August 13, 2020 - Komiza, the small fishing town on the island of Vis, is a Dalmatian hit this summer.
Slobodna Dalmacija reports that it's not only Komiza seeing swarms of tourists, but the interior of the island is also full, as is the town of Vis, which in August recorded 80 percent of its figures compared to last year.
Large queues can be seen on the way to the ferry in Vis town, and if you wait to get your ticket until an hour before departure, thinking, "there won't be crowds?" Think again.
The coronavirus has forced people into nature and agriculture, which is a bonus for visitors to Vis, who can enjoy more than 50 swimming pools on the island for guests thanks to luxury villas.
There are so many tourists that, at times, towns look as if they'll burst at the seams, but everyone is happy to be the hit of Dalmatia, expressed a local.
"In Komiza, you can't pass all the people, some renters are full until mid-September. A miracle in a small town. How, why? We have no corona. We are a corona-free destination. That one case? It wasn't ours. People here are safe, calm, free, that's why they come to us," one Vis renter said.
Komiza Mayor Tonka Ivcevic confirms this year's boom, saying that luxury holiday villas sold out first.
The past two weeks in Komiza have been at the level of last year. There are a huge number of yachtspeople, and the novelty is the family guests arriving by car - and there have never been so many.
Another novelty is certainly a significant number of Croatian guests who have recognized Vis as the safest holiday destination.
"To our surprise, no one expected there to be this much tourism. We met them, and we lowered the price of the Blue Cave from 100 kuna to 70 kuna. We also introduced free parking in the city parking lot. We are very satisfied," says the mayor.
The Komiza Tourist Board and its director Bogoljub Mitrakovic are also under attack, stating that some landlords have relaxed too much and are not registering guests. However, Mitrakovic warns such landlords to stop illegal work as soon as possible, also because the Tourist Board regularly asks the State Inspectorate to visit them.
"We send inquiries to the inspectorate every week, even for situations from last year. But they don't answer; the inspector is nowhere to be found. We have 1900 beds, but also a lot of unregistered guests. And that's the problem. Hotel "Biševo" has excellent results, all 300 beds are full from August 1 until today, and official data give us an 80 percent result in August compared to last year. Apart from the domestic guests who took the lead in July, there are a lot of Slovenes, Italians have returned, there are a lot of Britons, Austrians, Germans, French, Serbs… There are a lot of Poles who love diving; they like to explore shipwrecks. The only ones missing from Komiza are those from San Pedro, and the corona blocked them from coming. We are telling everyone to come, Komiza is safe, we are very careful about the measures at all our events, and there are a lot of them. Summer in Komiza is a hit, and I think we succeeded in that because of excellent marketing," says Mitrakovic, who gives thanks to the City and the Nautical Center for their help in organizing the events.
One renter Petra Muric says that you have to walk along the entire waterfront several times to find somewhere to sit for coffee; that the city has become like a ripe pomegranate that will burst at any moment.
"There are so many boaters that the rocks where you tie ropes are also filled. And on the mainland, some groups come naively without inquiring first, so they have to sleep in their cars. Families come with children, godparents. And how will you help them? Everything is full. It got to the point that the couches also filled up. Five of our apartments started filling up about 15 days ago, and we are occupied until mid-September. We had 30 calls a day. This summer, there is a change, there have never been so many locals, but it is evident that they have much less spending power than our standard guests, Scandinavians, Swedes, Dutch, Spaniards, Italians," says Petra.
It is not difficult for foreign guests to pay extra costs, and Komiza is not cheap. However, it is not as easy for the locals. Thus, long columns are formed in front of fast-food restaurants, and the shops are so crowded, they even run out of groceries.
Petra Muric adds that many people openly asked to lower the price of their accommodation. Some Zagreb agencies even called and tried to convince them that their 70 euro accommodation must be reduced by 50 percent.
"I had up to 30 phone inquiries a day for accommodation. In the end, I had to put on the ad that the 70 euro price, which is ten euro less than last year, is final. We are all full, the worst accommodation on the island is full, the situation is to give whatever you have. We have not experienced this yet," says Petra.
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