April 22, 2020 – Tourism is on hold, but most of us have plenty of time. So let’s look at the virtual resources available to explore Croatia virtually. We begin a new series with the tools to discover Hvar.
A few weeks ago I wrote that being a tourism blogger in the corona era was about as useful as being a cocktail barman in Saudi Arabia. I feel less useless now, a few weeks later, and I am encouraged by the number of Croatian tourism businesses who are contacting us wanting to start thinking of promoting post-corona tourism.
One of the challenges of writing about tourism at the moment is that there is nothing positive to write about. With people confined to their homes and tourism in Croatia currently not possible, many have decided to go into hibernation until it is all over.
I think that this is a mistake, and I have greatly enjoyed the TCN series by Zoran Pejovic of Paradox Hospitality on thinking ahead to tourism in a post-corona world. You can find Zoran’s articles here.
Way back on March 14 – several lifetimes ago – I published an article called Tourism in the Corona Age: 10 Virtual Ways to Discover Zagreb. The way I saw things, now was an OUTSTANDING opportunity for tourism promotion. People have time, they yearn for their freedom and former lives, so give them the tools to thoroughly research and enjoy your destinations, and you will have then longing to be there. And when they do come, they will have a deeper understanding of the destination due to their research.
South Africa and Portugal were the first to do their post-corona tourism promotion videos several weeks ago (Post-Corona Tourism Planning: Lessons from South Africa and Portugal), a trick which has been followed by other tourism countries, the latest being Croatia with the national tourist board campaign, #CroatiaLongDistanceLove, going live yesterday.
But while these campaigns create longing and market presence, they don’t really educate. People now have time to really get into destinations. And dreams of escape to somewhere more exotic are high on the list of priorities of many.
So TCN has decided to help with that education with a new series called Virtual Croatia, where we will be helping you discover many of Croatia’s destinations with all the best virtual tools available on your self-isolating sofa at home.
And in order to help things along, TCN will offer a free article such as this one to any local tourist board which wants to send us their best virtual tools of their destination. If interested, please send all the resources to [email protected] Subject Virtual Croatia (and name of destination).
So where to begin? Where else than my beloved Hvar.
An oldie but a goodie – the Visit Hvar beach tour of the island
It is more than 8 years since Visit Hvar published Island Hvar, My Place in the Sun. It was a smash hit back then, and I watch it still about 3-4 times a year. I love the music, the aerial footage, everything. It is my favourite Hvar video when I am longing for summer.
Hvar Tourist Board YouTube channel
The Hvar Town Tourist Board has really upped its social media presence in recent years, including an excellent YouTube channel which I only came across recently. Here you can find some great resources about island life and events. here are just three.
ÖTILLÖ Swimrun Hvar 2019
Hvar Theatre, the oldest public theatre in Europe
Exciting and delicious – the island of Hvar
You can follow the Hvar Tourist Board YouTube channel here.
Central Dalmatia Tourist Board postcard from Hvar, Stari Grad Plain and cycling destination
The Central Dalmatia Tourist Board only has a view videos on its YouTube channel, but they are very widely viewed. Three great ones for Hvar.
Hvar Timeline Stairs
Hvar Dynamic Postcard
Stari Grad Plain – brief history
Suncani Hvar Hotels and the wedding and honeymoon destination
Hvar is one of the most popular wedding destinations on the Adriatic. Imagine a wedding AND honeymoon on Croatia’s premier island. It looks something like this. You can learn more about wedding options on Hvar here.
UNESCO, UNESCO, 6 times UNESCO
Did you know that Hvar has more UNESCO heritage than any island in the world? Time to start learning about them all from the official UNESCO videos, so that you can impress your mates when you are chilling your favourite Hvar beach in the summer.
UNESCO World Heritage Site the Stari Grad Plain
Za Krizen
Mediterranean Diet
Agava lace from the Benedictine Nuns in Hvar Town
Klapa singing in southern Dalmatia
Dry stone walling
The fabulous resource of Hvar TV
Hvar even has its own TV channel in the form of YouTube channel, Hvar TV. When Maja and Jure are not reporting for national television on all things Hvar-related, they put together some brilliant local feature stories, many of which are subtitled into English. Here are a few of them.
Remember those ‘Happy’ Videos?
Celebrating Bogdanusa in Svirce
Hvar Harbour fast forward
Za Krizem – Following the Cross
You can follow the Hvar TV YouTube channel here.
When YouTuber Joe Sugg came to discover Hvar – 4.5 million views later
That moment when I contacted YouTuber Joe Sugg for an interview, then suggested he go for a swim in Gariful’s shark tank for his vlog. 4.5 million views later – meet Hvar’s most-watched video EVER.
A video guide to the best view in Dalmatia
Where is the best view in the world? This is mine, but the view is only half the story. A video explanation of just how much magic there is to explore in the view below.
Hvar into the Storm by Romulic and Stojcic
Hvar – into the storm from Romulic & Stojcic on Vimeo.
Nobody captures the beauty of Hvar better than the Osijek Maestros, Mario Romulic and Drazen Stojcic. They have the best photos. And then there are those timelapses. Yes, the sunshine island does occasionally take a break from the sun. And the results are stunning – Hvar in the Storm is one of my faves.
Hvar in 4K
Hvar with the 4K treatment – divine.
Pjover and the Lavender Festival in Velo Grablje
Aromatic Hvar and the fabulous Lavender Festival in Velo Grablje, courtesy of those amazing chaps at Udruga Pjover.
VELO GRABLJE-OTOK HVAR from Filmofil.tv on Vimeo.
The Sight Run app
The app SightRun has Hvar as one of the cities you can run trough while sightseeing. You can download the app from this link.
Official Hvar Tourist Board websites
THIS. IS. HVAR. When can we expect your visit?
To discover more of virtual Croatia, you can follow this series in our dedicated section, Virtual Croatia.
If you are a local tourist board in Croatia and would like your destination featured in this series for free, please contact us at [email protected] Subject Virtual Croatia (and destination name)
