New Accidental Deputy Minister of Tourism

Robert Pauletic was definitely a surprise choice for the position.

When the new deputy minister of tourism was announced after a cabinet meeting on February 25, 2016, I had to double check the news source because it sounded like something only one of our satirical portals could come up with. Robert Pauletic is well known in Croatia for many things but tourism experience is not one of them.  Yes, he’s a globetrotter,  humanitarian,  youngest quiz master we ever had and a humanitarian but if globe-trotting is a prerequisite for this job then I’m off to apply for the next director of the World Tourism Organisation. 

“I can’t wait to start studying the Croatian Tourist Board, I would have much rather taken a position there” – this was one of his first messages after he was appointed.  Can’t wait to start studying it?  In other words, you know nothing about it?  Great!  It’s wonderful to see that this particular Ministry is still being used as a training institute.  Everyone thinks it runs on its own anyway,  not much room for screw ups,  right?  Wrong!!!

In a country where the direct contribution of tourism to the GDP is 12,5 percent and total contribution is 28,3 percent ( according to data from 2014 while new forecasts show it will be even higher in the future),  one would think they would take this industry very seriously and stop passing it around like a toy? 

So, what’s the fuss all about, he seems worldly,  extremely smart….  You journalists are nitpicking again, members of the government will say. Well, stop giving us candidates that provide us with tonnes of material to write about! 

If you thought Croatia wasting your time was the pinnacle of our marketing efforts,  comments and columns written by Pauletic take our innovative marketing efforts to new heights. 

In one of his columns he describes,  in detail,  how he decided to check out of a hotel on island Pag a few days earlier than originally planned because he noticed Serbs were staying in it.  Furthermore, in one of his many graphic Facebook posts,  he made fun of a Japanese tourist wearing a mask in Split telling all Japanese tourists to go back to China. Just 24 hours after his appointment, Mr. Pauletić quickly organised a press conference to try and explain his articles and posts, saying he was only joking and that his texts are satire in its finest form. Minister Kliman also defended his new deputy’s actions saying that all he was saying was nothing more than “Split state of mind”. Yes, I do know that here in Split we are a bit quirky and peculiar, but we don’t go around insulting people and calling it satire. And we don’t go around comparing ourselves to Miljenko Smoje, one of the most respected literary minds still perceived as the best chronicler of Split, renowned for his satire and sharp tongue.

The new deputy minister is yet to set foot in his new office, and one of the first suggestions he had was to open an office of the Ministry in Split. Good initiative but he’s not the first or the last to suggest it. As for the lack of experience, he said he’s very smart and absorbs knowledge quickly. That I don’t doubt but with dozens, even hundreds of highly qualified tourism workers in the country, this more or less gets us thinking that governments, especially the “only reforms” and “only experts mantra repeating members of MOST who suggested Pauletić,  pick their candidates out of a hat.

We wish him the very best of luck with one last thought. There’s no time to study things. The new season is already here and the only thing we ask of the Ministry is to let the tourism workers prepare it in peace. Don’t start pulling new taxes and rules out of your sleeve and don’t keep repeating that we will have a great season because Turkey, Morocco, Tunisia and Greece are losing guests. We ‘re getting more guests because believe it or not, some people in our tourism (private sector) know what they are doing. So if you don’t intend to help right away, please stay out of their way.

 

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