The Tourist Council of the Croatian Tourist Board (HTZ) decided to award grants to top tourism events this year and has selected the British PR agency "Hills Balfour" for co-operation in 13 markets. Darija Reić was appointed as a new director of HTZ's office in London, reports Poslovni.hr on April 10, 2019.
Tourism Minister Gari Cappelli said that the newly-appointed head of the HTZ office in London would have “a challenging job of further positioning Croatia on the British market, which has recorded a 35 per cent increase in the number of tourists in the last two years.” HTZ Director Kristjan Staničić said that he believes that Reić would justify the confidence of the UK market, which is becoming more important for the overall results of Croatian tourism.
Darija Reić lives and works in London, and she has gained her professional experience by working for the Hong Kong Tourist Board and TUI. Her three-year term in London will start on 1 May, when she will take over from the current head Ivona Grgan.
The Tourism Council has also decided to engage the British PR and marketing agency "Hills Balfour", with the explanation that "its proposals and guidelines separated it from other candidates." This agency will be responsible for the development and implementation of the PR strategy until the end of this year. It will also conduct international PR activities in the area of media relations, social media and online communication, as well as organise events and public relations projects for HTZ on the 13 markets.
The HTZ Tourism Council has also adopted a proposal to increase available funds for grants for the development of the tourism sector. It will co-finance events and programmes of destination management companies with the amount of 6.4 million kuna. The budget for the so-called top events has been increased by 1.9 million kuna. As a result, 32 projects will be co-financed with 4.4 million kuna in total, including Špancirfest, Sinj Alka, Pula Film Festival, Dubrovnik Summer Festival, Picokijada, InMusic Festival and others.
Sports events such as "DOBRO World Cup Osijek 2019", ATP tournament "Plava Laguna Croatia Open Umag", "Pannonian Challenge", "Tour of Croatia" and others will be co-financed this year as part of "Sports Croatia" initiative.
Cappelli believes that such a project will contribute to strengthening of the national brand and positioning the country as a year-long destination, while Staničić announced that through this initiative the HTZ would support 10 top Croatian athletes and sports teams that have been proven to be one of the best promoters of Croatia in the world, as well as 15 major international sports events that are a reason for the arrival of many tourists to various Croatian destinations.
Translated from Poslovni.hr.
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