What can Croatian hotels do to ensure the safe functioning of their businesses as COVID-19 continues to lurk? Unfortunately, all the disinfectant in the world can’t help the hole that has been blown into the domestic economy, but some patching up might be possible.
The coronavirus crisis is continuing to wreak havoc with the global economy, with tourism and travel among the hardest hit industries in the world. Croatia, which has been relying far too heavily and even more too exclusively on tourism for many years, enjoying a three-year boom and seeing tourism make up about 20 percent of the country’s entire GDP, has had quite the economic shock.
Could Croatian hotels have thought up a way to function, make money and help to patch up at least a small part of the economy? As Poslovni Dnevnik/Marija Crnjak writes on the 24th of April, 2020, the Croatian Tourism Association has submitted a concrete proposal to the Croatian Government for the alteration of operational procedures in Croatian hotels and camps that ensure the maintenance of high health and hygiene standards.
The plan is to open Croatian hotels and camps on May the 11th, 2020, if this relatively decent epidemic situation within Croatia’s borders persists.
“It’s crucial that the operational framework of all tourism service providers creates quality conditions for the realisation of the season, in as much as is possible under these changed conditions,” stated Veljko Ostojic, director of the aforementioned tourism association.
They thanked Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic for his personal engagement and contact with the prime ministers of the countries which are Croatia’s main emitting markets for finding ways to travel as an essential precondition for the realisation of this year’s tourist season, which would otherwise be lost, and for all members of the Croatian Government who are working hard to think of how they can to encourage tourism traffic in 2020.
They are convinced that despite all the restrictions, they are ready to make the best of this tourist season, or what might be left of it.
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