May 14, 2020 - Croatian Tourism Minister Gari Cappelli has revealed a new slogan about where tourists can stop to refuel or buy food on the way to their Croatian destination.
Index.hr reported that the European Commission has recommended the gradual and coordinated lifting of travel restrictions between the Member States or regions within them that have a similar epidemiological situation to save what can be saved from this year's tourist season.
Minister of Tourism Gari Cappelli said in the show U Mreži Prvi on HRT that Croatia has very well and precisely prepared measures, in agreement with epidemiologists and associations of tourism workers, and that they have been incorporated into the guidelines of the European Commission.
"We were the first to mention bilateral. Opening borders depends on each individual member state, which will primarily negotiate with its neighbors, so we are talking to several countries, primarily Slovenia," Cappelli said and added that corridors have already been created that are recommended to tourists who come to Croatia, and these recommendations relate to where they can stop, refuel or buy food on the way to their destination.
"We have called this slogan 'From home to the destination'. From the moment they book a stay, they will receive this information," the minister said.
The Head of the Border Administration, Zoran Ničeno, emphasized that a difficult period is behind us in which, according to EU recommendations, we blocked traffic across the state border, which was great for a tourist country like Croatia.
"We have established coordination of police directors of countries in the wider region, namely Croatia, Italy, Austria, Slovenia, BiH and Serbia. We have video conferences every week in which we agree on exactly how the police will react in the new measures, and that refers to border crossings and returns back to the country," Ničeno said, adding that this is very important because each country has its own specifics.
He pointed out that not all measures had been lifted. Every person who enters the country is recorded and their personal data is taken, and they are acquainted with all the epidemiological instructions they receive at the border crossing.
"The borders are not open as before, but entering the country is under great epidemiological control," he stressed, adding that these measures will lead to significant congestion at the borders.
Cappelli also spoke for N1.
"Given the conditions, Croatia could have allowed flows at the border. With some limits. They can enter for a reason, provided we know where they are, what their address is. We have been waiting for EU instructions; our proposals have been implemented. We have hundreds a day, thousands of inquiries to enter Croatia," Cappelli told N1.
Upon returning to the country, Slovenes have to isolate themselves for seven days. The minister says negotiations are underway with Slovenia.
"I think that this will be resolved in the coming days by ministerial meetings, so that we will have a clear situation next week. Our epidemiologists have found each other, both have proposals. It will take 15-20 days to go through all this. It is realistic to expect that at the end of the month, we will have the right tourist flow, and without delay," said Cappelli, who spoke about this with the Slovenian minister.
"He begged me to find solutions. They have 110,000 homeowners and boats in Croatia. I don't see the difference when someone leaves Pozega and Zagreb or Novo mesto in Slovenia; the situation is unique," Cappelli said.
"We started because we have had very precise recommendations for all types of tourism for a month now. I warned that we would have quality, but not rigid measures. We made it known. We proved that we are very ready, maybe more than a lot of countries in the EU," Cappelli said.
He said we could generate up to 30 percent of last year’s revenue this year. Next year, he says, they could be at the level of 2018, and in 2022 the same tourist success could be achieved as in 2019.
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