TOURISM SECTORIN CROATIA

Belgian Trade Office office@beltrade-croatia.com Belgian Embassy T: +385 1 457 74 44 Pantovcak 125b1 F: +385 1 457 74 45 HR – 10000 Zagreb (Croatia)

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Overview of Croatia ............................................................................................................................................ 3

2. Overview of Tourism in Croatia........................................................................................................................... 6

3. Foreign investment in Croatia’s tourism sector .................................................................................................. 9

4. Accommodation capacity .................................................................................................................................. 11

5. Travel agencies and tour operators .................................................................................................................. 11

6. Hotel Industry ................................................................................................................................................... 12

7. Camps ................................................................................................................................................................ 12

8. Yacht Week ....................................................................................................................................................... 12

9. Medical Tourism ................................................................................................................................................ 12

10. Wellness Tourism ............................................................................................................................................ 14

11. Rural Tourism .................................................................................................................................................. 15

12. Cultural Tourism .............................................................................................................................................. 16

13. Congress Tourism ............................................................................................................................................ 17

14. Adventure Tourism ......................................................................................................................................... 18

15. Nautical Tourism ............................................................................................................................................. 18

16. Diving tourism ................................................................................................................................................. 25

17. Hunting Tourism .............................................................................................................................................. 26

18. Croatian Tourism: Predictions for 2013 and impact of EU Membership ........................................................ 27

19. Croatian Chamber of Economy ....................................................................................................................... 28

20. Contacts .......................................................................................................................................................... 30

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1. OVERVIEW OF CROATIA

1.1. GENERAL

Sources: www.dzs.hr

AREA 56.542 sq. km

POPULATION 4,4 million

CAPITAL CITY Zagreb

POPULATION IN ZAGREB 779.000 inhabitants

LANGUAGE Croatian

CURRENCY Croatian kuna (HRK)

GOVERNMENT Parliamentary democracy

PRESIDENT Social Democrat Ivo Josipović was elected for a five-year term in January 2010

PRIME MINISTER

FOREIGN MINISTER

MINISTER OF TOURISM

MINISTER FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND TRADE

Zoran Milanović

Vesna Pusić

Darko Lorencin

Gordan Maras

MEMBERSHIP OF INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

- United Nations

- Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe

- Council of Europe

- Regional Cooperation Council

- International Monetary Fund

- World Bank

- World Trade Organization

- European Bank for Reconstruction and Development

- Partnership for Peace

- NATO

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The capital of the country is Zagreb. The other main cities are Osijek, Rijeka and Split. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb.

The climate is Mediterranean and continental. A continental climate is predominant in most of the country with hot summers and cold winters, while the winters are mild and the summers dry along the coast. The terrain is geographically diverse: flat plains along the Hungarian border, and low mountains and highlands near the Adriatic coastline and islands.

Croatia has many natural resources, including oil, coal, bauxite, low-grade iron ore, calcium, gypsum, natural asphalt, silica, mica, clays, salt and hydropower.

Croatia has nine sea ports, five inland waterway ports, twelve highways and eight main airports which accept some international and national air carriers.

1.2. ECONOMY

All financial data are given in EUR. Unless noted otherwise, all values are based on information from 2011.

GDP – purchasing power parity: € 45,897 billion

GDP – per capita: € 10.427

GDP – real growth rate: 0.0%

GDP composition by sector:

agriculture:

industry:

services:

5.4%

25,5%

69,1%

Labor force (employed): 1,541 million

Labor force (by occupation):

agriculture:

industry:

services:

other:

5%

31,3%

63,6%

0,1%

Unemployment rate: 17,6%

At-risk-of-poverty rate: 18% (2009)

Distribution of family income – Gini index: 0,27 (2009)

Investment (gross fixed): 20,1% of GDP

Budget:

revenues:

expenditures:

€ 23,38 billion

€ 21,44 billion

Taxes and other revenues: 47,2% of GDP

Budget surplus (+) or deficit (-): -6% of GDP

Public debt: 43,9% of GDP

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 2,3%

Agriculture – products: wheat, corn, sugar beets, sunflower seed, barley, alfalfa, clover, olives, citrus, grapes, soybeans, potatoes, livestock, dairy products

Industries: tourism, chemicals and plastics, machine tools, fabricated metal, electronics, pig iron and rolled steel products, aluminium, paper, wood products, construction materials, textiles,

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shipbuilding, petroleum and petroleum refining, food and beverages

Exports: € 10 billion

Exports – commodities: transport equipment, machinery, textiles, chemicals, foodstuffs, fuels

Exports – partners: Italy 16,6%, Bosnia and Herzegovina 12,7%, Germany 10,4%, Slovenia 8,2%, Austria 5,8%

Imports: € 16,62 billion

Imports – commodities: machinery, transport and electrical equipment, chemicals, fuels and lubricants, foodstuffs

Imports – partners: Italy 16,2%, Germany 12,8%, Russia 7,2%, China 7,2%, Slovenia 6,4%, Austria 4,4%

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: € 12,27 billion (December 31st, 2011)

Debt – external: € 54,01 billion (December 31st, 2011)

Stock of direct foreign investment – at home: € 27,62 billion (December 31st, 2011)

Stock of direct foreign investment – abroad: € 4,68 billion (December 31st, 2011)

Sources: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/hr.html

Croatia has a small and open economy. Listed as the basic features of Croatia's economy are industry, agriculture, forestry, fishing industry, food and beverages, as well as tobacco production, construction, transport and communication.

The priority of Croatia’s economic policy is the continuation of a stable and strong market-oriented economy, competitive in the global market, the constant reinforcement of macroeconomic stability and the continuation of structural reforms for the purpose of securing stable and sustainable economic growth, an increase in production, especially import, and increased employment. A particular emphasis is on creating a favorable business environment harmonized with the business environment prevalent in the European Union, further development of market economy, stimulation of private investments, promotion of international competitiveness, and entrepreneurial and market freedom. Special priority is given to foreign investments, which are very important for the future development of the country and further restructuring and modernization of the economy.

Basic economic goals include export growth, quality standards introduction, meeting ecology requirements and achieving expenditure efficiency.

Croatia, as a significant tourist destination in the Mediterranean, has a long tourist tradition and big development prospects. During the past couple of years, Croatia has been classified as one of the European travel destinations with the highest growth rate. An advantageous geographical position provides opportunities for the development of transport infrastructure as one of the important factors for the economic and social development of the country.

It can be expected that the EU accession will have a positive effect on the inflow of foreign capital, especially into greenfield investment projects, which are expected to eventually increase the economic growth and global competitiveness of the Croatian economy.

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2. OVERVIEW OF TOURISM IN CROATIA

Source: Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS)

The main goals for the development of tourism are to profile Croatia as a high-quality tourist destination in the Mediterranean, Europe and the world and to increase earnings from tourism by an increase in spending, especially the so-called non-room-and-board consumption, and by extending the season. To achieve above-mentioned goals, it is necessary to create a tourism policy which supports the development of new types of services and products in tourism, a distinctive image for Croatian tourist destinations and regions, as well as to raise the quality of accommodation, catering and other segments of the tourist industry. At the same time, sufficient care should be given to protecting the environment, the cultural and historical heritage, in order to develop Croatian tourism in a sustainable way.

The most important advantages that the Croatian tourist industry can use in the promotion of its tourist destinations and products in foreign markets are its preserved nature and environment, cultural and historical heritage, mild Mediterranean climate, proximity to European markets and long-established tradition of tourism.

