they would be opening a store in downtown Zagreb at Tkalciceva 34, there was considerable excitement. A couple of Facebook posts, a couple of opening announcements in the media - who would show up? The street had never seen anything like if for a store opening, as more than 1000 people waited patiently for their turn to visit Zagreb's newest attraction.
It was quite an opening, and the Here Be Dragons store has been a hit with both locals and tourists ever since.
What if, I mused a few weeks ago, the Here Be Dragons team could be involved in a public/private partnership to cash in on the huge potential of Croatia's Game of Thrones tourism, which is being very poorly exploited at the moment. This level of innovation and quality on a national level - now that could see Croatia's innovative tourism ideas go viral.
Meanwhile, Here Be Dragons has just announced its next event, which should be a very fun event for both local and tourist Potterheads, which takes place from 19:00 outside the Here Be Dragons store in Zagreb on July 31 - the first Harry Potter Pub Crawl. If their past efforts are anything to go by, this one is guaranteed to be more than a little fun. Check out the event page on Facebook for more details.
