Just like Goran Rihelj writes in his article for hrturizam.hr, this is a piece of news which we should've read ten years ago, but still - better late than never, and we're happy to report that the tourist boards of Hvar island have finally signed a contract to join forces!
There are five tourist boards on Hvar (Hvar, Stari Grad, Jelsa, Sućuraj and Vrboska), each of them developing their own version and strategy of tourism. Sounds insane and counter-productive, right?
They will continue to exist, but from now on, after they've signed the agreement, they will develop some projects and programmes jointly, as well as marketing and promotional activities. The idea is for them to work together in order to develop and promote Hvar island as a whole.
The presidents of all of those tourist boards signed the agreement - Rikardo Novak of Hvar, Antonio Škarpa for Stari Grad, Nikša Peronja for Jelsa and Vrboska and Ivan Slavić for Sućuraj. Gari Capelli, Croatia's minister of tourism, was also present for the signing, where he said that this agreement finally makes Hvar a unique tourist destination, to be developed and promoted under one name and brand.
Numerous synergic effects should be seen, not only in the quality of the market entrance of the destination, but also in financial efficacy regarding promotion and project management.
This is not the first instance of such cooperation agreements among numerous Croatian tourist boards. But now that Hvar has done it, as one of the brightest stars in Croatian tourism (338.000 visitors were on Hvar in 2018, realising an impressive 1,7 million overnight stays), we can hope that others will follow suit, especially other islands.
Rab, Krk, Brač and others, we're looking at you, synergy and clear branding is the only way forward. That has nothing to do with politics, just the competitive tourist market and market development, which is only possible through branding.