In line with current trends in international tourism demand, the Croatian tourism industry should be further developed through various forms of special (selective) tourism, while taking local specifics into account: nautical tourism, diving tourism, cruises on motorized sailing ships, rural tourism, equestrian tourism, sports tourism, day-trip tourism, health tourism, wellness tourism, adventure tourism, conference tourism, ecotourism, eco-ethno tourism, hunting tourism, fishing tourism, cultural tourism and religious tourism. International tourism is one of the most expanding fields of the world economy. Europe, and particularly the Mediterranean, still remains the most important tourist destination and major tourist market despite continuing economic volatility in the eurozone. The World Tourism Organization predicts a 4% annual growth rate for the Mediterranean, where Croatia is emphasized as one of the countries with the highest growth rates in terms of international tourist arrivals (7%).

From January to November 2010, the number of tourist arrivals in all commercial accommodation facilities in the Republic of Croatia increased by 3,2% and the number of overnight stays by 2,6%. In total there were 56.416,379 overnight stays: 9,6% by domestic and 90,4% by foreign tourists. In November 2010, the number of domestic tourist overnight stays decreased by 5,8%, while that of foreign tourist nights increased by 3,6%. Concerning the structure of foreign tourist overnight stays, most of the tourist came from Germany (24,2%),

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Slovenia (10,8%), Austria (8,9%), Italian (7,9%), Czech (7,9%), Polish (5,9%), Netherlands (4,5%) and Slovakia (4%), Russia (2,7%), France (2,7%), which sums up to 79,5 % in total.

Tourists from other countries had 20,5% of tourist nights.

In the period from January to July 2011, as compared to the same period of 2010, the number of tourist arrivals in all accommodation facilities in the Republic of Croatia increased by 7,9% and the number of tourist nights by 5,8%. Tourists realized 60.354 tourist nights: 10,1% by domestic and 89,9% by foreign tourists. In the period from January to July 2011, the number of domestic tourist nights increased by 2,6% and that of foreign tourist nights by 6,2%, as compared to the same period of 2010.

The Croatian tourism industry has managed to build on the momentum achieved during a record-breaking 2011 by realizing 6,66 million arrivals and 35,87 million overnights in the first 7 months of 2012.

The tourism statistics, released by the Croatian Ministry of Tourism (MINT), show that Croatia realized a 3,8% increase in arrivals and 5,4% increase in overnight stays in the period January-July 2012 compared to the same period last year. Foreign tourists made 5,8 million arrivals (5% increase) and 31,9 million overnights (6,6% increase).

In 2012, 11 million tourists arrived in Croatia. 12% were domestic tourists and 88% were foreign.

Source: Ministry of Tourism (MINT)

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Concerning the structure of foreign tourist nights, most of them (68,1%) were achieved by tourists from Germany (19,7%), Slovenia (13,8%), Austria (9,2%), Czech Republic (8,7%), Italy (6,5%), Poland (5,8%) and Slovakia (4,4%). Tourists from other countries achieved 31,9% of tourist nights. When it comes to organized or individual incoming, in the period from January to July 2011, 3,9 million arrivals were made by tourists who came individually (7,9 % growth) and 2,4 million arrivals were arranged by tourist agencies and tour operators (7,7 % growth).

The average accommodation availability at the peak of the season in July 2011 was 21 days, which is 68,1 % of the total capacity. Hotels and all-suite hotels had 27,6 days of full capacity, which is equivalent to 89%, tourist resorts had 31 days or 100%, camps and camping sites had 21 days or 68% of total capacity and tourist apartments had 30 days or 96% of the total capacity fully booked.

Motivation for most tourists to come to Croatia is mainly rest and relaxation on the coast, entertainment, natural attractions as well as new experiences and adventures, gastronomy, sport, recreation and cultural sights.

However, motivation among visitors to Croatia shows a shift that is in line with international tourist demand trends towards activity holidays in clean environments, healthy lifestyles and healthy food, which can be addressed through specially tailored tourism services. In the following graph, you can see where tourists are spending their holidays.

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The Croatian National Bank’s preliminary figures for 2011 show that international tourism generated 18,0% of Croatian GDP. International tourism accounted for a 36,7% share of total exports of goods and services, and for 73,4% of total exported services. The per capita income from tourism in 2007 amounted to EUR 1.519.

3. FOREIGN INVESTMENT IN CROATIA’S TOURISM SECTOR

Nowadays, Croatia shows clearly a significant comparative advantage in tourism sector in terms of unspoilt nature, a unique geographic landscape with more than 1,000 islands, high quality and clarity of sea and friendliness of the local people.

After the deep fall in international arrivals and overnights during and after the war period in the 1990s, Croatia has again achieved some pre-war figures. Croatia offers significant potential for the development of tourism in different segments like rural, wine, sport tourism, but can also meet more sophisticated demands of small elite group of tourists.

During the last ten years and despite a great potential, the following graph shows that Croatia’s attractiveness to foreign direct investment was not very high: the tourism sector in Croatia has attracted about 3% of total foreign direct investment.

In this way, Croatia as a developing country, with a low level of national saving, has strong necessity for foreign capital that can be used to augment domestic savings and, at the same time, enable the country to increase the rates of capital accumulation.

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As data in this figure shows, Croatia has attracted only very small part of total FDI flows towards Central and East European Countries (CEEC) in the transition period 1997-2003, and can be explained by several factors (OECD, 2000):

- inherited economic structures and institutions - non suitable policies for increasing FDI - disintegration, war and ethnic conflict - economic and institutional underdevelopment but also - the absence of Association Agreement with the EU

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4. ACCOMMODATION CAPACITY

According to data by the Central Bureau of Statistics, tourists in Croatia primarily stay in private accommodation. Around 35% of them stayed in private accommodation in 2012, accounting for 26,9% of overnight stays. Secondary accommodation providers are private hotels (26%), and camps (26%).

In the January-July 2011 period, 28% of the tourists stayed in hotels and all/suite hotels which have 9,2% more arrivals and 7% more overnight stays. The biggest growth is in household (rooms, apartments, summer houses) and it is 11,6%. There is a slight decrease in the numbers of overnight stays in hostels, health resorts and tourist resorts. The highest tourist growth was marked in Splitsko - dalmatinska county (10%), Primorsko-goranska county (8%) and Istria (8%).

Source: CBS - Source: Croatian Ministry of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure)

5. TRAVEL AGENCIES AND TOUR OPERATORS

In 2010, Croatia had 899 registered travel agencies with branch offices network which organized one day visits and journeys for domestic tourists at home and abroad, as well as journeys for foreign tourists in Croatia. In 2010, as compared to 2009, the number of domestic same-day tourists, whose trips were organized by travel agencies, increased by 3,2% for those travelling in the Republic of Croatia and by 17,9% for those travelling abroad. In 2010, travel agencies arranged travels in the Republic of Croatia for 1.833.074 foreign tourists (12.688.132 tourist nights), with an average of seven tourist nights. In 2010, the number of foreign tourists who came to the Republic of Croatia through the mediation of travel agencies increased by 5,4% and the number of tourist nights by 9,3%, as compared to 2009.

Concerning the structure of nights of foreign tourists in the Republic of Croatia who travelled through the mediation of travel agencies, most of them (75,3%) were achieved by tourists from Germany (25,4%), Italy (9,2%), Poland (7,4%), the Czech Republic (7,0%), Slovenia (6,3%), the United Kingdom (5,2%), France and the Russian Federation (5,0% each) and Austria (4,8%). Tourists from other countries achieved 24,7% of tourist nights.

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6. HOTEL INDUSTRY

Accommodation quality shows an improving trend. Currently, 2,7% of the facilities have five stars, 17,1% are four-star hotels, 54,8% are three-star facilities. The construction of new hotels will be continued, as well as the renovation and quality level increase of existing hotels. Most beds are in small, family-run hotels and B&Bs, which ensure personalized services and are tailored to guests’ needs. They are known in the market as boutique hotels. Trends in the hotel industry are towards specialized services in areas such as sports, wellness, conferences, and also amenities for gourmets, singles, naturists etc. Hotels and restaurants employ an average number of 86.040 people in 2007. The average daily hotel consumption per person amounts to € 89.

