Nikolina Brnjac and Croatian Tourism Players Discuss 2021 Tourist Season Expectations in Croatia

T.portal reports that Minister of Tourism and Sports Nikolina Brnjac, as a guest on the HTV show Otvoreno hosted by Zrinka Grancaric, said domestic and foreign experts had far lower expectations last year than was the result of the tourist season, at 50 percent of the record 2019.

“We closed everything on time, and we started to open on time. In compliance with all epidemiological measures and standards, we had a tourist season. The tourism sector has proven to be much tougher than others had thought. Croatia has had good results compared to other Mediterranean countries. Of course, we will strive for that this tourist season as well. We hold regular meetings with the directors of our market offices, we have included our embassies, and the feedback is that tourists inquire about the epidemiological situation. The second issue is the security situation. The third question is the vaccination rate,” she said.

She added that occupations for travel exist, bookings exist. Camps, holiday homes, nautical tourism, active holidays are mostly booked. Today’s tourist is looking for that through security, she added. She pointed out that the certificate for health purposes was discussed at the last meeting of state and government heads.

“COVID passports, which are used as a travel document, were not discussed, but a document that would serve as a vaccination certificate. The vaccine is optional. It is not yet available to the general population, and therefore to set something like that is to restrict freedom of movement,” she stressed.

Veljko Ostojic, director of the Croatian Tourism Association, said there was significant interest in hoteliers’ vaccinations.

“Today, it is only clear that if the county is in a green area, there are 25 or fewer new cases in the last 14 days. There is no possibility of travel restrictions. Everything else is still not clear. And that was one of the basic problems of the past year. There was no agreement at the EU level. It is now important that we try to vaccinate as soon as possible. We need clearly defined rules at the European Union level and to ensure that tourism professionals are well prepared,” he said.

He added that the same result should be made in terms of epidemiological measures. Croatia was a safe destination last year before the vaccine was found, and there is no reason why it should not be this year.

Damir Krešić, director of the Institute for Tourism, said that the upcoming tourist season’s key messages are quite clear and related to safety.

“We must send the message that we are a safe destination and that we keep the epidemiological situation under control. No matter what you do, the success of the 2021 season will depend on the epidemiological situation. If the epidemiological situation is good, we have reason to expect a very good tourist season,” he pointed out. He added that it is good that Croatia has traditionally been perceived as a safe destination.

“We are entering this tourist season under less favorable circumstances than it was last year. Then we normally prepared for the tourist season, in April we counted the infected on one hand, and now if we have a figure less than 200-300, we can say it is a good day,” he said.

Brnjac believes that it is essential for tourism workers to be vaccinated because they are in direct contact with the guest. That sector cannot be pushed because the Government has adopted a vaccination plan, the first and second phases, and it is known what the priorities are. After that, when the third stage of vaccination occurs, tourism workers would be added.

Martina Nimac Kalcina, president of the Family Tourism Association of the Croatian Chamber of Commerce, said that it was difficult and that a critical period was coming when those who managed to earn money last season had used up their supplies.

“Now the question is how to survive until May, June when the arrival of the first guests is announced. We have many tourism workers interested in vaccinations, and I am sure that the number of renters and other tourism workers would increase over time. We will certainly not all be able to get vaccinated by the end of this season. It is not only possible to distinguish between guests and tourism workers who have been vaccinated and who have not, but work should be done to enable testing. Other states will set the condition that one cannot enter their country, their citizens cannot return if they do not have a negative test in the last 72 hours. It costs about 100 euros for a foreigner to take a test in Croatia. What if you have a family of four who has to spend another 400 euros to return to their country? On the other hand, there are not enough checkpoints, and that testing is not organized enough,” she said.

Minister Brnjac replied that meetings had been held with the Croatian Institute of Public Health to provide tourists with arrival and departure testing. They had begun discussing processing facilities and providing a sufficient number of testing sites. She also added – standard rules need to be regulated at the EU level. Damir Krešić agreed with this, believing that it must at least be easier to do if testing could not be cheaper.

Selimir Ognjenović, owner of the company I.D. Riva tours appeared on the show from Germany. He says the interest in vacationing in Germany is high. All of these ‘lockdowns’ have resulted in a great desire to travel.

He considers the experience from last year to be the biggest Croatian argument for entering the 2021 season.

“Our guests were protected, and we proved to be an excellent host,” he emphasized. “Thirty camps were open all winter. Do you need more proof of trust than that?” he asked.

ORF journalist Christian Wehrschutz said that the question of what conditions the Austrian government will set regarding travel is crucial. If it is a two-week quarantine and an additional test – that’s not good. Austrian hoteliers have asked the government for a clear strategy for testing on departure and arrival, the issue of nightclubs, and the vaccination of tourist workers. He believes that Austria will invite its citizens to spend their summers in their country, especially after the catastrophic winter season.

Damir Krešić agreed with that. He believes that small domestic tourist demand is a big problem in Croatia. In other countries, about 40 to 50 percent of guests are locals, while in Croatia, the number is about 10 percent. Therefore, he believes – Croatia should focus on Central Europe’s markets and the regional markets of BiH and Serbia, depending on the epidemiological situation in those countries.

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