July 18, 2020 – The tourist boards on the island of Pag continue to work together on joint projects during this year’s tourist season. This time, they have launched Pag Outdoor Summer Weekend, or active weeks that will be held with licensed and experienced trainers in various forms of active tourism.
HRTurizam writes that since COVID-19 closed festivals on the famous island, so the usual summer party destination had to be quickly and deftly reoriented into a sports-recreational or active holiday destination.
Kristina Alaburic from the Kissa Association and Berislav Sokac from Run Croatia devised the concept of active weekends on the island of Pag, which include six sports (running, cycling, Nordic walking, SUP, kayaking, mountaineering).
Training is adapted to age groups with carefully selected concepts that will be offered by coaches and are adapted to current conditions concerning the current situation. All participants pay the registration fee in order to have complete control and security at the training and the registration of members.
Five years ago, people in Croatia laughed at Sokac when he suggested that a running race be held on Zrce, and today, the island of Pag is the first island in Croatia to have sports activities throughout the summer.
”In one day, only one sport can be held in one place on the island. In this way, active tourists are encouraged to explore the island, and they are encouraged to take a dynamic vacation. This means that on Sundays, Mandre has a run, you can kayak in Pag, SUP in Metajna…. Run Croatia has provided a registration platform where tourists can register for training for 70 kn. For that money, they get refreshments after training in local gastronomic centers, such as Boškinac or Na Tale. In this way, the gastronomic exploration of the island with local quality refreshments is encouraged. We also keep records of who trained where, so that we can react in time in the event of COVID,” said Berislav Sokac from Run Croatia. By the way, the Run Croatia platform is one of, if not the best, racing platforms in the world. And it is Croatian.
Thus, on weekends during July and August, a handful of sporting events will be organized throughout the island, such as cycling, Nordic walking, trail, sea kayaking, SUP (windsurfing), windsurfing, running, walking, and quad riding.
Namely, last month, an Agreement on the project association of local tourist boards on the island of Pag was signed. It can be said that this is a historical moment in which all the island’s tourist boards have signed such a multi-year joint project for the first time, which is important for tourism and quality offer of the entire island of Pag.
And that the synergy is not only on paper, but the proof is in Pag Outdoor Summer Weekend!
The island’s tourist boards are satisfied with joint projects, especially this year, when almost all events have been canceled, but opportunities have been opened for an ideal active vacation for which the island of Pag has phenomenal prerequisites.
Pag Outdoor Summer Weekend is a logical continuation of cooperation of all communities of the islands and arrives at the right time, when safety and the natural environment are first on the list of priorities of today’s guests, says Marina Rizner, director of the Tourist Board of Novalja.
“Five years ago, we started the Life on Mars, Pag Island Trail, in the meantime developed kilometers of new trails along the island, educated guides, organized a series of races, gained long-term sports partners such as Run Croatia, Kissa, Trekking League, extended the pre and post season and jointly involved other tourist stakeholders of the destination. It is time to discover all the faces and backs of the lunar island of Pag this summer and choose an active stay in nature,” said Rizner.
Sara Cemeljic, director of TZO Kolan, has the same opinion, emphasizing that this is the beginning of recognizing the island of Pag as a sports island.
“Given that the island of Pag is known for its numerous gastronomic events, this is a unique project that reveals all the diversity of the island, with an emphasis on sports activities. We believe that this is the beginning of recognizing the island of Pag as a sports island, where every guest eager for recreation can find something, either sport on land or in the sea, and introducing guests to many undiscovered beauties,” said Cemeljic.
“The island of Pag has a specific shape with many bays, fields, karst, freshwater lakes, ancient olive groves. Povljana is surrounded by rocky karst, along a fertile field, near the lake and separated from the main island road and has ideal areas for sports activities such as Nordic walking, running, cycling, and due to the western winds it is extremely suitable for surfing, sailing,” said Neven Ticic, director of the Tourist Board of Povljana and concluded:
“That is the reason why we got involved in the project, hoping that as soon as possible, the sports component will gain importance on our beautiful and contrasting island.”
Irena Trcol, director of TZM Stara Novalja, pointed out that Pag Outdoor Summer Weekend project was created for their island, which is so different, and yet unique that they can offer every guest a rich selection of outdoor activities. From the program itself, you can see how many organized activities are offered with licensed guides so that everyone will choose something for themselves for an unforgettable vacation on the island.
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