7. CAMPS

Croatia has 700 camps along the coast, of which 220 are large (more than 120 camping places) and 480 are mini camps. In 2007, there were 1.929.994 visits, and the number of overnight stays totaled 12.956.615. In comparison with 2006, in 2007 the number of overnight stays in camps increased by 3% (camps account for 23,1% of all overnight stays in Croatia). The most prominent nationalities among campers were from Germany, Slovenia, Italy, the Czech Republic and Austria. In terms of European standards of camping tourism, Croatia is in the middle of the ranking list, while the biggest improvements in services and contents can be noticed in Istria, the region with the highest number of camps in Croatia and the highest number of overnight stays, as well as a 3% quality increase. According to the German ADAC, investment and development in Croatian camps have an upward trend. The average daily spending in camps is € 38.

8. YACHT WEEK

The Yacht Week is an event that is taking place in Croatia every summer for the past 6 years and is getting more and more popular. It lasts for 8 weeks from mid July until the end of August and it gathers young people from USA, Switzerland, England, Scandinavia and other parts of the world. Basically it is a sailing regatta with 50 yachts where young people combine sailing, relaxing and partying. Croatia was the natural choice for this kind of event as it is one of the best areas for sailing in the Mediterranean and few places, if any, can compete with Croatia, with its mix of climate, prices, culture and beautiful surroundings.

There are two routes organized by the Yacht Week staff. Both routes are a great combination of sailing, relaxing and partying and they take young people on an exciting tour of Croatian cities, villages, up lakes, into waterfalls and around islands. The North route lasts for 4 weeks and takes you to Zlarin, Kornati, Murter, Skradin, Solaris and Kremik. Every day the yachts are in different harbors where people can sightsee during the day and party or relax during the night. The other route is the South route, which goes to Split, Vis, Komiza, Scedro, Hvar, Solta and Kastel.

9. MEDICAL TOURISM

The combination of medicine and tourism is a relatively new type of tourism that records high growth rates, and today the market value of medical tourism is more than 60 billion dollars.

The foremost and the major benefit of medical tourism in Croatia is the huge gap in the cost of treatments. Another benefit is to overcome the waiting period. Often the healthcare system in developed nations has long queues. You can travel to foreign countries, receive medical treatment, and convalesce well before a year. Croatia is an extremely competitive health and medical destination for safe and affordable treatments not only for neighboring Europeans, but for travelers from North and South America as well. Croatia is recognized for

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good care, treatments and procedures (rehabilitation and wellness treatment, dental care, cosmetic and plastic surgery, eye treatment, etc.). With state of the art facilities, equipment and expertise, Croatia is building a growing reputation for the best service that still beats medical or health costs from throughout Europe and North America. Medical schools in Croatia have traditionally a good reputation, as the doctors who graduated from these schools became top specialists through practice and further training in a high standard environment. The Croatian doctors are regular participants of conferences and other forms of expert training, but also respected members of world and European associations, which confirms their high expertise in different fields of medicine. There are many doctors educated in Croatia who have built their careers and achieved success in other countries. Private health institutions and surgeries in Croatia are equipped with the latest diagnostic technology and surgical equipment for surgical procedures. Croatia, where tourism is one of the dominant economic branches, with its astonishing Adriatic Sea coast and attractive continental touristic possibilities, has plenty to offer to medical tourism consumers.

Following in the paths of countries such as Hungary, Romania, Poland and the Czech Republic, Croatia is waking up to its potential as a medical tourist destination and its government is taking serious steps to ensure that it receives the global attention that it deserves. It is however still a relative newcomer to the scene and this is helping to keep prices low, a situation which may well change in the future. Dentistry is the country’s strongest selling point with a full range of essential and cosmetic treatments available at costs well below those on offer in Western countries. Vodice, in Šibenik-Knin, has been a popular tourist destination for some time, but is now increasing its appeal via its large selection of high quality dental centers offering visitors the chance to fix their smile before exercising it at local sights and attractions.

Cosmetic surgery is also on the rise, with everything from facelifts and liposuction to breast enlargements and reductions available. Prices are, again, a major selling point with savings of up to 50% against the cost of similar procedures e.g. in the US. Croatia has done much to improve its image as a worthy visitor destination since its war-torn days. Those coming to avail themselves of cheap medical treatment can also take advantage of the country’s rich history, unrivalled natural beauty and fine medieval architecture as well as modern attractions and activities.

Medical tourism provides various facilities at the seaside (thalassotherapy) and in thermal health resorts. Medical tourism is based on natural healing factors, which combine different kinds of medical, preventive and wellness programs adapted to the needs of specific tourist groups. A number of dental surgeries have experience in treating short-term visitors to Croatia. Croatian dentists study for 5 years in Zagreb or Rijeka. Harmonization of training with EU standards has begun, in preparation for Croatia's accession. In this sector of tourism, Croatia has 6000 beds in 18 health establishments. The numbers of tourists and overnight stays are constantly growing. In 2007 health resorts were visited by 38.904 tourists or 41% more than the previous year. There were 278.397 overnight stays in total, 32% more than previous year. From the total number of tourists, 18.680 (48%) were foreigners, generating a total of 120.296 overnight stays or 38% more compared with 2007.

At the same time there were 20.224 domestic tourists or 42% more than the year before, generating a total of 158.101 overnight stays or 28% more than in the previous year. According to surveys, domestic tourists account for more than 90% of guests in continental health resorts. However, depending on the resort, foreign tourists constitute between 30% and 45% of all guests in seaside resorts, and the average stay lasts 14 days. The number of tourists in the first nine months of this year visiting Croatian health resorts increased to 16.629 compared to 15.668 in the first nine months in 2007, index being 106. Foreign tourists account for 13.485. The total number of tourists visiting Croatian health resorts from January to September 2008 amounts to 30.114.

The main potential and resources, both in the past and in the estimates for the future development of health tourism in Croatia, lies in the diversity of natural heritage, medicinal water, pristine sea, favorable climate,

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healthy food and, in particular, in the high environmental quality of Croatia’s regions. With respect to the development of wellness tourism in Croatia, these properties are the country’s comparative advantages. Taken together, the wealth of natural heritage, diverse native oils, extracts from indigenous medicinal herbs, medicinal water, clean sea water and extracts from marine plants, combined with traditional local food, unique aromas and therapy inspired by exotic cultures provide great potential for turning wellness into a distinctive brand of Croatia as a destination country: ‘Croatian Wellness’.

Spas are the basis of the historical development of medical tourism. Medical tourism in Croatia got more important by the development of special spa/thermal resorts in the 19th and early 20th century. Thermal spas in Opatija, Crikvenica, Losinj, Varazdin and Topusko opened back then. In Croatia, there are two types of thermal spas, continental and coastal spas. Coastal spas have developed on natural thermal springs and the most popular are Varazdinske toplice, Bizovacke, Stubicke, Krapinske. Coastal spas use seawater, sea salt, mud, seaweed, sea sand which are known as thalassotherapy. The most popular ones are thalassotherapy in Opatija, Crikvenica and Makarska. Even though the natural thermal spas have a long history, wellness tourism started to develop in 21st century.

Wellness tourism, as a trend of international tourist offer and demand, is also recognized in Croatia through increasing demand for wellness services that are part of hotel facilities within independent hotel wellness centers or those outside the hotel.

