Poreč in Istria might be a household name for many, having long since declared its place on the Croatian tourism map, but what of the little areas living in its shadow? Poreč’s hinterland is becoming more and more popular for tourists.
Since Easter, that is, since April this year, the office of the Tourist Board of the Municipality of Vižinada has been operating in the Maraston house in Vižinada, and is headed by Lidia Legović. After almost four months, and along with the passing of the very height of the tourist season, we’re already in a position to talk about the impressions and experiences in working with tourists, which will certainly reflect on future tourism planning, as these have become very important activities in the area of Vižinada, located in the picturesque hinterland of Poreč.
”The beginnings of the office of the Tourist Board of the Municipality of Vizinada were burdened with the usual “growing pains”. At first, it was difficult for the guests to find the Maraston house because there was no signage, and when all of that was eventually set up, the first important step was taken in bringing the office closer to its users, that is, to tourists,” explained Legović.
Located in the city’s main square, tourists often come to the office. They are mostly interested in general information about Vižinada and Poreč’s hinterland, what they can see there, what is interesting to visit in the town and the surrounding area, and when asked what tourists can really see in Vižinada, Legović states:
”There are interesting murals in the church of St. Barnabas that evoke astonishment and admiration from observers. The church is open to visitors every day from 10:00 to 13:00 and from 17:00 to 19:00. They are also interested in Bojže polje (field), which is about three kilometres away from Vižinada.”
Tourists mostly use brochures in which they have detailed information offered to them about churches in this area of the Poreč hinterland, and come to the tourist office to check and confirm what is written in their guides.
The most frequent tourists are typically Europeans: Germans, Belgians, French, English, Dutch, and Russians, and there are also tourists from many other countries. Lidia stated that the French are the most informed and that their brochures are the most reliable and contain a lot of information. In some brochures published in various languages, which she had the opportunity to see,she noticed numerous mistakes that naturally caused confusion for foreign tourists, who perhaps even became somewhat distrustful of this misinformation.
Currently, there are about 480 tourists in the area of Vižinada in Poreč’s beautiful hinterland, which, according to Legović, is quite a significant number for that area, since Vižinada only has about 1,100 permanent inhabitants, so it turns out that almost one third of the current number of people in this area at the moment are actually tourists.
Make sure to follow our dedicated travel page for much more.