Source: ZV

10. WELLNESS TOURISM

Wellness tourism is the first form of tourism developed in Croatia. Wellness is still a small part of the whole Croatian tourist offer but it is recognized as an important one. The number of wellness centers is increasing not only within hotels but in the cities as well. As one of the most important functions of the Croatian economy, tourism does not have a development strategy, which would show the true role of wellness tourism. Wellness represents the future of tourism; however it is necessary to invest constantly in its development.

Wellness is still a relatively new form of tourism in Croatia. It occurs as a form of preventive health tourism which sophisticatedly works on improving the health of tourists in hotels of higher category while in developed countries has a leading role in tourism. Croatian thermal destinations are not like other places in the world, where those facilities would be the backbones of wellness tourism, instead they have lost their appeal due to lack of investment in facilities. That is why the hotel industry in Croatia recognized the potential of wellness tourism and the ability to better utilize its capacity throughout the whole year and enrich the tourist offer because the peak season in Croatia is only from June - August.

County Rural tourism farms Number of beds Food service Wine/ brandy tasting

Bjelovarsko- bilogorska 2 16 2 2

Dubrovacko- neretvanska 70 23 70 70

Istarska 64 253 47 35

Koprivnicko- krizevacka 6 22 5 3

Krapinsko- zagorska 7 20 6 6

Medimurska 8 10 8 8

Osjecko- baranjska 56 192 47 3

Sisacko- moslavacka 8 27 7 3

Sibensko-kninska 21 16 21 21

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Varazdinska 6 6 3 5

Vukovarsko- srijemska 2 0 2 2

Zadarska 41 248 11 0

Zagrebacka 30 41 28 23

TOTAL 352 886 288 207

As said before, hotels are the ones who develop the wellness offer in Croatia even though there are urban wellness centers designated for the population of the cities. Wellness hotels are generally of high quality with wellness centers that are designated for weekend guests or several day wellness packages or business people who use their time to relax in the wellness center. The difference between urban wellness and hotel wellness is that urban wellness centers are much smaller than hotel ones and urban wellness offer is usually for short treatments due to the fact that the customers are mainly business people with lack of spare time. According to the Croatian Chamber of Economy, there are 68 wellness centers in Croatia, although many Croatian brochures mention over 80. 40% of Croatian hotels are offering wellness packages, three star hotels offer less organized services, the continental hotels have the highest wellness income per year and the average annual wellness income is 3,5 % out of total hotel income in Croatia.

11. RURAL TOURISM

Even though 92% of Croatian territory is rural, rural tourism has only a 5% share of the whole Croatian tourism. According to surveys, registered tourist rural households in Croatia show a continuously increasing trend and constant development. In 2010 there were 379 tourist rural households registered in the Republic of Croatia with 933 beds, out of which 314 or 83% offered food and drink while 231 or 61% had brandy and wine tasting facilities.

The largest number of registered tourist rural households can be found in the County of Dubrovnik-Neretva, almost 70 (18%). The County of Istria is the second largest with a significantly larger number of beds registered in rural tourist households – 253 beds or 27% of the total number of beds in Croatian rural tourism industry. Apart from those two counties, the most significant increase in numbers of registered households may be found in the following counties: Osijek-Baranja, Šibenik-Knin, Zadar, Split-Dalmatia, Zagreb and Sisak-Moslavina. Other counties with smaller number of registered households are: Međimurje, Krapina-Zagorje, Koprivnica-Križevci, Varaždin, Bjelovar-Bilogora and Vukovar-Srijem.

The development possibilities of rural tourist segment in Croatia are based on attractive natural tourist regions of continental and coastal Croatia as well as selective tourist activities that have not been sufficiently utilized until now, but have a huge potential in cultural rural tourism, but also in wider cultural tourism, especially archaeological, speleological, adventure, hunting, trip, curative, wellness and gastronomic tourism, based on domestic food production and autochthonous cuisine of Croatian regions. The basis for the development and operational orientation of each household that works in tourism as additional activity is the creation of a specific autochthonous tourist product of the region, that uses comparative regional advantages and is based on the concept of a healthy way of living as well as locally produced healthy autochthonous food and active rest in a clean and unpolluted environment, enriched by historical and cultural heritage. Since 2009, Croatian government together with Ministry of Tourism has been paying subventions (6% of the interest rate) to loans used by investors in rural tourism, in order to boost Croatia's rural tourism.

Source: CBS

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12. CULTURAL TOURISM

The wealth of Croatian material and non-material heritage is a resource for the development of Croatian culture tourism in all its aspects: from heritage tourism and visits to UNESCO sites, museums and archaeological sites, and rural cultural tourism to eco-ethno tourism. The number of visitors to tourist attractions in Croatia is continuing to rise. In 2012, it amounted to 12 million. The absolute leader by the number of visitors is County of Istria (3 million visits), followed by Primorje-Gorski Kotar (2,3 million visits), County of Dalmatia (1,8 million visits) and County of Dubrovnik (1,1 million visits). The research on the number of visitors visiting the most important sights and attractions done in the second quarter included 139 museums and galleries. They mark a total of 750,354 visitors, 46% domestic and 54% foreign. The highest number of visitors has been recorded in Dubrovnik-Neretva County (391.102), City of Zagreb (112.239) and Krapina-Zagorje County (44.427). City of Zagreb marked the most visitors sightseeing other sights and attractions (418.214), followed by Krapina-Zagorje County (384.247), Osijek-Baranja (288.270), Dubrovnik-Neretva County (266.382) and Primorje-Gorski Kotar (127.495).

The culture and tourism offering of Croatia consists of autochthonous atmosphere of Mediterranean coastal towns and the uniqueness of an as-yet-undiscovered hinterland and attractions of inland urban centers and traditional rural areas. The diversity of natural and cultural heritage, and impressive sites and monuments protected by UNESCO (Plitvice Lakes, Šibenik Cathedral, Euphrasian Basilica in Poreč, the old towns of Trogir, Dubrovnik and Split with its Diocletian’s Palace) provide for a rich non-material cultural Croatian heritage. In addition, Croatia has 190 museums and collections that have an exceptional inventory of domestic and world heritage visited by 2,6 million people annually.

Traces of practically all European and many Asian peoples have remained in the ground. This makes Croatia one of the richest archaeological areas in the world. The potential of archaeological tourism lies in the multitude of archaeological sites and museums that can develop into top tourist attractions, such as Vukovar (Vučedol), Vinkovci (Sopot), Varaždinske Toplice (Aquae Iassae), Krapina (Hušnjakovo), Šćitarjevo (Andautonia), Pula, Brijuni, Vizače-Nesactium, Sisak Topusko, Otočac (Avendo and Arupium), Benkovac (Asseria), Solin (Salona), Metković (Narona) and Burnum. A total of 1529 people visited archaeological sites in Istria County during the period from January to June 2008, 7801 in Split-Dalmatia County. Cultural heritage is an exceptionally valuable resource for the supply side of Croatian tourism. Indeed, although sun and sea are the primary motivations for coming to Croatia, as many as 69% of tourists attend some of the cultural events or visit cultural sites.

In the second quarter of 2011, a survey on the number of visitors to main tourist sights and attractions covered 193 museums and galleries. The total number of visitors was 928.270, out of which there were 502.443 (54,1%) domestic and 425.827 (45,9%) foreign ones. The greatest number of visits to museums and galleries was recorded in the County of Dubrovnik-Neretva (340.263), City of Zagreb (220.557), then in the County of Krapina-Zagorje (88.784). The Croatian National Marian Shrine of Marija Bistrica was the most visited tourist attraction with 414.000 visits, followed by the Dubrovnik City Walls (212.612 visits) and the Zagreb ZOO (108.786 visits). Plitvice Lakes were the most visited place in the category of national parks with 301.382 visitors, out of which there were 15,6% domestic and 84,4% foreign.

Source: DZS

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13. CONGRESS TOURISM

Croatia has developed experience in congress tourism regarding the fact that seminars, symposiums, congresses and other scientific and experts gatherings are organized during the entire year, and every day this kind of business meeting is becoming more interesting for domestic companies to make this vacation as a destination of incentive trips or place of team building trips. The main centers of congress tourism in Croatia are cities such as Zagreb, Dubrovnik and Opatija, but also other cities such as Poreč, Rovinj, Crikvenica, Brijuni, Plitvice lakes and others. In Croatia there are 75 fully equipped congress halls. During the period of October to December 2012, 2.087 business meetings were held. Each meeting was held two days in average and meetings were attended by 162.331 participants. By organizer, 63,2% of business meetings were organized by corporations and companies and 36,8% by associations and institutions.

BUSINESS ENTITIES IN WHICH BUSINESS MEETINGS WERE HELD, OCTOBER – DECEMBER 2012

The largest number of meetings in the period from January to June 2012 in Croatia, were held in Zagreb (49%). Zagreb is the administrative, economic, diplomatic, and cultural center of Croatia. From every European city, Zagreb can be reached by plane in less than two hours.

Having an excellent offer in the organization of congresses, Dubrovnik makes one of the most important destinations for congress tourism in Croatia. In spring and autumn, Dubrovnik hosts participants of international congresses and groups with special programs.

Together with Zagreb and Dubrovnik, Opatija is the third leading city in congress tourism in Croatia. In the last 5 years, this city has been host to many national and international conferences. With more than 20 hotels, a variety of restaurants and entertainment programs and events, Opatija can already satisfy the congress organizers and business meeting participants.

Business entities Halls Seats

Hotels 103 397 42 833

Other accommodation facilities

5 12 770

Universities, fair, cultural institutions and convention centers

9 97 17 416

Total 117 506 61 019

49%

5%6%5%

6%

7%

22%

Number of business meetings per city, January-June 2012.

Zagreb

Split

Opatija

Osijek

Rijeka

Dubrovnik

Other

Tourism sector | Croatia | June 2013 ____________________________________________________________________ 18

In the following tables are data from business entities performing business meetings, incentive arrangements and team building programs for the October-December 2012 period. According to the type of business meeting, the most meetings, 43%, were congresses and conferences, 52% were business meetings, and 5% were incentive and team building. According to the participants, 20% business meetings had an international dimension and 80% business meetings were national.

Information about congress tourism in Croatia can be found on the official site of Croatian National Tourist Board: http://business.croatia.hr/en-GB/Congress-tourism

14. ADVENTURE TOURISM

Adventure tourism is a very promising and attractive form of selective tourism, which Croatia can offer to domestic and foreign markets. In the foreign market, a constant increase can be noticed in the number of participants in this form of tourism. Croatia has great possibilities for the development of adventure tourism due to its natural resources and all requisite comparative advantages. Primarily, this means a healthy environment and natural resources that could be used in different forms of activity holidays.

Adventure excursions consist of different types of active holidays for tourists, for example team building (organizing social activities in order to improve relationships among group members) as well as all adventure events and sports organized as part of adventure products – rafting, free climbing, big wall climbing, trekking, biking, mountain biking, river kayaking, sea kayaking, canyoning, canoeing, cave exploring, horse trekking, adventure diving, balloon flying, paragliding, wind surfing, sky diving, paint ball, jeep safari and adventure races as a new form of extreme sports.

15. NAUTICAL TOURISM

Croatia is a Mediterranean country reputable all around the world for its indented coastline and islands. The island archipelago with more than a thousand islands is a distinguishing marketing symbol of Croatian tourism and a comparative advantage in its development. Because of such natural assets, nautical tourism is especially valuable and successful segment of Croatian tourism.

Nautical tourism does not only take place at sea. Indeed, Croatia possesses prerequisites for development of nautical tourism also on rivers (Danube, Sava and Drava), but here we will focus in this work only on the nautical tourism in the Adriatic Sea.

To define this segment of nautical tourism, it is important to realize that a tourism activity is not isolated or specific, but a conglomerate of many branches of a particular type of activity, of public administrations, infrastructure, and general complementary services.

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Nautical tourism must therefore be considered as a tourist product, related with entertainment activities in contact with bodies of water, where many different nautical activities can take place, always with an ecological outlook and respect for nature. It is a well-defined product whose main characteristic to offer is the sea and the ocean.

Nautical Tourism can include activities as recreational boating, marinas, cruises, water sports, water based tourism such as marine wildlife tourism (marine parks), maritime history and education and finally associated land based components such as hotels, resorts, cafes and restaurants.

This form of sustainable tourism can create many new opportunities for mature tourism operations but is also a way to stimulate coastal areas whose attractions have become outdated or stagnant.

Source: www.mppi.hr

15.1. LOCATION

The Republic of Croatia is situated on the east coast of the Adriatic Sea. The main land covers the surface of 56.542 square km, whereas the territorial sea stretches across 31.067 square km.

Croatia is a maritime country with a long history and tradition of shipping industry and tourism.

The natural basis for development of nautical tourism is the Adriatic Sea with its indented, 6.176 km long coastline, 4.398 km of which belong to the islands coastlines, and with 1.244 islands, islets and cliffs, 50 islands being inhabited.

15.2. INCOME FROM NAUTICAL TOURISM IN CROATIA

Revenues for 2007-2009:

Among the more interesting locations frequented by nautical tourists, the Croatian coast offers services at more than 50 ports.1

The basic principle of management of the development of nautical tourism is the principle of sustainable development, which presumes the necessity of finding a compromise between the need for preservation of natural areas and the need for economic development.

In this way, Croatia's efforts have been so successful they have been offered to the tourism industry as a model for sustainable nautical tourism.

During the year 2007, nautical tourism generated an income of over EUR 700 million, which creates a 10 % share of the total income from tourism in Croatia.2

By regions, the greatest turnover in tourism ports came from Zadar (HRK 102.2 million), Šibenik-Knin (HRK 102 million) and Istria (HRK 84.2 million).

3

According to estimates, nautical tourism participates in the total tourism income with 10%, which means that in 2007, with a total of 811,000 arrivals, nautical tourism earned about EUR 700 million.

4

1 Official

Croatia Tourism website: http://gb.croatia.hr/TourismPLUS/Entry.aspx?idEntry=480&idSubEntry=482&idDocument=467 2“Nautical tourism in Croatia – Zagreb Sport and Boat Show 2008 Update” http://www.find-croatia.com/blog/nautical-tourism-in-croatia-zagreb-sport-and-boat-show-2008-update/ 3 Embassy of Belgium. Study 2011. « Tourism in Croatia »

Tourism sector | Croatia | June 2013 ____________________________________________________________________ 20

This estimate of nautical tourism income includes:

- Income from vessels with permanent yearly mooring in nautical ports - Income from transit mooring - Income from seasonal mooring - Income from nautical mooring in the part of ports open to public traffic - Income from maintenance and repair of boats and engines in nautical ports and other service shops - Income earned from vessel renting - Income from cruising vessels - Income from various charges (vessel registration and registration fee, issuance of vignettes for foreign

yacht and boats, tourist tax and so on) - Income from maritime domain concessions - Fuel sale income

In 2009 the total number of issued navigation licenses for the coastal sea of the Republic of Croatia amounted to 54.864 licenses, i.e. 4% increase compared with 2008. According to national flag, the majority were German and Italian, the total number of guests on these vessels in 2009 accounting to 287.307.

In terms of marinas, Croatia has 56 marinas, of which 21 are within the system of ACI Marinas d.d., Opatija. The total capacity is 15.834 berths. There were 14,009 vessels using permanent berths, that is 2.2% more than in 2008. Sea berths were used by 86.7%, while 13.3% used land locations. 2009 marks an increase of 8% in overnight stays in nautical marinas compared with 2008.

Charter tourism is constantly increasing in Croatia - there are more than 928 charter companies with approximately 3.463 boats. Charter companies in Croatia also provide services of skippers, sailing schools, skipper courses, additional equipment rent, as well as services of organizing yachting regattas and flotillas all year around. Cruises on motor sailboats marking an increased growth rate represents recognizable segment of nautical tourism.

Croatia also offers several-day journeys, cruises (7-14 day long cruises for 12 to 40 passengers along Croatian part of Mediterranean) as well as one-day trips (nautical trips) organized in national parks, nature parks and other attractive locations. The total number of nautical shippers amounts to 303 and 406 vessels providing services of diving, fishing, organizing biking and hiking tours, etc.

Finally, when it comes to yachtsmen, their average stay in Croatia is 16 nights (10 in marinas, 2 in small local ports and 4 outside small ports), the average daily consumption is € 72 and the countries they mostly represent are Germany, Italy, Austria, Slovenia and USA.

4 Nautical tourism development strategy of The Republic of Croatia 2009 – 2019, 2007, Pdf document on the internet http://www.mppi.hr/UserDocsImages/Strategija%20razvoja%20nautickog%20turizma%20ENGL%201.pdf

21 _____________________________________________________________________

15.3. TRAVEL RELATED REVENUES 2010-2011

Between the years 2010-2011, the following graph shows a small increase in terms of travel related revenues and share of tourism in the overall Croatian economy.

15.4. CROATIAN MARINE INDUSTRY 5

Living as they do by the sea, with the sea and from the sea, in a region lacking other resources, the people of the Croatian Adriatic coast have necessarily had to master the techniques of shipbuilding, especially on the islands. A variety of purposes such as fishing, transport of people and goods, require various kinds of vessels and those necessities have dictated the development of the Croatian shipbuilding industry and its affiliates.

: CRUISES AND VESSELS

Increasing nautical tourism has awakened great interest in the repair and maintenance of pleasure boats and also for the construction of such vessels so that today the Croatian marine industry offers a wide array of vessels from pedalos and sandolines to 50 m long mega-yachts, meeting the highest quality standards and produced in more than 100 shipyards or plants, employing more than 1,800 people.

5Croatian Chamber of Economy Industry and Technology Department. Marine Industry Association. “Marina study 2013 Croatia”. Pdf document on the internet http://www2.hgk.hr/en/depts/industry/katalog%202013%20CMI%20web.pdf

Tourism sector | Croatia | June 2013 ____________________________________________________________________ 22

15.5. MARINE INDUSTRY: DATA FOR 2010-2011: 6

As shown in the following graphs, the number of marinas remains stable between 2010 and 2011 with 54 marinas represented for both years.

6 Ministry of Tourism of the Republic of Croatia. 2012. “Tourism in figures 2011”. Pdf document on the internet http://www.mint.hr/UserDocsImages/2011-turizam-facts.pdf Official website: http://www.mint.hr

23 _____________________________________________________________________

Globally, this graph shows a light decrease in terms of number of vessels for tourists coming from Croatia and other countries all around the world. However, similar trends can be observed in 2010 and 2011 with the same top 5 countries representing the highest number of vessels in marinas as following: Croatia in first position, then Italy, Germany, Austria and Slovenia.

Tourism sector | Croatia | June 2013 ____________________________________________________________________ 24

NB: Nautical tourism, in addition to navigation in own organization, cruising in own or rented cruising vessels with accommodation or overnight stay of tourists on vessels, includes also circular tours organized by owners of cruising vessels and travel agencies with accommodation or overnight stay of tourists on vessels, as well as tourist navigation on vessels for the purpose of other forms of rest and recreation (fishing, diving).7

Vessels used in nautical tourism are cruising vessels, circular tour vessels and other vessels equipped for days-long accommodation.

15.6. NUMBER OF CRUISES OF FOREIGN VESSELS 2010-2011:

As far as cruises of foreign vessels are concerned, the main trend shows an increase of the number of passengers on foreign vessels in Croatia between 2010 and 2011: 2010 received 1.093.923 passengers while 2011 is characterized by a number of 1.141.454 passengers in total. However, both the number of cruises and the number of sojourns have slowly decreased between 2010 and 2011.

7 Nautical tourism development strategy of The Republic of Croatia 2009 – 2019, 2007, Pdf document on the internet http://www.mppi.hr/UserDocsImages/Strategija%20razvoja%20nautickog%20turizma%20ENGL%201.pdf

25 _____________________________________________________________________

16. DIVING TOURISM

Diving tourism in Croatia has been increasing in popularity since 1996. Annual growth in the number of tourists has been between 15 and 20%, and with it grew the number of professional diving centers organized in the near vicinity of the most attractive locations along the coastline, in order to enable divers from all over the world to enjoy the Croatian submarine world, as well as to feel secure under professional supervision and with all the necessary safety measures in place.

In 2011, the number of registered and licensed diving centers exceeded 100, with the largest number being located in Istria and Kvarner, and in the area of Central Dalmatia.

Tourism sector | Croatia | June 2013 ____________________________________________________________________ 26

Undoubtedly the most attractive diving locations in the Adriatic are underwater cliff faces and reefs, caves and the wrecks of ships and airplanes. The Croatian land mass ranks among the most specific in the world: Dalmatia itself lies on karst, full of crevices, caves, sink holes and channels. Based on the number of caves so far discovered on land it is estimated that there are at least 1500 underwater caves and holes still undiscovered in the Adriatic.

Lastly, in addition to plant and animal species endemic to the Adriatic, which are a highly sought-after target for photo and video safaris, the most attractive locations are those which conceal traces of times gone by such as archaeological localities and underwater wrecks.

The oldest localities containing the remains of sunken ships date from the times of Antiquity, and are to be found on the ancient trading routes leading from Greece towards Northern Italy, and all the colonies founded along that route on the shores of the Adriatic: Cavtat (Epidaurus), Mljet (Meleda), Korcula (Kokira), Hvar (Pharos),Vis (Issa), Split (Asphalatos / Spalatum), Solin (Salona), Trogir (Tragurium), Rogoznica Diving (Heracleia), anchorage sites in the Kornati archipelago (Žirje, Lavsa, Murter), the wider area of Šibenik and Zadar (Liburnia / Jadera), Pula (Pola), Roman villas on the Brijuni islands, and many other micro-locations once used by ancient mariners as refuges and anchorages.

17. HUNTING TOURISM

There is a long lasting tradition of hunting tourism in Croatia and there are many organized hunting grounds. In central Croatia and Slavonia you can hunt for deers, roe deers, wild boars, foxes, rabbits, pheasants, wild geese and wild ducks. In Gorski Kotar and Lika county there is a possibility for bear hunting and in Dalmatia mouflons and chamois. There are 1060 hunting grounds in Croatia, 315 are owned by the republic of Croatia and 745 are owned by local counties. Total surface of hunting grounds is 5550 square kilometers and they gain 28 million kunas of profit per year. Hunting grounds owned by the country itself are in the jurisdiction of Croatian ministry of agriculture and tourism and they are used by hunting associations who organize commercial hunting. A full service organization is usually offered by the hunting associations, they offer transfers to the hunting grounds, accommodation, organization of hunting games, stuffing and forwarding of trophies, individual or group hunts accompanied by professional guides who speak a number of languages, organize a red or fallow deer hunts during mating season, mouflon stalking, stalking or driven wild boar hunts with great possibility of shooting a large number of big trophy beasts. Only hunting guns and ammunition can be used as defined by the hunting law. For small hunts smooth bores can be used and for the big hunts only rifled barrels can be used. Foreign hunters come mostly from countries like Spain, Switzerland as well as Germany, Russia, Italy, Austria and the USA.

Croatia has 55.707 registered hunters and in 2009, 7000 licenses and 500 annual permits were issued for foreign hunters. Regarding the data from Croatian ministry of tourism, hunting tourism has only 0.5% share in total tourism in Croatia and there are only 23 hunting lodges with 387 bed capacity. In 2009, hunting lodges reported 2734 tourist arrivals and 7502 overnight stays which is 40 % more than in 2008.

27 _____________________________________________________________________

18. CROATIAN TOURISM: PREDICTIONS FOR 2013 AND IMPACT OF EU MEMBERSHIP

18.1. PREDICTIONS FOR 2013 8

Croatia is becoming more and more interesting to foreign tourists, and its EU entrance will certainly help raise awareness about Croatia as a beautiful and safe country for nice and relaxing holidays. Last year Croatia, as a destination, did very well in terms of growth and tourism development. There were many factors for that success; for sure, the uncertainties of the Arab Spring and the Greek crisis did help Croatia to have many more tourists, but also the fact that Croatia has also become a top choice for many travelers who want to discover a new European jewel and a peaceful oasis in the middle of Europe. This year, data show that Croatia will be a very interesting destination for not only European, but also Asian and other overseas guests.

18.2. IMPACT OF EU MEMBERSHIP ON CROATIAN TOURISM

The entry of the country among the EU members can raise several issues: is there anything –legislation, competition, consumer inflation, or other factors – that could affect the success of the country in the tourism industry?

The investment climate in Croatia is getting better but there is still a lot to be done to remove administrative burdens for doing business and for investments. EU entrance could help by speeding up those processes. As described in the first section “Economy overview”, Croatia is at the moment enduring a relatively difficult economic situation and tourism is one of the most important industries, supporting GDP substantially.

Economic indicators show that Croatia will benefit from EU entrance. This will reflect on tourism too, and have some positive impacts. Entering the EU will additionally promote Croatia as an interesting destination.

18.3. MAIN CHALLENGES FOR THE MINISTRY OF TOURISM AND TOUR OPERATORS IN CROATIA

1. In compliance with the scope of work of the government of the Republic of Croatia the investment promotion is one of the priority measures targeting more intensive development of the Croatian economy, namely the tourism sector, as well as the reinforcement of the overall competitiveness of the country. Therefore, the Ministry of Tourism has undertaken a number of measures in order to facilitate and simplify investment opportunities in the Croatian tourism for potential investors which shall consequently reinforce the sectorial competitiveness.9

One current example of this is that the Ministry of Tourism has created a Catalogue of Investment Projects in order to provide potential investors with information on investment opportunities in the Croatian tourism sector. Although the catalogue primarily identifies and presents public projects for which the Republic of Croatia seeks investors, it also contains information about more significant private projects in the tourism field as requested by the private sector searching for investors.

8 The Croatian Tourism Industry and Outlook for 2013: Interview with Peter Fuchs. February 28, 2013. http://www.balkanalysis.com/croatia/2013/02/28/the-croatian-tourism-industry-and-outlook-for-2013-interview-with-peter-fuchs/

9 Ministry of Tourism of the Republic of Croatia. 27 March 2012. “The Catalogue of Investment Projects”. Official website: http://www.mint.hr

Tourism sector | Croatia | June 2013 ____________________________________________________________________ 28

Therefore, this new measure to publish a Catalogue of Investment Projects pursues the double goals to promote and stimulate both the private and public opportunities of investment for foreign and domestic investors.

2. Another challenge concerns diversification and destination management, i.e. diversify its tourism offering to become a more year-round destination. Indeed Croatia still isn’t a year-round destination, and that is a huge challenge for Croatian tourism in general. In order to provide customers with memorable experiences in typical Croatian regions even when out of the season, it is clear that property services are not enough yet (with a lack of infrastructure and hostels closed during the low season).

An example of this lack of destination management (DMC), quality management of destination that would strongly impact Croatian tourism in general, is the following: many foreigners still don’t know that Dubrovnik, the former Dubrovnik Republic, is the cradle of modern diplomacy and even when they come to Dubrovnik there are few developed offerings about history. The development of such products will have a strong influence on Croatian tourism in the future, and that is a challenge for a tourism country such Croatia.

In response to the first issue, we can note that through providing financial support, the Ministry of Tourism has done a good job of stimulating air traffic in the pre- and post-season periods. This year, for the first time, there are direct Croatia Airlines flights to Dubrovnik from some major European cities. This had a very positive impact on tourist arrivals to Dubrovnik this winter, and it is one of the main drivers for tourists to visit certain destinations!

19. CROATIAN CHAMBER OF ECONOMY

Several associations and their affiliated groups and professional associations operate within the Tourism and Catering Industry Department of the Croatian Chamber of Economy. Gathering business entities into appropriate organizations within the CCE creates links between its members that facilitate problem solution as well as the representation of coordinated views before bodies and institutions. Furthermore, it also facilitates the accomplishment of common interests and organization of joint promotional activities at a national level for the benefit of Croatian tourism.

Croatian professional associations are the following:

• CCE Tourism Business Council

• Hoteliers’ and Caterers’ Association

• Hoteliers’ Group

• Camping Group

• Croatian Association of Travel Agencies (HUPA)

• Travel Agencies’ Group

• Croatian Marinas Association

• Association of Waterborne Accommodation Providers – Charter (UPUSP)

• Tourist Ship Owners Association

• Commercial Diving Association

• Diving Tourism Group

• Health Tourism Affiliation

• Adventure Tourism Association

• Specialized Tourism Association

• Wellness Tourism Group

29 _____________________________________________________________________

• Croatian Cultural Tourism Affiliation

• Travel Agencies’ Group for Heritage Tourism and Cultural Tourism

• Heritage Tourism Group: museums, archaeology (archaeological parks, roads and paths), history (historical towns, UNESCO monuments and sites)

• Heritage Interpretation Group

• Rural Tourism Affiliation

• Tourist Affiliation on country (family) households

• Agro Tourism Group

• Eco-ethno Tourism Group

Source: www.hgk.hr

Tourism sector | Croatia | June 2013 ____________________________________________________________________ 30

20. CONTACTS

NAUTICAL TOURISM

WINDSURF SCHOOLS IN CROATIA

Brac Island is the most reputable place at the Croatian coast for windsurfing, where you can find essentially four big windsurf schools:

Nautic center Big Blue Wind & Kitesurfing Center Big Blue Toma Garbajs: tomaz@big-blue-sport.hr Web: http://www.big-blue-sport.hr/ Surfing school ZOO station Bol Tel: +385 98 180 874; 180 87 07 E-mail: zoo-station@net.hr Web: http://www.zoo-station.com/ NB: The opening of this center is at 27th april Surfing school Bol bic center Mob: +385 91 276 1111 E-mail: ivica.dolenc@st.htnet.hr Orca Sport Oxbow wind surfing academy Tel: +385 21 635 650 E-mail: orca@orca-sport.com

OTHER NAUTICAL SCHOOLS AND ORGANIZATIONS AT THE CROATIAN COAST Association of Nautical Tourism Group of charter companies County Chamber of Rijeka Bulevar oslobodjenja 23 51000 Rijeka Tel: +385 51 209 111 Fax: +385 51 216 033 E-mail: hgkri@hgk.hr Web: www.hgk.hr Globe Aventure: ‘Les aventures sportives en Croatie’ or ‘Sport Adventures in Croatia’ Tel: +385 91 542 3902 E-mail: galebaventures@free.fr Web: http://galebaventures.com/

This organization proposes nautical and land adventures (trekking and bike). Among the nautical adventures they offer, we can find catamarans, windsurf, sea kayaks and zodiac activities.

31 _____________________________________________________________________

TOURIST ACCOMMODATIONS AND AGENCIES

(Recommended by Trip Advisor or by the Croatian National Tourism Board)

Apolinar Travel Agency (Krk Island) Contact person: Sonja Zic-Milcetic Dubasljanska 71 51511 Malinska - Croatia Tel: +385 051 869 011 Fax: +385 051 869 012 E-mail: apolinar@ri.t-com.hr Web: http://www.apolinar.net Atlantis Agency (Split, Hvar) Tel: +385 92 214 9395 E-mail: info@croatia-tourist-agency.com Web: http://www.croatia-tourist-agency.com/ BISAGE Travel Agency (Murter Island) Put Zaratica 3 22242 Jezera Croatia/Hrvatska Tel/fax: +385 22 438 465 Web: info@murter-apartmani.net BolCroatia.com (Brac, Bol, Croatia) Address: Racic 9 21420 Bol, Croatia Tel: +385 98 286 600 E-mail: holiday@bolcroatia.com (Roni) Web: http://bolcroatia.com Orgon Touristic Agency (Brac, Croatia) Contact person: Ines Kardum Tel: +385 98 171 41 09 E-mail: orgon.travel.agency@gmail.com Web: http://croatia-exclusive.eu Sarah-Tours Travel Agency Contact person: Senada Čemeljić Ribarska 18, 23251 Kolan Mandre, Island of Pag, Croatia Tel: +385 23 697 337 / +385 98 1689 268 E-mail: info@sara-tours.hr Web: www.sara-tours.hr Sebenica Travel Agency Šibenik: Bosanska 33 22 000 Šibenik, Croatia Tel: +385 91 517 4025 E-mail: info@sebenica.com Web: www.sebenica.com Murter: Podvrtaje 21 22243 Murter, Croatia Tel: +385 22 436 544 / +385 91 517 4025

Tourism sector | Croatia | June 2013 ____________________________________________________________________ 32

Fax: +385 22 436 545 E-mail: info@sebenica.com Web: www.sebenica.com Secret Dalmatia Agency (Zadar, Split, Dubrovnik) E-mail: info@secretdalmatia.com (main) reservations@secretdalmatia.com Tel: +385 91 567 1604 – Alan Terra Travel Agency (Zadar) Terra Turistička Agencija, Croatia-head office Zadar Matije Gupca 2a 23 000 Zadar - Hrvatska Tel: +385 23 337 294 Fax: +385 23 337 295 E-mail: info@terratravel.hr Web: www.terratravel.hr Valamar Hotels and Resorts (CEO: Peter Fuchs) For information: Tel: +385 52 465 100 E-mail: information@valamar.com Web: http://www.valamar.com/ This group is the leading Croatian hospitality management company, operating 39 properties situated on the Adriatic coast, with a major presence in two of the main tourist regions in Croatia, Istria and Dubrovnik. Valamar is the first Croatian hotel brand, present on the market since 2004 and one of the biggest investors in Croatian tourism.

DIVING TOURISM

Reputable diving centers at the Croatian coast: Hang-Loose-Diving Manager: Stephan Wybrecht Hang-Loose-Diving, Obala 11a 51521 Punat/Krk, Kroatien E-mail: info@hang-loose-diving.de Web: http://www.hang-loose-diving.de/ Tel: +385 91 541 41 23 Issa Diving Center (Vis Island) Owner: Siniša Ižakovic GSM: 00385 91 2012 731 Tel: +385 21 713 651 E-mail: info@scubadiving.hr Kron Diving Manager: Andreas Kron Kron Diving Andreas Kron d.o.o. Kampor 413a HR - 51280 Rab Tel: +385 51 776 620 E-mail: office@kron-diving.com Web: http://www.kron-diving.com

33 _____________________________________________________________________

Loft Dive Krk Manager: Robert Wernoth Dive Loft Krk Na mori 4 51516 Vrbnik Insel Krk Tel: +49 173 581 55 50 E-mail: info@dive-loft-krk.com Web: http://www.hausriff-tauchen.de/ Mihuric Diving Center Manager: Maggy Car Uvala Slana bb 51266 Selce Croatia E-mail: info@mihuric.hr Web: https://www.facebook.com/pages/DC-Mihuric-PADI-5IDC-Center-Croatia/67216407368 Tel: +385 51 765 462 Squatina Diving Center (Krk) Manager: Ramon Kaspers Squatina Diving Krk Zarok 88-a 51523 Baska (Otok Krk) Tel: +385 51 856 034 E-mail: info@squatinadiving.com Web: http://www.squatinadiving.com Tauchschule Bozava Manager: Hagi und Gaby Im hafen von Bozava E-mail: tauchen@bozava.de Web: http://www.bozava.de/ Tel: +385 23 318 891 Tramonto Tisno Diving Center (Tisno, Murter Island) Contact person: Milan Colić Stjepana Radića 13 22240 Tisno GSM: +385 98 843 233 E-mail: divetramonto@divetramonto.com Web: http://www.divetramonto.com Viking Diving Center (Hvar) Diving Center Viking Hvar 21450, Podstine bb, Croatia Tel/fax: +385 21 742 529 GSM: +385 91 568 94 43 E-mail: info@viking-diving.com Web: http://www.viking-diving.com

ADVENTURE TOURISM

Globe Aventure: ‘Les aventures sportives en Croatie’ or ‘Sport Adventures in Croatia’ Tel: +385 91 542 3902 E-mail: galebaventures@free.fr Web: http://galebaventures.com/

This organization proposes nautical and land adventures (trekking and bike). Among the nautical adventures they offer, we can find catamarans, windsurf, sea kayaks and zodiac activities.

Tourism sector | Croatia | June 2013 ____________________________________________________________________ 34

MINISTRY OF TOURISM IN CROATIA

Ministry of Tourism Address: Prisavlje 14, HR-10000 Zagreb, Croatia Tel: +385 1 6169 111 Minister Darko Lorencin Tel: +385 1 6169 180 Fax: +385 1 6169 181 ministar@mint.hr Vice Minister Oleg Valjalo Tel: +385 1 6169 240 Fax: +385 1 6169 296 zamjenik@mint.hr Cabinet of the Minister Bernard Zenzerović, Chief of Cabinet Tel: +385 1 6169 350 Fax: +385 1 6169 396 kabinet@mint.hr Assistant Minister Robert Pende Tel: +385 1 6169 290 Fax: +385 1 6169 183 razvoj@mint.hr Assistant Minister Želimir Kramarić Tel: +385 1 6169 360 Fax: +385 1 6169 379 trziste@mint.hr Assistant Minister Božica Lapić Tel: +385 1 6169 343 Fax: +385 1 6169 205 pravni@mint.hr Assistant Minister Davor Ižaković Tel: +385 1 6169 288 Fax: +385 1 6169 373 tzutd@mint.hr Head of the General Secretariat of the Ministry Zvonimir Jakšić mailto:tajnistvo@mint.hr Tel: +385 1 6169 343 Fax: +385 1 6169 205 tajnistvo@mint.hr

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Department for Public Relations Bosiljko Domazet, Head of the Office Tel: +385 1 6169 225; +385 1 6169 312 Fax: +385 1 6169 227 Media Questions: press@mint.hr Agencija za upravljanje Državnom imovinom Contact for the Catalogue of Investment Projects Ivana Lučića 6, 10000 Zagreb, Hrvatska Tel: +385 1 6346 111 Fax: +385 1 6346 102 info@audio.hr Web: www.audio.hr

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